Lowering your car

[FLYBYU]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I thought about it and decided it's probably not that hottest idea. I will probably invest the $200 in a scangauge instead and not worry about lowering it. I figure it would be great in the summer, but in the winter I will really be wishing for that 1.5" of clearance back again.

[Super22LL]

I lowered my S10 2" in the front and 3" in the back strictly for looks. It had no effect on FE. But then again, it's a truck. It does handle better but it was sky high to start with. With your car I'd leave it as is and invest in a scangauge. Just my opinion.

[MetroMPG]

Thanks, Neil. I remember that graph about the Pillbug car. The problem there is it's not representative of a typical car, being completely streamlined including a smooth underbelly.

Lowering is one of those questions that has an "it depends" answer.

But for typical production vehicles, I believe it's probably safe to say that the default ride height is not optimal for best aero (thus the number of auto makers who drop their vehicles when pursuing higher efficiency).

Also, would you be able to see a difference at the pumps by lowering? I'd argue probably not. If I recall, Lexus claimed a 0.01 difference in Cd by lowering their big sedan one inch. That kind of improvement would be lost in the noise of normal variation of MPG at fill up time, even if all other factors are pretty consistent.