[Roscommon]

Looking for insight/suggestions here. Basically I want a kind of "rally car" look, rather than the more popular lowering with larger wheels. What's the best way to achieve an increase of say 1/2 inch over stock without changing the handling too much? I know there are spacers, but I was thinking more coil-over shocks. I'm looking for compliance over dirt washboard roads without being too stiff on the street (anyone who has driven over the Apache trail here in Arizona will know exactly what I'm talking about). I also don't want to raise the center of gravity or change basic geometry too much. I'm not going for hard core off-road, just occasional excursions over unimproved dirt and gravel roads.

 

[BRGT350]

search, it has been covered a number of times. If you don't want to raise the CG, then you can't raise the vehicle. It is impossible, or highly difficult without some significant work to raise the ride height and not raise the CG. Honestly, raising a car that is already a little top heavy with a short wheel track is just a bad idea. If you want to run off-road, I suggest doing what Team O'Neil does to their Fiesta school cars. They are all production Fiesta's, run snow tires, skid plates, and use Bilstein HD dampers. They don't raise the ride height or change the springs. Heavy duty dampers is all that is done. These cars spend 100% of their time off road.
Team ONeil Rally School 091 by Bryan Redeker, on Flickr

Compliance is a factor of the dampers and not ride height.

I ran a ST down some really nasty dirt roads at LSPR a few years ago and never had an issue with ride height. I did have to stop and clean out the intercooler and wheels a number of times, but POR.
Getting ready to head out for the stages. #fiestamovement #entertainment #lspr by Bryan Redeker, on Flickr

 

[jetflashman]

D2 Racing has a rally coilover suspension for the Fiesta that will adjust ride the height 1.5" +/-
Flatout Suspension also makes a Fiesta coilover for up to 2" lift over stock but either set will cost upwards of $2000 and most likely need mods to the mounting points for the install.

 

[derekbrian]

Suspension of the vehicle

One of my friend has very much liking for car sports. He has with him SUV and for sports purpose , he want to lift his car nearly up to 1 inch. He got my advise but having no knowledge on this subject, I referred him to Yourmechanic as one of my friend was working over there as mechanic. He very finely fitted 1/2 inch coil suspension to lift it over. As 1 inch was not good for safety purpose. As a result his performance in the car rally was excellent.

 

[Iceracer]

The whole thing to remember is that the suspension is deigned to operate at a certain height .
Raising or lowering affects the alignment and wheel travel.
Raising the vehicle also raises the center of gravity and the roll center.

An SUV already has a higher ride height, usually.

 

[BRGT350]

The whole thing to remember is that the suspension is deigned to operate at a certain height .
Raising or lowering affects the alignment and wheel travel.
Raising the vehicle also raises the center of gravity and the roll center.

An SUV already has a higher ride height, usually.

Yes, all of this is 100% correct. A SUV is designed from the ground up to have a taller ride height and the suspension is also configured to deal with a taller cg. A SUV isn't a car that is just lifted up.

The Fiesta is already high with a short wheel base and narrow wheel track, so much so, that the SCCA banned it from autocrossing with the stock non-ST suspension. Raising the car even more is just asking for trouble. There is no reason to raise the ride height of the Fiesta for off road. I have driven both the ST and non-ST Fiesta on all sorts of gravel roads and all that is needed is a skid plate.

 

[Dan creaser]

search, it has been covered a number of times. If you don't want to raise the CG, then you can't raise the vehicle. It is impossible, or highly difficult without some significant work to raise the ride height and not raise the CG. Honestly, raising a car that is already a little top heavy with a short wheel track is just a bad idea. If you want to run off-road, I suggest doing what Team O'Neil does to their Fiesta school cars. They are all production Fiesta's, run snow tires, skid plates, and use Bilstein HD dampers. They don't raise the ride height or change the springs. Heavy duty dampers is all that is done. These cars spend 100% of their time off road.
Team ONeil Rally School 091 by Bryan Redeker, on Flickr

Compliance is a factor of the dampers and not ride height.

I ran a ST down some really nasty dirt roads at LSPR a few years ago and never had an issue with ride height. I did have to stop and clean out the intercooler and wheels a number of times, but POR.
Getting ready to head out for the stages. #fiestamovement #entertainment #lspr by Bryan Redeker, on Flickr

Hi mate , I know it’s 10 years later from when you posted this , but is there any chance you know where to get the dampers or what the modern version of the Bilstein HD dampers could be , or maybe an alternative? Thanks mate , I hope you get back to me 😁