Hello -
At 166K miles, my mechanic told me that my OEM shocks were worn out. The proof was a dark oil leak coming out of my front driver's side shock.
I also considered getting new lowered springs at that point, but instead just went with a new set of KYB shocks (shocks are not springs). After the new shocks were installed, I realized that my car was now riding *higher*. I hadn't measured my ride height before installing the shocks, but I did have pictures of the before and after (tires were also rotated and aligned, that's why one is covered with aluminum tape and one is not) :
From these pictures, I extrapolated the ride height to be about 3/4" higher with the new shocks. Therefore, I have been driving a "lowered car" for who knows how many miles. My mechanic showed me that he could push in my old shocks with his thumb and they wouldn't return to their old position. Basically, I've been riding on my springs.
.
Now I have an increased frontal area, maybe :
3/4" * ~8" (tire width I think) * 2 tires = 12 square inches
Because I don't have a belly pan or an air dam, I expect my new shocks to lower my MPG.
One reason I didn't consider lowering my car in the past was that I was paranoid that my "one size up" tires might rub the interior wheel-well. Now I know I was driving an already-lowered car. Therefore, I am 85% sure that I have the option of lowering the car in the future ( Here are some Eibachs on
ebay ).
CarloSW2