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You’ve probably heard me talking about my Saturn L Series on another forum. I have a strange question that may not be explained but here goes. On my 2001 L200, the rear end sits unusually higher for some reason than most vehicles. Most all of these do, except for only a few I’ve seen around this year sit level. Dodge Neon is another I’ve seen like this. Anyway, talking about my car, why would some vehicles sit higher in the rear ? It looks like a dragster and I actually hate it and have been trying to find ways to lower it. I’ve tried the lowering kits with little success. It didn’t do much of anything. Other than cut the springs which is something I’ve considered but aren’t happy about attempting, I have no ideas. My guess is it’s possibly to prevent bottom-outs. I just wasn’t happy with it this way and have also thought about changing out the struts and springs but the problem with that is you don’t know what your getting by dong that as well. It may sit the same way and there goes your cash trying something that failed. Well, that’s just me. I never really thought about it when I bought it until after I saw it that way. Maybe somebody knows something what I can do with it or what the cause is. Thanks for any advise and your time.
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They call it “cab forward design”. Dodge started doing it in the mid 90’s with the intrepid, neon, etc. Other companies started following suit. It was about the same time that cars stopped having old fashioned bumpers and went to having bumper skins that are flush with the bodywork like virtually all cars have had for years now. Changing the ride height won’t change the fact that the car looks like it’s pointed at the ground. look at the body lines on all these cars, the natural line along the side of the car that the door handles and the bottom of the windows follow. If you look at that line, you will notice the rear wheel wells are much farther below that line than the front wells, making the body inherently pointed towards the ground in front of the car. This is why the body of the car will always look like that no matter what you do with the ride height.
Why this craze went viral back then and still runs rampant, I don’t fully understand. When Chrysler started doing it with cars, they were marketing them as cab-forward being the new innovation they were leading the industry in. They claim it makes for more interior cabin space, better handling, better visibility, but I never drank that Kool-Aid. You can Google cab forward design if you want to gain a better understanding of its purpose, there’s information out there. I just thought it started the industry making ugly cars that look like bugs. I was actually just looking at my 25 year old Jetta yesterday and appreciating how the wheel wells are aligned with the body lines and it points straight forward. I love the way that car looks.
As a matter of fact I did notice that about the way the car design looked. It appears exactly how you stated with the body style. My Mom has a 2003 L200 and she said the first time she saw that, “It sits higher than mine.” It does but not that much. Anyway, thanks for the tip. Never heard of the term. I will Google it.
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