How much more MPG would you get lowering your car 2 inches?

[whokilledthejams]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

In my case, it would probably give me worse mpg, averaged over a year. The Insight's pretty low already, and if there's more than about 4-5" of snow on the roads, it becomes a very ineffective snowplow - which really kills fuel economy :-)

OTOH, I really wish I could figure some way to lower my Toyota pickup about 6", just to make loading it easier. Any mpg gain would be a bonus.

If it's a 4wd, you have torsion bars up front, and leaf springs in back. The torsion bars have adjusters, so you can lift/lower the truck by several inches either way. Leaf springs can be lifted/lowered with blocks. If your rear axle is below the springs, you can remount the axle above them, and get about 4" or so of drop out back.

If it's a 2wd, your best bet is lowering springs in front, with blocks in back.

I intend to lower my xB more (it's currently about an inch below stock), since A) I want the look, and B) another inch and a half in front (between Tanabe DF210 springs and Echo struts) provides all the benefits of an air dam without increasing the frontal area. Sure, I'll face more challenges in terms of terrain I can drive on, but it will be awesome, and cost 1/4 what air suspension does.

[FunkSkunk]

I'm seriously thinking about lowering my 98 Metro with H&R Coils and KYB GR2 struts. Found a couple good sources for each and think I may go for it! I'm going to be buying new tires in the next few months anyway and it might be worth it just to get all the work done at once. Once I get tires I'll have to do an alignment anyway... so why not lower the gas sipper a bit while I'm at it! What do you guys think? Oh and one of my good buddies is a mechanic so doing the alignment might be free for a few cold ones.

[whokilledthejams]

Originally Posted by FunkSkunk

I'm seriously thinking about lowering my 98 Metro with H&R Coils and KYB GR2 struts. Found a couple good sources for each and think I may go for it! I'm going to be buying new tires in the next few months anyway and it might be worth it just to get all the work done at once. Once I get tires I'll have to do an alignment anyway... so why not lower the gas sipper a bit while I'm at it! What do you guys think? Oh and one of my good buddies is a mechanic so doing the alignment might be free for a few cold ones.

Why would you get an alignment after changing tires? At best, you accomplish nothing, at worst you're wasting a lot of money.

Obviously, taking the suspension apart necessitates an alignment. That's just smart.

Of course, if your alignment is off, and you just don't want to ruin new tires, then nevermind me.

[MetroMPG]

FunkSkunk: I'm sure lowering the Metro will help, if partly because it'll reduce frontal area - the front control arms (they factor into projected area on these cars) will be tucked up more. Just a WAG, but I'd say it might be worth a 3-4% improvement in MPG.

[lyd]

Originally Posted by FunkSkunk

I'm seriously thinking about lowering my 98 Metro with H&R Coils and KYB GR2 struts. Found a couple good sources for each and think I may go for it!

What are the good sources?

[FunkSkunk]

ebay here for springs --> eBay Motors: H&R SPORT SPRINGS 96-99 GEO METRO SUZUKI SWIFT 29803-2 (item 200255299788 end time Oct-16-08 21:53:38 PDT)
(or anywhere you can get them for around $230 shipped, some online stores charge waay to much for shipping *should be around $40 bucks)

For the struts ya just gotta search on Google... I haven't found a good source yet. Seems like a bunch of people sell them, just not each one you'll need! *for example some will have the fronts but not the year, and make sure you get the ones for your model year, a lot you'll find will be for 95's and older

Tires I've been playing around with TireRack.com and think about rims and tire combo purchase... we'll see where that goes with the wife. link --> Upgrade Garage - Wheel Search

[FunkSkunk]

Just thought I'd post a picture of a lowered Metro to inspire others...
He's got springs with about 1.5" drop, and 15" rims. looks pretty good and the very small gap between tire and fender has to make a difference on mileage! looks fast but goes like a...