slammed or hellaflush good for FE?

[aerohead]

The frontal area of the tires has almost disappeared within the body.That's good.
Lowering the bus is the same as lengthening it,as far as the air is concerned.That's good.

[botsapper]

'Round these parts, see so many lowered, slammed and suspension travel deficient vehicles of all stripes. Extreme & improper lowering creates sparks & concrete dust clouds, only means velocity killers. Stiffer springs and unbalanced rates not only give sore butts, they also create detrimental bump steer and blow out static & dynamic camber. Extreme camber changes/wheel alignments affect tire rolling resistance. Like wearing stilettos, sacrifice for great fashion.

[Gone2]

When I mentioned lowering having better handling, I should have specified with an appropriately set up suspension. I took for granted that everyone would already be thinking of a properly modified suspension. I see way too many "ricers" that should be banned from the road. And the sparks are purposeful as certain people think they are cool to do. But yes, it kills velocity. On that note though, is there a way to see how effective lowering is of FE?

[Sven7]

I saw no noticeable FE improvement from lowering my Rabbit about 2". It's got McPherson struts up front so the geometry is messed up, but the reduction in body roll is well worth it. The only thing I've scraped on dry ground (as opposed 4" of snow) is the rockers on abnormally large speed bumps.

It also goes without saying that if you're lowering (or lifting) a car you get an alignment afterward to straighten things back out. Not doing this would just be neglect.

[mcrews]

I run an IMPUL full body kit and it is 2" lower with the standard factory suspension.
I would say that was worth 10%+ in my mpg.
Before I found this site, I was getting 25+mpg (epa 22hwy) with just the body kit, no mods and conservative driving.
Recently I lowered the front end 1.25". (also taller tire) I hit my best long distance trip mpg of 32+

[ProDarwin]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Tire to fender and suspention contact is just going to add more drag.

You do realize that on many of the slammed cars, the tires don't actually contact the fenders or the suspension, right? (ignore the joke VW with 20 deg of negative camber. The only rub is usually at full lock on the inner splash shields or fender liners.

[Sven7]

Lol, for real. That red car's probably on bags.

[racerc2000]

but yea. a slammed car lets just say fitted. tire clearance is min. tires dont stick out no extreme camber. no bump steer due to a corrective kit.

if you tossed on some smooth wheel covers. would it do away with the need or improvement found with side skirts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=kgU3jitIQxQ

now I know it doesnt fit the most bang for the buck. and most people here would prob say the gains are not worth the cost.

but the point being if done correctly (most expensive and time consuming way) aside from speedbumps and driveways. if driven in an eco way it wouldnt be worse? or detrimental?

what about a belly pan? does it stop making improvements? or is that only if you have a huge front lip on top of mods like this?

obviously some is a joke. some is a scene and impractical. but going beyond that and picking and choosing specific aspects of these mods.

fitted wheels flush with the body, body modded to sit tight around the tires. light weight wheels. low RR tires, proper zeroed alignment,

I mean its possible right? to have your cake and eat it to?

[jrscteg]

Originally Posted by racerc2000

but yea. a slammed car lets just say fitted. tire clearance is min. tires dont stick out no extreme camber. no bump steer due to a corrective kit.

if you tossed on some smooth wheel covers. would it do away with the need or improvement found with side skirts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=kgU3jitIQxQ

now I know it doesnt fit the most bang for the buck. and most people here would prob say the gains are not worth the cost.

but the point being if done correctly (most expensive and time consuming way) aside from speedbumps and driveways. if driven in an eco way it wouldnt be worse? or detrimental?

what about a belly pan? does it stop making improvements? or is that only if you have a huge front lip on top of mods like this?

obviously some is a joke. some is a scene and impractical. but going beyond that and picking and choosing specific aspects of these mods.

fitted wheels flush with the body, body modded to sit tight around the tires. light weight wheels. low RR tires, proper zeroed alignment,

I mean its possible right? to have your cake and eat it to?

I think its possible, I don't think hellaflush was the correct term you were looking for, maybe stanced. I think with tires that fill the wheel wells wheels that come out to the fenders would create less passage for air to get pulled into the wheel wells. Then put moonies on the wheels. Your pretty much creating a form of wheel skirt without the skirt.

[ProDarwin]

I say yes.

Lowering the car obviously reduces CdA. This is good.

Tightening the wheel gap reduces air turbulence. Actually, if you look at manufactuers cars from the 90s then the same cars today, you'll notice the fenders are held much tighter to the wheels from the factory - in diameter, not in width. Part of the issue of doing it yourself is that many cars have fenders that have an outer surface not perpendicular to the road - so the closer you move the wheel to being flush up top, the more it sticks out on the bottom. (see this thread: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...g-20278-2.html)

I know if I end up going to the FE @ Watkins in April, I'd bring a car that was "stanced" with lower drag in mind.