Whiteline - Roll Centre Kits

Whiteline's philosophy is to activate more grip by increasing the usable grip on offer in a vehicle. While coilover suspension is popular in the tuning world due to its adjustable ride height and damping, some setups can result in a classic mistake with MacPherson strut suspension and low ride height that can lead to a loss of grip.

The roll centre is a virtual point where the chassis interacts with the centre of gravity to create weight transfer and roll. With a MacPherson strut suspension, the typical roll centre location of a well-designed suspension is just above ground level, and a well-designed suspension will have a roll centre fairly low to ground level but slightly above it. However, when the MacPherson strut suspension is lowered too far, the lower control arm will eventually start to point upwards at the outboard end, dropping the roll centre below ground and causing more weight transfer through the springs, making body roll more pronounced.

One solution to this problem is to ensure that the strut works in a fairly defined range. Whiteline offers roll centre adjustment products for certain makes and models, including Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Evo, Subaru BRZ, and Toyota 86. Additionally, one can keep the lowering to an optimal level or use lowering springs instead of coilovers to achieve the optimal lowering range.

In summary, if a driver wants an extremely lowered MacPherson strut car, they must address the subsequent geometry problems to avoid driving a car with too much understeer, which could ultimately lead to a loss of grip and a potential accident.