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Old 01-06-2008, 09:52 PM   #21 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,513

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 60.16 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coyote X View Post
The question is how high should the car be off the ground with a flat underside?
I have read: between 1.5 to 3 inches, with 3 being quoted more often (besides 1.5 isn't quite practical for a road car, is it?). But I can't find the $*&$ sources at the moment.

Knowing the underside of the car, your largest source of underbody drag (with a smooth belly in place) is going to be the control arms. So if you can lower the suspension enough to get the belly pan at least level with, or slightly below the bottoms of the control arms, I'd say that's where you've probably achieved the most drag reduction.

How high would that have you off the ground, and what would it do to your suspension geometry?

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