Benefits of 1 inch lowering on 1990 Integra?

[War_Wagon]

I found some used lowering springs for my Integra for around $80. They lower the car 1 inch in the front and 1.5 inches in the rear. I get that any lowering can be helpful, but I am wondering if this is too little of an amount to make it worth the effort? I am sure if I wait long enough I could find some that lower it more, but can anyone give me an idea of what kind of results I would see in increased FE on this car with a 1 inch drop? 1%? 5%? 0.5% etc. Thanks!

[scivicblu83]

if you are not too worried about ride quality buy 63 dollar ebay adjustable coilover springs that have threaded aluminum sleeves that let you raise or lower up to four inches. initially the rides is stiff, as the break-in they get softer. they let you experiment with infinite adjustability. spend the extra 10 or so dollars for the ones with the number labeled sleeves so you don't have to count threads to get them even. they are all interchangeable in typical honda fashion Compatibility:
88 - 91 Honda Civic / CRX
88 - 96 Honda Prelude
92 - 00 Honda Civic
93 - 97 Honda Del Sol
90 - 01 Acura Integra
includes all submodels

[02ws6]

Ive had those ebay coils and those things scared me.. lol..

I don't know how much of a FE gain you will make of this but if you enjoy any sort of spirited driving $80 is worth the money for a few smiles in the twisties.

Do you know the name brand or spring rates?

If they are signigicantly stiffer you can reduce braking in the corners and carry more speed/less throttle coming off the corners.

And depending on what spring they are you won't get your back beat out of alignment dailying this thing.

[NeilBlanchard]

Lowering a car reduces the frontal area by a tiny amount. If your tires are 7" wide, then lowering it an inch reduces the frontal area by a whopping 14 square inches, or less than a 1/10th of a square foot (0.0972 sq ft to be precise).

A typical car has a frontal area of say 22 sq ft and has a Cd of about 0.33. That means the CdA is 7.26 sq ft. If you reduce the Cd to 0.32, then you reduce the CdA to 7.04 sq ft -- which is more than 2X the reduction you would get by lowering the car 1".

You can probably easily achieve a Cd of 0.30 or better by doing a couple of the simpler ecomods; like grill blocks, smooth wheel covers, rear wheel skirts -- let alone Kamm backs, belly pans, and boattails.

[Beau]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Lowering a car reduces the frontal area by a tiny amount. If your tires are 7" wide, then lowering it an inch reduces the frontal area by a whopping 14 square inches, or less than a 1/10th of a square foot (0.0972 sq ft to be precise).

A typical car has a frontal area of say 22 sq ft and has a Cd of about 0.33. That means the CdA is 7.26 sq ft. If you reduce the Cd to 0.32, then you reduce the CdA to 7.04 sq ft -- which is more than 2X the reduction you would get by lowering the car 1".

You can probably easily achieve a Cd of 0.30 or better by doing a couple of the simpler ecomods; like grill blocks, smooth wheel covers, rear wheel skirts -- let alone Kamm backs, belly pans, and boattails.

This a very nicely written summary. Very respectful; I appreciate that.

[euromodder]

If the car needs new springs anyway, it's worth going lower for the small benefit it gives.
But combined with the installation costs - unless you do it yourself - it's one of the mods that you'll never recoup.

[ecomodded]

My car has a clearance of only 4 1/2" stock, your cars clearance may not be much better.

What i do want for my car is air suspension, so i can drop it low on the highway and raise it on the back roads.
One day i hope to do it..

[aerohead]

Fiat is currently producing a JEEP and Dodge RAM pickup with air suspension which lowers the vehicle for better mpg on the highway.
The air wants to see a car which is 5X as long as it is high.Anything you do to lower a car,moves it in this direction,improving it's effective fineness ratio.

[mcrews]

Dont forget to get an alignment, another 50-70 bucks

anything more than an inch (IMHO) really deteriorates the ride quaility.

reakky, how often are you whipping thru turns as an eco-modder???

[War_Wagon]

The springs are Eibach Pro-kits, 4010-202 & 4010-201. I was going to do it myself, mainly just because I was bored. But it doesn't sound like I'd see much of a return. Maybe if they get down to $40 I'll grab them.