Lowered Floors and Ground Clearance

[ChrisG C2S]

Folks,

I previously had a K Series Seven with a dry sump which would just catch on the changing slope of my driveway and the occasional severe speed bump.

I'm currently spec'ing a new R400 and I'm considering lowered floors.

Are there any clearance issues with lowered floors?

Is the Duratec ground clearance the same as the old K-series?

Any advice appreciated.

Chris

[Smollet]

No issues that I have found in 2 years of having lowered floors.

[Glasgow2]

i am also specifying my R300. I am 5' 10" and drove (hire and test drive) some standard floor. Never tried lower floor but note its in demand. What are the main benefits of lowered floor, is it just to give extra space for taller guys or it has somethig to do with the car performance...?

[huwdm]

I have an R400 duratec with lowered floors.
No issues, even over speed bumps and in fact i have just raised the ride height slightly with my 7 club associates advice.

[Smollet]

Glasgow2 said:

i am also specifying my R300. I am 5' 10" and drove (hire and test drive) some standard floor. Never tried lower floor but note its in demand. What are the main benefits of lowered floor, is it just to give extra space for taller guys or it has something to do with the car performance...?

I'm 6'2" so it does help in reducing the exposure of your noggin to the outside elements. I think the lower the CoG the better so must have some marginal performance benefits.

[ChrisG C2S]

Thanks for all the replies Guys.

Chris

[Tango7]

Lowered floors don't compromise the under car clearance at all. The lowest thing in the car is still the bottom of the gearbox, the sump or the exhaust can.

They definitely feel like they lower your CoG. I have them in my academy car and when I drive the standard floored car, I notice the difference. It helps tremendously if you are quite tall as my eyeline is usually looking straight at the top of the windscreen/top bar of the cage whereas now, I am looking under the bar without having to duck my head every now and then to see clearly!

[edb49]

I found on my car with lowered floors, the lowest part of the car was actually the ends of the bolts that attach the seat to the floor. A few issues with clearance until I had ground these down. One of the first track days I went to was at Brands, and at the dip at the end of Paddock Hill bend there were sparks coming off my car, which were the bolts. I modified my line to be not as quick through here and the next day the bolts were cut down to size.

[cambuscat]

I find that it's my harness bolts that bottom first. I've always meant to take the 5mm excess thread off but haven't got round to it.

David

[fergus]

cambuscat said:

I find that it's my harness bolts that bottom first. I've always meant to take the 5mm excess thread off but haven't got round to it.

I think you want your harness bolted to the (steel) chassis rails, not the floor pan. In the event of a large smash, even with substantial washers attempting to spread the load, ally isn't the best material. This is a serious oversight on the person who fitted the belts.

[V7SLR]

fergus said:

cambuscat said:

I find that it's my harness bolts that bottom first. I've always meant to take the 5mm excess thread off but haven't got round to it.

I think you want your harness bolted to the (steel) chassis rails, not the floor pan. In the event of a large smash, even with substantial washers attempting to spread the load, ally isn't the best material. This is a serious oversight on the person who fitted the belts.

No it's perfectly normal. The crotch straps of the 6pt harness are anchored between the chassis tabs (used for a bench seat) and the floor, with the addition of spacers. For a lowered floor the only change is the use of longer spacers.

Stu.

[fergus]

V7SLR said:

fergus said:

cambuscat said:

I find that it's my harness bolts that bottom first. I've always meant to take the 5mm excess thread off but haven't got round to it.

I think you want your harness bolted to the (steel) chassis rails, not the floor pan. In the event of a large smash, even with substantial washers attempting to spread the load, ally isn't the best material. This is a serious oversight on the person who fitted the belts.

No it's perfectly normal. The crotch straps of the 6pt harness are anchored between the chassis tabs (used for a bench seat) and the floor, with the addition of spacers. For a lowered floor the only change is the use of longer spacers.

OK, it's not best practice to mount critical safety items on thin (i.e. 4mm) ally plate then. Longer spacers reduce the axial strength of the mounting, so this is bad practice in itself.....

The crotch strap doesn't take as much load as the pelvic straps. I've attached my 2 seperate crotch straps (they're not joined by a T piece) back to the main anchor points (shared by the pelvis straps) on the main chassis rails.

Each to their own though.

[DaveK-S1]

Fergus

Sorry but it's your car fitting that not strictly correct.

The fixing point they are refering to is a steel tab that is normally used to fix the old type standard seats too so it is a part of the steel chassis, they use a spacer fixed between the floor panel and the tab as it makes it easier to bolt in, but the crutch strap goes on top of the tab.

This way the crutch straps are pulling in line with the body whereas your straps are at 45deg so not as effective.

Dave

[fergus]

DaveK-S1 said:

Fergus

Sorry but it's your car fitting that not strictly correct.

The fixing point they are refering to is a steel tab that is normally used to fix the old type standard seats too so it is a part of the steel chassis, they use a spacer fixed between the floor panel and the tab as it makes it easier to bolt in, but the crutch strap goes on top of the tab.

This way the crutch straps are pulling in line with the body whereas your straps are at 45deg so not as effective.

Dave

My crutch straps are pulling at 90 degrees on a grade 12.9 bolt located in the steel chassis rails. As there is no shank exposed on the bolt (via a spacer, etc) the bending moment on the bolt is tiny.

OK, I was under the impression from the text below that people were fixing to the lowered ally floorpan