JRock

Like will I fail inspection because my car is dropped with coilovers? I still have clearance underneath... probably 3 inches or so. Is there any reason I could fail inspection for that?

2003 CL type S

not dat i kno of....in nj it will pass as long as it has clearance once da dyno is down and da car is rollin

pianoman41

Every state is different so you have to check your local laws. In MA, if your car is lowered more than 2 inches (from factory OEM height) it is illegal and cannot be driven on public ways (and subsequently won't pass inspection). If you're stopped on the road and determined to be in violation your car can be towed.

TypeSAddict

Please, please, I beg of you, never, ever again say dat or da in place of that or the.

JRock

Any idea about Maryland and Virginia?

2003 CL type S

damn dat sux

2003 CL type S

aight

TypeSAddict

lol, I'm just playin. :P

2003 CL type S

aight das cool

mdaniel

What a stupid law. A CL lowered 2.5" would probably still have more clearance than my old Integra.

fbazakos

i think we've been spelling Jersey wrong all these years too

pianoman41

The law wasn't meant to maximize ground clearance. The "thinking" behind the law was that if you alter the vehicle height by more than two inches in *either* direction (counts for lifting your pick-up truck too) without re-engineering things such as center of gravity, suspension geometry, crash impact points, crumple zones, etc, you could possibly upset the handling characteristics of the car to the point where it would be dangerous to drive at normal speeds on public roads. Car manufacturers spend a lot of R&D money on such vehicle dynamics and it stands to reason that every adjustment of one facet of vehicle stance will in some way (positive or negative) affect the others. Physics is funny like that.

I don't necessarily agree with the law myself. I've seen plenty of lowered (and raised) vehicles that, when done properly, don't seem to be a safety hazard to anyone. However, I've also seen my fair share of early-80s Toyota Celica wagons lowered to about an inch of ground clearance, riding on cut springs with worn shocks, teetering back and forth like a rocking horse with every bump in the road. Certainly, the handling of such a vehicle has been severely compromised.

Like many of our laws today (speeding, for example), the restrictions on vehicle operation are set ridiculously strict to protect the responsible many from the behavior of an irresponsible few.

JRock

I did see a law about raising vehicles in Maryland and it said you can't RAISE a TRUCK more than two inches and you can't RAISE the body AND the suspension together. But nothing about cars, and nothing about lowering. Maybe I just can't find it though.

Red Nj-s

Yea u have been. :P

2003 CL type S

yeh it lsoundz betta wit a Zz