I'm phoning for insurance quotes and one company wants to know how much my car was lowered by the RUF suspension. I've measured from the ground to the top of the wheel arches and I get :

Front : 66cm / 26 inches
Rear : 63.5cm / 25 inches

What are the standard figures (or should I measure from somewhere else)?

 

i'd phone GT1 - I am sure they would know....

 

Dave,
I don't have the answer but I know that ride heights are not measured to the wheel arches due to the variances inherent in the production process. From memory I think the measure is from a point on the suspension to ground level. Most specialists should be able to help on this I would think as it is covered in appropriate workshop manual.
Cheers,

 

I did call GT-One. They said that they usually do it pretty much visually then level all 4 corners. They said that they could tell me exactly what the standard heights are and how to measure properly but they estimate it's lowered 15-20mm. I've told the insurance company 20mm.

I don't think I need to be too precise anyway - this is for the AA who sound like they might give a reasonable quote but so far Lancaster have the best quote by quite a lot (£933 vs most quotes of £1400 on a 12K mile a year policy, excess of a few hundred pounds when most places say minimum £500). Plus Lancaster were the only people who sound like their IQ was in double figures, they are the only place who have offered agreed value and they've been very helpful. Unless the AA come back with a quoute of less than £800 I'll be going to Lancaster. (And will owe Greg a beer for recommending them).

 

Dave,

If it's not a rude question, how old are you?

I'm 27 and get my insurance through Privelege and pay £938 for 12k miles a year with a £250 excess. I've not bothered to try getting other quotes this year, simply gone with the renewal figure because I tried that the year before and nobody would give me a quote less than £2500 and the highest was £4000!

 

Dave:

Back to your original question, the front height is measured from flat ground to the bottom of the bolt head in the cross member (look, and it will be clear which bolt head). In the rear, there is a crease in the stamping behind the trailing arm. That one is a bear to find, and a bear to get to.

I have the values at home, but I am at work at present. If you post again, I will look up the USA and ROW values for front and rear height. When I measured mine, I cut a 1/2" (13 mm) diameter plastic pipe to the minimum height tolerance (one for the front, and one for the rear). That should fit between the ground and the references on the car. I then fabricated a tapered wedge from a wood block, and inserted that between the ground and any space below my indicator rod. If you mark the thickness along the wedge, you know how much to add to the length of your reference pipe to get the exact height value. Crude, but easy and effective.

Reasons for not measuring to the arch: production tolerances are greater there, no published spec, and huge error if there has been a collision repair on any one of the four fenders. The corner balance trumps the ride height in the event of a discrepancy between the two.

 

Thanks Springer3. AA called back - and want too much cash, so it doesn't matter too much now.

Jim - I'm 34. My girlfriend is also on the policy, 34 with an SP30.

I'll give Privelege a call but I've only got 3 years NCD and I have a feeling they need 4.

 

Jim,
By the way, remember my car is "modified" - non standard wheels and RUF suspension. Most places seem to add about £300 because of that.

 

Dave, the sooner you go Classic, the better. Carole Nash do not mind non-standard wheels, exhaust and Motec....! Annual premium around £580 for 6K miles.....

 

Not had my suspension (yet) done but my wheels are non-standard.

 

Front Axle
Height Adjustment (mm) Carrera 2/4 165+-10 RS 125+-5
(measure from tire contact area of wheel to outer mounting hex bolt - "Crossmember to body")

Rear Axle
Carrera 2/4 258+-5 RS 223+-5
(measure from road contact to measurement point at control arm)

 

No inspections. But if you don't tell them that you've had changes made to the car then they may void your insurance if you have an accident.

From the quotes I got it seemed that some of them do factor it into the value of the car - they wanted to know what the wheels cost, and what the suspension cost.

Most of the people asking are completely hopeless though. When I told one girl that I had non-standard suspension she said : Does that increase your BHP?

Er.... no.