54.2 after lowering car, 4 mpg gain

[igo]

Is it true that more of the sedan metros are 4cyl? It just seems that most are 4cyl when I browse classified ads.

[me and my metro]

I think all 95 and up 4 door sedans are 4 cylinders. I put a 3 cylinder out of a 95 coupe in my car. Everything bolted in although I had to drill a new hole for the tranny mount. I used the coupe for a pattern. I just plugged in the harness and used the same 4 cylinder computer. Having a complete parts car is very helpful as the engine mounts, the shifter stabilizer bar, axles and even the clutch cable are different.

[cfg83]

me and my metro -

Thanks for the pix. I didn't have the right model in my head. I like the design detail where the top of the rear bumper comes from the rear wheel-well.

I was expecting a "lowered look" too, but you're right, it looks the way it's supposed to look.

CarloSW2

[BrianAbington]

I'd be careful with those cut springs. Lowering springs have extra tension to them that helps to keep your ride smoother.
I know someone whos boyfriend thought her neon would look cool if he cut 2" off of the springs.

The resulting bouncyness caused the lower engine support to snag on a crack in the highway and shot her into a bridge support at 65MPH and now she can't remember anything that happened before the 6th grade.

BE CAREFUL!

[threeta]

watch out for the lowering - in New Zealand you have to have an engineer's certificate and a vehicle modification certificate before they will pass a warrant of fitness. Its really strict over here for exactly the sort of stuff binger said - handling can get real unpredictable. That said - the rulz are more for the kidz who are into 300hp and burn outs - hyper milers are probably not going to be testing the car's stability at 140mph :P

[MetroMPG]

Or 65 mph for that matter

I got a ride in SVOboy's lowered CRX at HybridFest, and it was a little firm, but not uncomfortable. I do wonder about winter though. The summer heat adds a lot of compliance to a suspension (including tires). What's fine at 25 C may not be at -10 C.

[Johnny Mullet]

I also thought of lowering my car and heard the great results from it over at TeamSwift.net, but I also live in the dreaded "Snow-Belt" and I may need the extra height this winter since I still don't plan on driving my truck unless the snow gets really deep.

[me and my metro]

Yes I agree about the snow being an issue with a lowered car. Here on the left coast we only have a few ice days and very little snow. I can drive my 4x4 on those days if it is real bad. Cheers

[metromizer]

me and my metro,
good job with the lowering, it looks better (I own a stock height '96 2 door). With less effective frontal area now, the improved mileage your getting isn't a huge surprise to me at least, thanks for reporting some real numbers on a car like mine.

I am not sure if you know what I'm talking about, but alot of cars experience 'bump steer' after being lowered.

Do you notice anything like that now that your Metro has been lowered?

My Metro is already 'twichy' out on the hiway, I think the result of not enough factory caster, for my liking awayway. Susuki had it right I guess, which on one hand little caster makes it easy for some little old lady to turn into a parking space at 1 mph, but on the other at the expense of high speed stability. I want to lower my car, but adding bump steer to an already twitchy car would drive me crazy.

I'm glad you cut the bump stops down, good call. I lowered my truck back in the the late '80's with these things they call 'lower blocks'. It turned out to be a handful to drive, rebounding off the bumpstops made me regret lowing it, until I cut 1-1/2 inches off the factory bump stops, which cured the problem.

For anyone questioning the act of cutting springs versus buying different ones: cutting any coil spring, reducing it's unwound length, by definition, increases it's overall stiffness. This point is often misunderstood (it's not intuitive) but it is fact.

I can't remember the formula, but if you think of a coil spring as a simple bending beam (like a fishing rod) <that just happens to be coiled up to save space> you can imagine in your mind's eye that the shorter beam, is a little stiffer than the longer one. Said another way, the same force applied to the longer beam, moves the beam further, easier if you will. Because of leverage and that same force having a greater mechanical advantage. Remove 1 coil from a 6 coil spring, and it gets stiffer by some amount (1/6 maybe?)

[me and my metro]

This car does not bump steer at all, in fact it drives great. It is on stock steelies w/ 175/70-13 winter tires, really soft and sticky but are wearing well @ 44 psi. Not the ideal tire for fuel mileage but I've been impressed. I plan to purchase some 155/80-13 Kuhmos after I sell the 90 Metro that I have for sale right now. I got my bearing and seal kit w/ 2nd gear syncro kit for my 3.79 final tranny today. I knew about the cut springs being stiffer than the originals, thanks great info. A