How low is too low?

There are actually no such thing as aggressive wheels. Rather, there are aggressive stances, that's qualities include lots of negative camber, virtually no wheel gap and tire sidewall, and slammed or flush wheels.

You have coilovers already, so if you really want an aggressive stance, I'd say half of your work is done. You'll need bigger and wider rims and narrower tire sidewalls, and possibly spacers if the rim offsets are too high.

But based on your thread that you're already rubbing, I'd take a guess that you actaully don't want an aggressive stance.

 

You'll have to do a lot more than just aggressive wheels (size, offset, width) to have an aggressive stance. There's a lot of factors that have to come together for it to work. Camber, height, tire stretch, fender rolling/pulling etc to get that look.

That being said, it can be done on a prius however the problem I ran into on my quest (hence why nothing has progressed in the stance department) is the rear has no adjustments for camber, toe, etc so it makes for awkward looking stance. The rear gains positive camber as you go lower whereas the front gains negative. More positive camber (without being able to adjust) means you have to compensate by running a higher offset or pulling of fender (assuming fenders are rolled flat already).

Also its kinda of hard to do with a 5axis front lip since that lip has such low front corners. They're significantly lower than the center of the lip making angling over bumps and into driveways especially difficult if you're static (on coilovers) vs on air.

I've gotten away with 18x9.5 +38 up front and +33 in rear with 225/40/18 stretched all round. That's without any fender work. BUT I'm only on htechs at the moment so when I go lower, there will need to be adjustments in my wheel specs (and wheels since I want different ones)

 

Good to hear it's basically fixed.

Keep in mind that the wider you go with the wheels the lower your mpg will be. Physics sucks! You also will not be able to rotate the tires front to rear. IMO keep the same size wheels on front and rear. You're not driving a Porsche or Corvette.

 

I totally agree on running non-stagger but it looks so good! If anything though, I guess you could run a spacer in back to get the rim flush to the fender if that's what you're aiming for.

 

This dEpends on how wide you are running the tires. I'd give atleast a 1.5-2" gap because if the tires are wide you may be actually rubbing against the strut base from inside.

I lowered my Camry about 5.75" from stock when I owned it and hitting bumps I'd rub the tire against the strut base. One thing you might want to keep in mind and I'd caution this for anyone wanting to lower their car excessively, your front CV joints are constantly operating at a steep angle. This is different than your alignment.

The alignment adjust the center of the tire but the CV joint is still operating steeply angled beyond what they were manufactured for. My Camry eventually had to have both front end half shafts replaced because of this so keep it in mind.

 

Make sure you are adjusting the alignment everytime you are raising it lowering your car. You will bald the edges of your tires if you don't keep the alignment straight.

After owning once the adjustible struts and coil overs I've just stuck to 2.5" drop straight springs. They are just plugged in and lower just enough. I also had problems with vibration so I'd frequently check the lock rings to make sure they were tightly fitted.

 

Oh, it ain't too low ... if you want to damage your undercarriage.

 

With the lip you may need to raise it a bit. Judging by your pictures, I'd lift the car about minimum 2-2.5" from the top of the wheel to the top of the fender. Or basically the diameter of a soda can on top.

Slamming the car to the ground like you have looks really good no question. But driving a car that sits that low for a daily driver is not practical.

Bring it up a few inches and make it practical. In the long term you'll be happier. Plus you are not stressing your CV joint as much.

 

For most cars lowering the car any more than 2-2.5" from stock settings creates issues in the long run. Having it set like that as a show car is one thing. Driving a slammed car as a daily driver is another.

 

Now way to do it unless you request a flatbed.

I've only had an issue a few times in the past and the tow truck driver fortunately had planks to ramp the car up.

As for the rubbing, you might need to roll the fenders. Not for the feint at heart, but if you want to go low, that's the way to go. Or change your wheel/ tire setup.

This was my lowest static car, before putting it on air ride (where it parked on the ground.) The subframe in this picture is about 1" off the ground, never really hit the front lip, but I had no chance of clearing speed bumps.


In my experience, other issues you will have:
* Getting onto alignment racks
* Getting a jack underneath the car (drive the car onto 2x4's)
* Dead animals.

 

From the pics...the front looked just a tic lower and sounds like that was your "free" fix. Apparently you never have to go toe to toe with speed bumps where you live I do not have that luxury.

 

Auto shutoff will not work if you mess with the control after powering down. For example, if after you powered down, you turn the headlights off then back on remembering that auto shutoff will take care of it it won't work at all.

 

too low...

 

I can always tell when my next door neighbor's daughter has a new boyfriend. I hear them slam into his driveway when they come to pick her up. It usually only happens once per boyfriend, unlesss she gets a stupid one.

 

That video is why I see a lot of extremely lowered cars with the body kits beat to crap and paint missing. If you are going that low...better pack airbags or hydrolics so you can get the bloody thing off the pavement when you actually need to drive. But none of that sounds like talk for a Pri.