Ride height reduction
Introduction
Lowering a vehicle is a common tactic employed by auto manufacturers to improve efficiency in production and concept vehicles.
While not a guaranteed improvement (much depends on the initial vehicle design - particularly the underbody), reduced ride height has multiple aerodynamic benefits, including:
- improved fineness ratio (length/height) - slightly reduced frontal area (tires and possibly suspension components) - reduced tire/wheel arch gaps
Lowering may also reduce body roll, and improve handling enough to permit comfortable/safe cornering at higher speeds, thus saving fuel.
A cheap method or a cheap test can be done using coil clamps rather than buying new coils.
Contents
Instructions for mod
Several methods can be used to perform this mod
- Change or cut car wheel springs according to workshop manual
- Alternatively use spring clamps to reduce spring height which reduces overall car height
- Strap car down to force spring compression then heat up (with blow torch) then allow to cool. Note: this is a fairly quick but risky method, overheating springs can cause damage to springs also risk of damage to accidental heating of parts close to springs like wheels
User experiences
Please enter your user name and any relevant data in the table
| User Name | Car Make, Model, Year | Cost of Mod | Time to Perform Mod | MPG Before Mod | MPG After Mod | MPG improvement guess | Instruction Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example Data Saand | Example Data Mazda, 626, 1991 | Example Data $5 USD | Example Data 1 Hour | Example Data 27.2 | Example Data 29.8 | User mod detail or measurement detailed data |
Problems / Consequences of mod
- Some countries require an engineering certificate for this level of car modification
- Ride comfort can be compromised
- If the springs are reduced too much the car can hit its bump stops or cause damage when going over large bumps such as speed humps.
- If a car is lowered too far the car may hit speed humps or the road driving in or out of driveways
References
Forum thread links
Does reducing ground clearance really reduce drag?
52.2 after lowering car - 4 MPG gain (Geo Metro)
Affordable way to lower your vehicle
