Front Air Dam / Lowered Vehicle

[PAFirefighter11]

Hey all,

I finally found a Honda HX. It's a '97 with 153k on the odo. Picked it up for CHEAP. Put $700 into it today (New front tires, alignment, emissions/safety inspection, front pads & rotors, wipers). It's a bit riced out but nothing horrible I guess. Large fart pipe out back being cured tomorrow. It has brand new adjustable coil overs as well as a front lip/air dam. Now, I'm in this 100% for MPG, not looks or speed (It's a Honda after all). Am I going to see better MPG with the car being lowered (Less drag under the vehicle)? Also, with the lip, same thing... better MPG or should I pull it?

Photos:




Thanks!

[Sporty Modder]

Lowering decreases the frontal area, so it is good, as long as you can live with the ride.
The airdam decreases the turbulance under the car by pushing it to the side instead of going under and bouncing around on motor and suspension componants. A belly pan is more effective but alot more work. IIRC you get 75% the effectiveness w a airdam but 1/12 the work. Check to see if the airdam is lower or the same height as the lowest componant under the car. If it is you might benifit from not removing it. If it is alot lower than the lowest point it might benifit you to remove it.
So depends, only way to know for sure is test it.

[serialk11r]

I think people who do underbody trays tend to see very little noticable improvement, maybe just skip that.

Reducing ride height will lower the drag from the tires, which could be a significant improvement. Supercars with their 300+ width rubber have high drag despite often having a great streamlined shape. Also having the tires more inside the wheel wells probably reduces the drag from air hitting the wheels/tires themselves, but that's only a guess.

Also, unless you hate the sound, why remove the fart pipe?

[2000mc]

I'm not sure from the pic, but if there's a ground affect on the bottom of the rear bumper, then I would take that piece off. Otherwise the mods mentioned should be helpful for mileage

[PAFirefighter11]

Thanks a ton for the info guys.

I hate the look of the large can. I'm just really not a fan. Here's a better cell shot so you can see how I'm going to cut it. I'll be removing the large diameter tip and leaving the smaller diameter pipe:

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

I'm not sure from the pic, but if there's a ground affect on the bottom of the rear bumper, then I would take that piece off. Otherwise the mods mentioned should be helpful for mileage

No rear lip that I see. It does have rear mud/splash guards. I've heard they should be removed?

[aerohead]

An article about the Ford Shelby GT 500 Mustang reported that all the SVT nose mods were directed towards stability between 155 mph,and 200 mph as well as directing more cooling air into the heat exchangers of the bigger engine.
In addition,the low splitter would restrict the air's access to the under body,developing downforce,balanced so as not to lift the rear.
The mods happened to cut drag a small amount (no measurement was offered)but the premise was stability,not drag reduction.
I'd vote with the 'leave it all on ' crowd.

[deejaaa]

from the pic, the fart can might be the lowest hanging part. i would straight pipe it.

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by aerohead

An article about the Ford Shelby GT 500 Mustang reported that all the SVT nose mods were directed towards stability between 155 mph,and 200 mph as well as directing more cooling air into the heat exchangers of the bigger engine.
In addition,the low splitter would restrict the air's access to the under body,developing downforce,balanced so as not to lift the rear.
The mods happened to cut drag a small amount (no measurement was offered)but the premise was stability,not drag reduction.
I'd vote with the 'leave it all on ' crowd.

Great, thanks for the info. I'll leave that stuff as is. I'm going to leave it as low as it is now, but add some new arms to level out the camber.

Originally Posted by deejaaa

from the pic, the fart can might be the lowest hanging part. i would straight pipe it.

I took care of the fart pipe tip for now:

[UltArc]

I can't stand the sound of fart cans. That raaaah whiney sound. Ugh.

I think it looks good. It's clearly been adjusted to one's preference, but it is very subtle compared to most modified Hondas I see. Belly pans aren't too bad, but being lower is going to make it harder unless you can have it lifted.

The air dam almost always helps. Pushing the air to the side, to me, is much better than letting more air get underneath and hit every little thing in the way, and there be more potential to slow it down- even for the increase in frontal area.

When I finished my underbody, I kept the air dam off. I don't really do ABA testing when I know something works...if its not something flimsy or controversial, but a proven effective mod, then I don't bother. With my underbody totally smooth, why keep an increase in frontal area?

But as others have mentioned, if there are pieces that are lower than the normal height, keeping it on and building an underbody off of that may be the best idea.