Car ride height law

custardy

Strider590 wrote: »

Not if it's done correctly, with uprated springs and shortened shock absorbers.

A lower car has a lower centre of gravity, it's more stable at high speed, has less body roll in corners, is less likely to under/oversteer and doesn't pull a nose dive under heavy braking (= shorter stopping distances.)

Sure the boyracers do it to look like something from "Need for Speed Underground", but it does also serve a purpose.

the term was "over lowering"

NiallB

Strider590 wrote: »

Not if it's done correctly, with uprated springs and shortened shock absorbers.

I went to look at a car once that the guy had lowered himself by taking an angle grinder to the springs, causing the sump to drag on the ground probably b*ggering the spring's temper in the process.

Then there was the entire dashboard that didn't work, the fist sized rust holes, the drivers seat that wasn't actually attached to the floorpan, the suspicious red diesel stain all down the panel below the filler cap, and the fact that the registered keeper on the V5 was 3 owners previous.

I couldn't get out of there fast enough :rotfl:

exup

one thing I found out over law and the police after a few discussions with them at a couple of shows our bike school attended (we always seemed to be placed next to the police stand)
Police are supposed to be there to uphold the law, doesn't mean they know what the law is though. fortunately thats what solicitors and the courts are for, but one thing - especially traffic cops will do if they stop you is check for other things wrong with your vehicle, or give you an atitude test - which is basically if you start gobbing off (not saying that you do though) or arguing with them, then they will be alot harsher with you then they had first intended to be.
Have seen a few people been given speeding tickets when they argued with a motorcycle cop who had intended to give just a warning.

Lum

I think the van confusion is because the OP was asked "to step out of the van". I assumed this meant the Police van.

I'd love to see these C&U regs about the maximum height of lights, especially as my car has the front indicators towards the bottom of the bumper, however I would suspect that most "normal" cars have their headlights significantly higher than the minimum, based on where the lights are on certain very low cars, such as Lambos. Therefore any lowering that doesn't need smaller wheels probably wont fall foul of said regulations.


What is becoming apparent to me though is that a lot people, including the Police, don't like modified cars and boy racer types around. Where I live, there have been some ridiculous measures taken to make their gathering points unattractive, such as one town centre road that at each roundabout has a sign saying "No U-turns 10pm - 4am", just to give the police something to pull them over for.

In the town near me it's even worse. They used to be quite a crowd turning up on a Thursday night, the area in question is full of noisy nightclubs anyway so having these Barried cars driving up and down didn't really cause much additional noise. Sure their cars look awful for the most part and they made that road more congested, but the responses we've had are actually worse than the "problem"

First they decided to set up an impromptu vehicle checkpoint on a mini roundabout. This roundabout serves Asda and McDonalds. They pulled over and checked over a number of cars, but failed to pull over my mate's Volvo estate with blatantly illegal aftermarket HIDs. This checkpoint caused a tailback that ground the town centre to a halt. For bonus points it was next to a 20' tall wall with a KFC car park there, so a small number of aggrieved chavs gathered up there to throw drinks and stuff at the police.

Now they close the entire town centre on Thursdays, which is great if you just wanted to get a takeaway or go to the cash machine, you have to park up and walk, often in the rain. Originally this was manned thing, but now they have just put up some closable gates that block the entrance only, meaning that law abiding citizens get to park up and walk, but the chavs just drive around them.

bigjl

Isn't it more to do with modifications that are deemed to make the car unsafe, rather than a specific amount of lowering, if you look at some cars on the Dub scene they seem very happy when their suspension arms are less than a fag packet distance from the road.

A lowered car can handle much better than it did when standard, but when the roads are as uneven as they are in the UK then it can make the car very skittish, as lowered suspension means less travel before the car can be bumped off the chosen line.

If new regulations or laws are brought in to prevent people cutting springs or heating them up to lower the ride height then I am all for it, as these cars can be dangerous, if the car is lowered using decent parts then fine, but consideration must be given for safety before style.

The Essex Police still have a few Mondeo ST 220's, which have pretty much the same suspension as other Mondeos, apart from the fact they are lowered, so obviously there is a time and a place for such modifications.

Though I drove a mates WRX with coil overs and it was a nightmare, bouncy and twitchy, my WRX was much better, which was standard apart from Prodrive Geometry.


In my day we where happy to have a subwoofer and a Peco back box, exit stage left mumbling like Victor Meldrew.

patman99

I think all under 21's need to be limited to driving cars that have no modifications and an engine size of not more than 1300cc with a top speed of 70mph. Usually, the 'my car is better than yours' ignoratti in my town end-up bending their w+nker-mobiles round lamp posts and other street furniture to much cheering and applause from the local law abiding folk.

bigjl

Maybe we need to adopt the strict rules on such things like they do in NZ and I believe also in Aus.

Harry_Flashman

Much more fun to lift motors and take 'em green-laning - that's what many of my chums do (4x4s of course )

Hammyman

Lum wrote: »

I'd love to see these C&U regs about the maximum height of lights, especially as my car has the front indicators towards the bottom of the bumper, however I would suspect that most "normal" cars have their headlights significantly higher than the minimum, based on where the lights are on certain very low cars, such as Lambos. Therefore any lowering that doesn't need smaller wheels probably wont fall foul of said regulations.

Telephone your local VOSA inspection center. THey'll tell you all you need to know. BTW, thats a VOSA one, not your local MOT station or even a council MOT station. You'll usually find the VOSA inspection center is also the HGV test center for the area.

Lum

I know the difference between a VOSA inspection centre and an MOT station.

Had to take my car to one once after an MOT station screwed up the mileage reading on my car, and the inspector claimed my numberplate was illegal, handed me some photocopied documents "proving" it at which I pointed out a clause at the bottom that makes them legal, at which point he refused to talk to me any more and disappeared into his office in a sulk.