RIDE HEIGHT

Altering the ride height lets you experiment with the car’s weight distribution and centre of gravity – a subtle way of changing the handling balance. Lowering the front moves a small amount of weight towards the front of the car and lowers its centre of gravity in relation to the rear. This gives the front proportionally more grip than the rear. Lowering the rear axle has the opposite effect.

If you can, alter your car’s ride height at each corner then, before you start any other geometry adjustment, consider corner-weighting. The idea is that you adjust the height at each corner so that every wheel supports an equal amount of weight, making the car more predictable. It’s rarely possible to equalise the weight on all four wheels, but matching the weight of the left side to the right – including the mass of the driver – is just as beneficial.

But be warned, adjusting the ride height will alter other settings such as camber and toe.