lowering suspension

[lamonto]

To improve roadholding and ride comfort it will help if the suspension is lowered by 35mm. To do this change the front and rear coil springs and prefeerably the shockers while your at it. got them off anyway.
Note : do not go lower than 35mm as you will run a high risk of catching the sump on sleeping policemen.

I have done the above and found a drastic omprovement in cornering.

[J199 HHG]

[B]To improve roadholding and ride comfort

Not sure about improving comfort. A comfortable car as long travel suspension to allow the wheels to travel over the worst bumps without risking hitting the bump stops. If you reduce wheel travel, the suspension must be stiffer to prevent bump-stop contact. Therefore you will get a harsher ride. You might like this of course, but on lousy roads, I'd prefer a nice soft ride.

[MGTurbo]

You may be wrong there. As standard the Maetsro/Monty has soft springs and hard dampers to create a smooth ride and try and provide some body control. Now, back in the days when Simon Heap used to speak to me, i took him out in my car when it had just been lowered 25-30mm and he noted the ride was at least equal to his 1.6 Mayfair. If you go lower than that you'll lose some of the comfort but gain some serious road holding. Tyres with too low a profile affect the ride more than anything in my experience. I've drive my car enough miles to know that the ride is no worse having been lowered.

Gareth

Nearly forgot, not once have i hit the bumpstops, the sump does that for me first :mad:

[John S]

Thought I'd add in here. I have ordered 'poly bushes' from Motobuild. I have only got round to fitting the bushes for the front anti roll bar as I intend to buy the 1" lowering springs/uprated shocks this week. Is 1" a wise choice or would 2" be O.K. on a diesel? I don't want to be able to see inside the wheel arches as I find this spoils the look of the car especially as I have now done so much to it. I should be able to navigate roundabouts without stopping at 50mph+ as well due to better roadholding! :laugh:

[MGTurbo]

Forget 2 inches. It will be scraping the sump all the time. 1 inch is ample.

Gareth

[lamonto]

max safety limit for lowered suspension 35mm (1.5 inches)clears sleeping policemen with a small clearance (at least it does in my area "lothians")
I find the ride smoother and vastly improved road holding. it also improvesthe asthetic look of the car. (MG Montego)

[MGTurbo]

Even 1 inch can be too low on an O series car.... Yet again i hit my sump again just after a speed bump. And yes it was leaking, having nearly ripped off my welded on plate which was an attempt at beefing it up. Fortunatly Chemical Metal saved the day once again until i get a new one.

Gareth

[E_T_V]

I've heard a lot of comments about sump/road interactions and I was just wondering why no-one has made a decent sump guard for the meastro and montego? Surely it would be easy to do. Might make the underneath look a lot tider too.

Just a thought

Dan