Lowering

[Ricmondo]

The question of lowering comes up very often. I've a factory spec Polo, even in the city I frequently come across humps and ramps that are a challenge, obviously the underside of the front spoiler is the most vulnerable part of the car. My situation cannot be unique. Given that any dynamic gains must be fairly marginal are there any low riders on the forum who can explain to me why they wish to lower their Polos?

[Mart!n-GTI-DK]

Looks and performance must be the two main reasons... Not allways both though.

My Polo is pretty low... arround 45 mm in front and inthe 70's in the back. And I have no problems on a day to day basis driving mine.

[Ricmondo]

Food for thought, looks are very subjective, yours certainly looks mean but if I managed to reverse it out of my garage in one piece I'd never be able to get past the speed bumps that are deemed necessary to stop us running into each other at speed, if only they worked against mobility scooters. Are you able to use multi storey car parks with their multitude of viscious ramps? There are a number of urban junctions near me that even in a standard ride height Blue GT I have to approach diagonally, perhaps I'm so fat I compress the suspension, too many pies and all that!

On the performance front I would be surprised if for road use there was any measurable advantage. Confession time, I used to suffer from boy racer genes, in the days before insurance companies took advantage I've done all the classic mods, I've driven cars that ripped their exhausts off if they drove over a match box and, on one occasion couldn't drive off a motor rail train without being lifted over each of the wagon connections.in the days when I competed I drove a well modified MGB around Castle Combe before and after lowering, a coil spring conversion with adjustable spring platforms made that possible. The lap time difference was half a second, the higher, near standard ride night being fastest.

What I'm really interested in are the reasons why individuals choose to lower, I'm not trying to say it's wrong or right or attempting to denigrate of praise anybody, just being curious, call it nosy if you prefer.

[cenkay]

I personally think Polos come out of factory sitting too high- especially at the rear... compared to a Golf gti the polo looks like its on stilts, far too much arch gap which makes all the difference with respect to the aesthetics of a car in my opinion. I also hate having too much body roll around corners or excessive nose diving when braking hard, these are things i felt the polo had too much of.

Since i lowered mine and spaced the wheels out (not by too much) it feels much more surefooted on the motorway, the car feels more responsive dynamically and is just so much more fun to drive, all with little compromise in the ride comfort for me.. As for the inconvenience of lowering a car due to speed humps etc, ive not had any issues with my GT.. thats more something i experienced with excessive lowering in the past with for example my old mk2 golf, however, im not keen on modern cars being lowered excessively, i don't think the proportions suit in most cases somehow.

This is my polo after lowering- which is how i feel it should have been delivered





before-



As you say though its all very subjective

[Ricmondo]

Thanks, I'm starting to think it might be the pies!

[daveb73]

I personally think Polos come out of factory sitting too high- especially at the rear... compared to a Golf gti the polo looks like its on stilts, far too much arch gap which makes all the difference with respect to the aesthetics of a car in my opinion. I also hate having too much body roll around corners or excessive nose diving when braking hard, these are things i felt the polo had too much of.

Since i lowered mine and spaced the wheels out (not by too much) it feels much more surefooted on the motorway, the car feels more responsive dynamically and is just so much more fun to drive, all with little compromise in the ride comfort for me.. As for the inconvenience of lowering a car due to speed humps etc, ive not had any issues with my GT.. thats more something i experienced with excessive lowering in the past with for example my old mk2 golf, however, im not keen on modern cars being lowered excessively, i don't think the proportions suit in most cases somehow.

This is my polo after lowering- which is how i feel it should have been delivered





before-



As you say though its all very subjective

That looks spot on cenkay

[denmark]

I personally think Polos come out of factory sitting too high- especially at the rear... compared to a Golf gti the polo looks like its on stilts, far too much arch gap which makes all the difference with respect to the aesthetics of a car in my opinion. I also hate having too much body roll around corners or excessive nose diving when braking hard, these are things i felt the polo had too much of.

Since i lowered mine and spaced the wheels out (not by too much) it feels much more surefooted on the motorway, the car feels more responsive dynamically and is just so much more fun to drive, all with little compromise in the ride comfort for me.. As for the inconvenience of lowering a car due to speed humps etc, ive not had any issues with my GT.. thats more something i experienced with excessive lowering in the past with for example my old mk2 golf, however, im not keen on modern cars being lowered excessively, i don't think the proportions suit in most cases somehow.

This is my polo after lowering- which is how i feel it should have been delivered

As you say though its all very subjective

cenkay, how much was it lowered and spaced out?

[cenkay]

Its lowered on the 25/40 h&r kit and the rear wheels are spaced out by 15mm.... I have 10mm spacers for the fronts too, just need to get another set of longer wheelbolts