to lower or not to lower......

[KrautBurner]

it looks like I will be inheriting my wife's 2010 Prius for my commuting (110 miles/day mostly at 60-65mph over significant hills)

once the car is mine,
I will be able to actually mod it

I'm wondering if lowering the car is worth the investment

what do you guys think?


I will likely also be doing:
some form of a grille block
smoothing out the underside of the car a little more
and smooth wheel covers

driving slower is not a real option


so far,
when the wife drives the car, we average about 46-48mpg
when I borrow the car for my commute, I average 50-53mpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-l...vehicleid=8292

[KrautBurner]

here are the TRD springs
https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-TRD-Lowering-2010-2012-Prius-New/dp/B007Z5Z9A4?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

here's a few more I found in just a couple min
http://www.autoanything.com/suspensi...A17A120A1.aspx

Tenabe 1.5" lowering
H&R 1.3/1.2" lowering
Eibach 1.2/0.8"

[mcrews]

no it's not worth it.
The immeasurable increase wont translate into enough $$ to justify the cost.
Also, the reduction in ride quality and instant depreciation in value cant be recovered.

But do what you want.
a body kit would do more good and gain the same if not more "slight" increase in mpg. AND (most importantly) not hurt the quality of the ride.

Airing up the tires to 40+ psi would probably give you more mpg than lowering. (and that is free!)

[Frank Lee]

I cut my springs. Made my own spring compressor and cut 'em with a chop saw at the same time I replaced all the struts.

Cost = $0 + time and effort.

Results: looks better, corners better, takes big bumps a little worse, effect on mpg undetermined. Theoretically aero and mpg should be improved but my testing/record keeping can't prove it.

Verdict: For me, for this vehicle, it's a win. YMMV

[dfeldt91]

If you do weight reduction then I would suggest a lowering kit, otherwise I would leave it be since it is going to cost a bunch more than what you would get back in results.

When I do my mods they are either free or cheap. Weight reduction-free, programming the ECU-free, corrugated plastic undertray and grille blocke-$10 but raised fuel economy about 5MPG so it is worth it since I drive my car soo much. I have put 11K miles on it since March so I have saved probably 40 gallons of fuel with that mod. So it paid for itself about 9 fold.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by mcrews

no it's not worth it.
The immeasurable increase wont translate into enough $$ to justify the cost.
Also, the reduction in ride quality and instant depreciation in value cant be recovered.

But do what you want.
a body kit would do more good and gain the same if not more "slight" increase in mpg. AND (most importantly) not hurt the quality of the ride.

Airing up the tires to 40+ psi would probably give you more mpg than lowering. (and that is free!)

Body kits for the Prius are several times more expensive than springs.

Toyota hired Ansys to do CFD analysis of the Prius Plus package, which included lowering springs, small front outboard airdams, new rockers, and rear bumper airdam. Ansys and Toyota claimed a drag reduction from the kit, but it's hard to say how much is from the reduced wheel gap and how much from the body pieces:



I put Tein H-Tech springs on mine, 1.5" front/1.4" rear. They're only marginally stiffer than stock (120 lbs/in stock front vs. 130 lbs/in; 154 lbs/in stock rear vs. 170 lbs/in).

[mcrews]

Everybody to there own thing.
But I stand by my comments.
loss of value when selling, no discernable improvement in mpg. crappier ride.
Those are facts. you can ignore them or dance around them but they are facts.

I was on an Infiniti forum for about 6 yrs. guys would jump on w lowering kits etc yelling all the praise. They usually lasted 6months to a yr after posting there lowered pics. THe fact is cars are engineered (shock!!!!!) to clear specific heights on the roads. cars are also engineer to have the geometry set up a certain way to cover all the bases. shock rebound, sway, rolling etc. When you change the geometry on 1 item then your screw with everything else.
lowering kits are like K&N filters.
The is no significant (or slightly significant) mpg improvement associated with lowering a daily driver.

[mcrews]

...My point on the body kit wasn't about cost of recovering an expense.
neither lower or body kit will do that.
But a body kit "LOOKS" lowered but still rides great.

that's really all the lowering kit is about....unless you race, is looks.