zultan103 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I was wondering how many people have problems with the ride height of their 7's...I would think the lowest part of the 7 would be the oil pan?? How much does everyone scrape in everyday driving of their 7's??? How high off the ground from lowest pt.? I want to get a 7 that is a driver, but, I dont want to be worrying about scraping everywhere...Better, worse, or the same as a late model Corvette?? ps--the 7 bug has finally hit me full swing, been lurking 4yrs since I saw my first 7 @ local autocross, and now putting car up for sale to buy a 7 that's even more impractical, but, I think I will just have a bigger smile.:drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 (edited) Depends on your environment. If you don't have rocks strewn on your local roads and are a bit careful with speed bumps, nothing should happen (assuming a properly set up car). However, our mountain roads are littered with crumbly rocks and I am a bit careless with bumps and the like that is why I need a sump guard (notice: a well-used sump guard never rusts) http://www.californiacaterhamclub.com/chat/attachment.php?attachmentid=103&d=1142737530 Gert Edited September 9, 2009 by slomove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usher Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I'm currently on my second oil pan in my car. The oil pan on the Westfield (Miata donor) is lower than all the other Sevens I've seen. It's low enough that it'll hit the ground before I bottom out the suspension. I'll probably convert it to a dry sump setup so I can get back a few inches or at least put a skid plate on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 With 13" rims and Toyo R888's, My Caterham's lowest point is 75mm from the ground. Speed bumps can be an issue depending on how steep they are. Definately have to take them at an angle. The Side exhaust can be an issue on them as well. For track and Autox use I have 10 inch wide Hoosier slicks on 13" inch rims. These tires are much lower profile and on hard right hand turns I sometimes scrap the side exhaust pipe as the suspension loads. That being said, I do have adjustable spring platforms, so I could raise it up a bit if I needed to. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 In my case, it used to be the bottom of the bellhousing that always hit stuff, even though the oil pan was lower. I got tired of worrying about it, and raised the engine a bit - now I have lowered the whole car compared to before, and the bottom is totally flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 My Caterham has about 2.5" clearance under its Miata oil pan. I am very careful about rocks, road debris and speed bumps. Last time I looked there was a very small but fresh scratch on one of the oil pan's fins. I was trying to make my way through a neighbor hood with speed bumps this summer and each one seemed to get larger. I finally went up on one very cautiously and when the wheels started down the other side the pan grounded out very gently. I backed up and turned around and made my way out. That was the only speed bump I have encountered that I couldn't get over. The fact that I had a 240+ lb passenger probably contributed to the problem. I have adjustable coilovers and could raise the car but it is set at the correct frame to ground height and I don't want to change that. The car is running 205/45-16 tires for the street and 205/50-15 front and 225/50-15 rear tires for the track. The dry sumps I have looked at for the Miata gain you less than an inch and are quite pricey. Raising it that much just leaves the bellhousing (which is part of the transmission casting) as the next item to hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V-Robb Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 With 13" rims and Toyo R888's, My Caterham's lowest point is 75mm from the ground. Speed bumps can be an issue depending on how steep they are. Definately have to take them at an angle. The Side exhaust can be an issue on them as well. For track and Autox use I have 10 inch wide Hoosier slicks on 13" inch rims. These tires are much lower profile and on hard right hand turns I sometimes scrap the side exhaust pipe as the suspension loads. That being said, I do have adjustable spring platforms, so I could raise it up a bit if I needed to. Tom Interesting thread! How much adjustability do you have in your suspension? Is this stock for 7's from a certain year onward, or custom work you've done? Not that I'd want to raise it up like a 4X4 truck or anything, but I would raise and lower my V based on riding conditions with an air system, and would like to be able to raise up the 7 when road quality demands, not necessarily via air, then drop her back down when wanted. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Don't tell me that you are planning to build a low-rider Se7en :toetap05: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V-Robb Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Don't worry, no sacrelige intended! :banghead: Think adjusting for different track conditions, but more due to public road issues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 (edited) This topic as come up before (you can use search on this site). It's pretty low on mine... I was there when 7evin dropped a wheel off the Buttonwillow track and ground down his S2K oil pan. Here's my soluton.. excuse the rust line, it's all aluminum but I didn't grind off the rust from a metal pipe that was resting on the square tubing. It's a little "MadMax" but I feel better;) Edited September 9, 2009 by Mondo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I just went out and measured my Birkin with a 1600xflow in it and I have 110mm under the sump which has been cut a bit and made shorter from what i can tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 wasnt there a picture on here of a se7en mudder racer? Our height problem right now, is we cant get ours lower!! with the birkin se7en minimum settings and the 15" wheels/tires, it's WAY too high for a se7en! With that said, last year our little front spoiler was a gulliotine as it cut a groundhog cleanly in 1/2 that ran across the road. not pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rohaley Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I remember that! We were directly behind you. The poor thing didn't stand a chance against 'the blade'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 You can set it for solo or two up. People weight is a large percentage of the total car weight. I have a pan guard, but also watch out for roads with truck created ruts. I tend to find them in small towns that have overloaded truck traffic. You can adjust the ride height of most if not all, but it requires alingment changes when done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Robb, the adjustable spring platforms is an option on Caterhams. Simple to use, loosen the locking ring, and adjust up or down. If you remember the number of turns you make you could adjust up or down to the same setting pretty easily. I never measured the total adjustment range. Here's a picture of them early in my build. you can see the silver adjusting and locking rings clearly. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I was wondering how many people have problems with the ride height of their 7's...I would think the lowest part of the 7 would be the oil pan?? How much does everyone scrape in everyday driving of their 7's??? How high off the ground from lowest pt.? I want to get a 7 that is a driver, but, I dont want to be worrying about scraping everywhere...Better, worse, or the same as a late model Corvette?? ps--the 7 bug has finally hit me full swing, been lurking 4yrs since I saw my first 7 @ local autocross, and now putting car up for sale to buy a 7 that's even more impractical, but, I think I will just have a bigger smile.:drool: Problem with late model vettes is the nose clearance - it scrapes everywhere. Sevens don't have a front overhang, so that's not an issue. As you have seen with the posts, it's generally the oil pan and bell housing that's the problem, and generally only on speed bumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 There are at least 2 Westfield rally cars out there (well, more like rally cross). But they don't seem to have any problems with ground clearance. Of course a big old sump guard helps too. More pictures at: http://www.racedandrallied.com/kit-cars-for-sale/westfields-for-sale/westfield-sei-r1-carbon-car-highest-spec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 On my 7 I have 5.5 inches to the frame rails to the ground but the lowest point is the oil pan with only 3.75 inches of clearance to the ground and so far I have not hit the oil pan mainly due to the position of the engine in relation to the front wheels. The bell housing which sits further back from the front wheels and has 4.5 inches of clearance to the ground has contacted the ground a couple of times due to me being stupid :banghead: and driving off the road surface were the lip of the road is higher than the shoulder surface (country roads with no shoulder to speak of) so I have a very small skid plate on the bell housing to help protect it when I screw up and drop the car of the edge of the road or miss judge a driveway entrance which is the only other place that it has hit the ground. I have dragged my exhaust tip when auto-x only in a hard right turn and folks have said it makes a nice trail of sparks....I can only take their word as I only see the aftermath of the exhaust scraping the ground. If you look close in the attached photos you can see the oil pan and the tail pipe and how the tail pipe is ground off on the edge. In reality it is part of owning a 7 and just being aware is how I look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Interesting thread! How much adjustability do you have in your suspension? Is this stock for 7's from a certain year onward, or custom work you've done? Robert My Caterham is the Roadsport SV model and came with non adjustable coilovers. I added an adjustment sleeve which has about 3" of thread to work with for corner weighting purposes. I don't know how much that 3" translates to the range of height adjustment. If you do a system like this you will have to realign your suspension each time you change the height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowflyer Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Yes, adjusting the spring perch height, at the front, will change the settings for camber, and toe-in, less effect on caster. On a "7" with an independent rear (if there is such a critter), it would effect camber for sure. Plus, changing the height will also effect corner weighting if that's a concern. Nothing is ever simple, is it? Ken Edney Chandler, AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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