Speaking of ground clearance... I thope they considered Urs' theorem, which says the car will always sit lower than designed for (so keep some harder springs and shorter pullrods at hand).

Concerning 1), you could copy Lotus' reactive ride-height suspension system.

Plooba, the tripod inner piece is bonded to the CFRP shaft and the tripod housing is connected to the gear. There is very little clearance between the shaft and the housing.

Regards
Thomas