Rake and a weird coilover lowering observation

[d3ck5]

Hey all

just wondering what your opinion is on having a fairly high degree of rake on our cars. i reckon 95% of the VR4's i see (mainly mildly modded ones) have rake with quite a height difference front to back. is it to keep the roof line level? is it a handling thing? is it because it keeps the wheel gaps consistent?

anyway, just asking, I'm not a fan of it to be honest and am slowly dialing it out on my 4.

and in speaking of that, I removed the back wheels on the weekend to drop the coils a little and noticed that the rear right coil, was 5mm lower than the rear left. at least, measuring the gap between the bottom of the lower adjusting ring collar and the top of the top adjusting ring collar.

i wasnt sure if this was right, but dropped them equal amounts anyway.

the car seems to sit level anyway (at least from eye sight) even before the drop, but i was wondering if this were normal?

cheers
dEx

 

[trotty]

Mines set high in the back as when it's loaded it sits flat.

 

[d3ck5]

i found that on my galant, they fitted wagon tein coilovers.

would explain why its so stiff at the back

no chance of sagging here.

 

[Nitephyre]

Rake Rules!

 

[Jakevr4]

It's probably a combination of the 11 thousand degrees of camber the back wheels get if you really wind them down and to keep the wheel arch gap consistent, like you said.

 

[d3ck5]

just say "NO" to rake!

 

[steveP]

This is something that annoyed me about our cars. I think it's quit common with 4 door performance style jap cars. I see the same issue with 4 door skylines.

It occurs when lowering the front and rear of the car so all guards are level with the wheel or gap. When all corners are level, the rear looks much higher than the front. I think this is just the constraints of having rear doors and the shape of the car. The rear guards and the bottom of the rear doors are very close and leaves almost no room for flaring or guard work. I guess this was a design decision from Mitsubishi to not have the rear guards as "deep" to allow for the rear doors to fit optimally.

I have seen people modify the bottom of the rear doors on skylines so they can flare the guards, but it never looks right. It's just a compromise we'll have to live with.

What I recommend is to get the rear set up perfectly. Fix the camber and proper ride height. Then dial in 10mm more height at the front. It's just enough to level out the rake and not be noticeable.

 

[it's.simon]

^as above. Keeping the guard to tyre space the same front to rear creates a raked appearance.

I personally like that look, whether it detriments handling...probably, I don't know. All I know is that when there was zero rake, the rear was squatting hard and looks so bogan and commo spec. If you raised the front to balance the rear so it's not squatting so bad, the front is way too high. Rake it is.

 

[unclepaulie]

+1 for slight rake. i like it.

 

[mookers]

 

[unclepaulie]

i stand by my statement then haha

 

[d3ck5]

zero rake wtf!!!! ?

 

[d3ck5]

^as above. Keeping the guard to tyre space the same front to rear creates a raked appearance.

I personally like that look, whether it detriments handling...probably, I don't know. All I know is that when there was zero rake, the rear was squatting hard and looks so bogan and commo spec. If you raised the front to balance the rear so it's not squatting so bad, the front is way too high. Rake it is.

ummm, yeah, nah. "hate the rake"

not a very flattering pic for such a cool ride.

got any more clearer pics?

i think the shadow on the body's is throwing me out somewhat.

 

[steveP]

My car does have slight rake. Like I said in my first post, get front and rear fitment right, then raise the front 10mm. As you can see in the pic, you can barely notice. It also heaps with driveways lol.

 

[it's.simon]

You can see I'm already tucking tyre, any lower at the rear and I will be tucking rim. If I raise the front I think it would look shit because the guard/tyre gap is different already.

But even if I wasn't forced to do so. I would still prefer a little bit of forward rake. Each to their own eh?

I wonder if anyone can confirm whether rake and squat is bad, pros/cons etc.

 

[whats_doing]

OT: Would much prefer to have the same amount of tuck/gap front to rear rather than zero rake.

 

[d3ck5]

You can see I'm already tucking tyre, any lower at the rear and I will be tucking rim. If I raise the front I think it would look shit because the guard/tyre gap is different already.

But even if I wasn't forced to do so. I would still prefer a little bit of forward rake. Each to their own eh?

I wonder if anyone can confirm whether rake and squat is bad, pros/cons etc.

thats HAWT!

yeah, that kind of rake i can handle.

its super subtle (like steveP's).

i like it!

 

[unclepaulie]

even gap all round FTW

edit: maybe 5mm lower in the back
edit2: damn i miss that car

 

[VOLK]

Gone to the race track in the sky

 

[mookers]

Gone to the race track in the sky

Where they serve unlimited butter