Lowering and gas mileage

[cammerfe]

There was a blurb in the newspaper today regarding some tests, done by an agency, that reported that a set of Eibach springs, lowering the car by one inch, not only gave better handling, but also improved the MPG of 70 MPH steady driving on a highway by 13 percent.

Their explanation was that the airflow over the car was improved by getting it one inch closer to the ground.

Although that never occurred to me, and I certainly would not have guessed at an improvement of over 10 percent, one of the benefits of switching to Koni coil-overs (See 'Land Speed LS' in the HP section) is the ability to adjust the car's height from the ground simply by running the collars up or down. I'm going to have to get busy.

Has anyone noticed such a phenomenon with their Eibach lowering springs?
KS

 

[De-marko]

It definitely would make sense that lowering the car would reduce the drag.

Now, on my '99 Explorer 5.0, according to the fuel computer it always reads 18.5 mpg on average no matter how fast or slow you go. The front suspension on the Explorer/Mountaineer is height adjustable by adjusting the torsion bars tension by simply turning the adjuster bolt. I lowered the front 3" one afternoon to get a bit of a rake for that very reason, seeing if it would make a difference on MPG. After 3 days of driving, the computer finally showed 18.6 and it has stayed that way for two weeks now! Of course that is not anything to write home about, but I was happy with the .1 improvement. Now if I could just get an air dam.................

 

[FASTLLS]

^
It does make sense..

 

[M4rk]

Better mpg, better looks and more suspension wear. Quite the tradeoff.

 

[brentalan]

That's why the air-sprung Mark VIII lowers itself 1" @ 55 mph.

 

[LEOV5]

With the Eibachs, when traveling on the highway at 80+, I have noticed that it seems to sit lower to me anyway.

 

[laserp viii]

i thought it lower it self at 65 but either way yes of course less drag more mpg yeah baby.....lol