Driving lowered car in winter??

[littledan]

I have a bit of a dilemma. my car is currently lowered on h&r race springs and stock shocks. it's about a 2" drop. i am either going to get adjustable shocks to work with the h&r or i am going to get a true coilover system from tein with adjustable dampers. my question is who has driven a lowered car in winter, how low was it, and were you able to get around without scraping too much snow and ice..etc. if i can get away with driving the car lowered in winter then i'll just get the shocks since it would be much cheaper than the coilovers. let me know your experiences. thanks.

dan

[FiveFreshFish]

I'm not sure exactly how much drop I had since I forgot to measure it at stock height, but I'd hazard a guess of 2" to 2.25". See pic below of my old Civic. That's the height I ran all year, and the new owner has kept the same ride height.

There are only a few days each winter in Calgary that make driving impossible. In heavy snow, the car got stuck or high-centered but I've always been able to dig myself out without help (I carry a small shovel). Snow tires are a must, but traction still sucked mainly because of the open diff, and not because of ride height or tire grip.

[cocoabrova]

I've driven all the lowered cars I've had during the winter, and never had any damage or problems getting stuck, unless it's during those damn freak blizzards we've gotten

[CRXguy]

my crx is pretty close to the ground, and i've never been stuck. well maybe once a couple months ago during that freak blizzard, but only cuz the car was covered completely.

be very careful of snow poop.

[Altezza]

My Accord was lowered over 2" and it got stuck only once when I was going up the hill to my house after a huge snowfall and the snowdrifts were 2-3 feet tall. Other than that, no probs.

[Kona9]

the people with their cars at stock height get stuck just as much. You should be fine. Good luck this will be my first upcoming winter with a lowered car in calgary and I don't plan on changing it either. I have had 3 other lowered cars during winter in B.C. it actually made it more fun.

[Seanith]

I have had 3 other lowered cars during winter in B.C. it actually made it more fun.

B.C has winter?

[redline_13000]

Iv'e driven my prelude in the winter, was pretty low to the ground. If theres fresh snow on the ground and you let off the gas it'll slow you down alot. Not really good when spring comes around and the slush freezes

[ryder_23]

My car isnt even lowered, and its gotten stuck...on that freak blizzard day..can happen to alot of cars...friend has lowerd integ, and it did fine with blizzaks on it...u should be fine

[^SkylinE^]

My cars lowered 2 3 inches and i seem to do just fine in the winter but everytime a car in front of me loses a big chunk of snow or there is a rut with really high snow in the middle you can just hear it hitting the undercarrage all the time. The real big cuncks somtimes get clipped by the front bumper. If you have a fibeglass front bumper i would get and OEM one for winter.

[EG STyLeZ]

i drove last winter lowered about 3 inches, and it was like a fucking snow plow! but i never got stuck or anything.

[sexualbanana]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish
I'm not sure exactly how much drop I had since I forgot to measure it at stock height,

Stock Civic height is about 8". I measured before I lowered it 2 - 2.5"

My garage backs into an alleyway where a lot of snow goes untouched and I've had no problems getting out or plowing. The only problem i've had was during that big ass blizzard in March ( I think).

I thought I was going to be a snow plow during the winter but as it turned out, my bumper barely scraped any snow even if I tried.

[rice_eater]

scrapidy scrape scrape

[buh_buh]

it should be no problem man, I drove last winter with summer tires, lowered (don't know how much, but I was tucking), and with a kit, and I didn't get stuck once.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by buh_buh
it should be no problem man, I drove last winter with summer tires, lowered (don't know how much, but I was tucking), and with a kit, and I didn't get stuck once.

Dude.....not everyone is as hardcore as you!!!!!

Anyway, too low=snow plow

But its all about the tires!!! You can drive a ferrari in the winter if you want

[ACS-e36]

what about the condition of the front bumper?! is it all chipped up?

[buh_buh]

Originally posted by max_boost
Dude.....not everyone is as hardcore as you!!!!!

Anyway, too low=snow plow

But its all about the tires!!! You can drive a ferrari in the winter if you want

haha actually, its just stupidity. I thought it was going to be a mild winter, so no need for winter beater.

[01sohccivic]

Shouldn't be a problem, the snow is soft so you can run over everything.
Problems I can think of is paint chips on your front bumper

[rice_eater]

Originally posted by 01sohccivic
Shouldn't be a problem, the snow is soft so you can run over everything.

hehehe...snow is soft especially after a warm day when it melts and then freezes again at night sorry had to do it :tongue: Anyways...my neon that has the biggest wheel gap in the world, with my bodykit (NOT lowered) i plow my street every time we have a decent amount of snow...i've actually got stuck twice last winter retardedly enough and a couple times i didnt even try to get out...but really it's not a big deal since it's only a few times and they are far in between...your bumper however will hate you and you will hate how it looks come spring IMO