Lowering the Model 3

[xmetal]

Lowered cars look dumb. Cars that are slammed enough that they require the tires to be severely cambered to fit under the fenders look absolutely moronic.

I was on my way home from work yesterday, and was sitting next to a black Acura TL at a stoplight. It had aftermarket rims, and was slammed far enough that the rear tires had to be tilted to fit in there. All I could think was "What a f@#king idiot".

How fast do cars grind up tires when they are all cambered over to one side? 5000 miles? Not my idea of cool, to be buying tires all the time for no good reason except to look stupid.

I'm thinking the same thing whenever I see any lowered car. Tesla put a lot of work into making the Model 3 look good and run good, then you want to go and mess it up.

I don't think anyone in this thread is talking about slamming the Model 3 and doing crazy camber. We are talking about a very mild drop to tighten up the feel and visually decrease the wheel gap, which are very very different things.

A mild drop, done with good hardware, can increase road feel, improve handling and make the car look more sporting and purposeful without hurting anything. I've lowered every car that I've had with quality sport springs and have never had issue with excess tire wear, damage or decreased performance and handling.

 

[xmetal]

The only car I have ever seen that NEEDS lowering springs are Dodge Neons. That all came from the factory with the "ass-in-the-air" look. I never did like that, but it was easy enough to go to the local auto parts store and get a cheap kit of bolts and brackets that pull a couple coils of the rear springs together and lower the car like that to a more normal looking stance.

Just like to point out that this method is like the worst possible way to lower a car, because you are taking away the mechanical ability of the spring to perform its job by pre-compressing coils. Putting a properly designed multi-rate spring to lower is far better and probably safer too, as the spring can perform across its entire designed structure instead of putting all the force into less coil area.

 

[rzareiser]

Putting looks aside, every time you park the car in about 80% of parking spots you have to be looking out for those damn parking curb blocks that have no consistent height and are designed to scrape the bottom off your front chin. Lowering just about guarantees you will have scraped chins sooner or later as you misjudge the distance to one. If we had a front camera like the Bolt, maybe, otherwise I can live with the difference in appearance.

A little trick to parking perfectly with the bumper just shy of the parking blocks is while in your normal driving position, line up the bottom of your side mirrors with the top of the parking block on the ground. Sounds weird, but you use mostly peripheral vision. Works flawlessly every time.

 

[Henry82]

A little trick to parking perfectly with the bumper just shy of the parking blocks is while in your normal driving position, line up the bottom of your side mirrors with the top of the parking block on the ground. Sounds weird, but you use mostly peripheral vision. Works flawlessly every time.

Can you elaborate on this? This seems like an awesome tip.

 

[T34ME]

but it was easy enough to go to the local auto parts store and get a cheap kit of bolts and brackets that pull a couple coils of the rear springs together and lower the car like that to a more normal looking stance.

Yeah, you could also put some concrete blocks in the trunk to accomplish that too. High School. Nice to know that someone gets to define what "normal" is for the rest of us. We now know we are dealing with someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.

 

[rzareiser]

Can you elaborate on this? This seems like an awesome tip.

Hmm I’ll try, but basically as you creep forward, you’ll start to see the block in your side window. The time to stop is when the bottom of your side MIRROR is just above (to the human eye, not literally) the parking block. It’s tough to explain. I’m 5’10” so for someone who sits higher in the seat it may not work as well. But I think it should. Someone else has to know what I’m talking about, it’s a trick I was taught when I first lowered my A4. That thing was slammed so I had to know this or I’d have no front bumper.

 

[Skione65]

@Skione65
What helped me decide to go for it was the fact that I could pretty easily have someone put the original springs back on if I wasn't satisfied for whatever reason. I'll post an update here in a couple of weeks. Here are a few pics I took yesterday...

View attachment 292111 View attachment 292112 View attachment 292113

@dapiya

Wow!!! That’s what I’m talking about! Thank you for the follow up. Much better perspective and really gives one the full effect of the stance and lowering. Sold! Absolutely love the look. Enjoy it! Let us know as you mentioned your impression of the ride and handling in afew weeks over the stock.

Ski

 

[JohnC]

Tesla' Chief Designer Franz likes his Model 3 lowered too.

 

[barjohn]

I'm 5'10 and here in CA, the width of those parking strips is not wide enough to see them from the side of the vehicle once you are anywhere near close enough to do damage. It is lost below the hood and doesn't protrude far enough on the sides to be seen. Often are parking strips are very narrow. I know from living in Texas where the parking spots are much wider (nearly everyone drives a big pickup truck) so they make the parking spaces wider and deeper. Here, every inch they can take from the spot means they can squeeze more spots into the same parking lot.

 

[LAtimesup]

I'm 5'10 and here in CA, the width of those parking strips is not wide enough to see them from the side of the vehicle once you are anywhere near close enough to do damage. It is lost below the hood and doesn't protrude far enough on the sides to be seen. Often are parking strips are very narrow. I know from living in Texas where the parking spots are much wider (nearly everyone drives a big pickup truck) so they make the parking spaces wider and deeper. Here, every inch they can take from the spot means they can squeeze more spots into the same parking lot.

All you have to do is reverse park and you wouldn't have to deal with the parking strips.

 

[LAtimesup]

Model S is doable but the 3 is a chick car and won’t have the same impact.

By far the funniest/true post on this whole forum

 

[barjohn]

That's what I do now. However, here in CA have you noticed that when you stop to reverse into the parking spot some yahoo immediately pulls into it blocking you from backing in.

 

[rzareiser]

I'm 5'10 and here in CA, the width of those parking strips is not wide enough to see them from the side of the vehicle once you are anywhere near close enough to do damage. It is lost below the hood and doesn't protrude far enough on the sides to be seen. Often are parking strips are very narrow. I know from living in Texas where the parking spots are much wider (nearly everyone drives a big pickup truck) so they make the parking spaces wider and deeper. Here, every inch they can take from the spot means they can squeeze more spots into the same parking lot.

 

[rzareiser]

Yeah I hear ya. But in most cases they are wide enough. What I mentioned also applies to raised concrete human walkways that you’ll pull up to. I do this with my new Toyota Highlander or a lowered car. It’s just good practice that you’ll not overrun your spot. Try it out.

 

[mpt]

Does anyone have the spec. for compatible 20mm hub-centric spacers? I'd love to get a set.

 

[insaneoctane]

@UnpluggedP
Can you elaborate on your dual spring rate design? Specifically the moderate design. You have 2 different spring rates, say A (lower rate) and B (higher rate) . When you first start to compress the spring, it compresses at A rate. At some point it starts to blend to B rate. How much compression, in inches, do I get at A rate? I'd like to know because (as an arbitrary example) if after 1" of compression, I am halfway between A and B, then I really don't get to see rate A very often and it's more on paper than in use... Any details you can share would be appreciated!

 

[ckop24]

Installed my Moderate UP springs and new wheel set over the weekend. Ride and look is exactly what I was going for.

Wheels: Rohana RFX10's, 20x9/10 (Purchased From GetYourWheels.com, super easy and good pricing)

 

[Zaphod]

Installed my Moderate UP springs and new wheel set over the weekend. Ride and look is exactly what I was going for.

Wheels: Rohana RFX10's, 20x9/10 (Purchased From GetYourWheels.com, super easy and good pricing)

Looks perfect. Tasteful and classy yet sporty.

 

[oneshortguy]

After doing some research about different type of springs, I don't plan on driving hard or some motorsport level of driving and will be waiting on these:

Tesla Model 3 Sport Lowering Springs Pre Order

 

[SoCalGuy]

Installed my Moderate UP springs and new wheel set over the weekend. Ride and look is exactly what I was going for.

Wheels: Rohana RFX10's, 20x9/10 (Purchased From GetYourWheels.com, super easy and good pricing)

Cool! Have you done any acceleration and range tests with your new setup?