What effect does lowered suspension have on MPG?

[Flipper_1938]

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[Freedan]

My mods:
AFE intake
MI lowering spring
23mm UR rear anti-sway bar
Tanabe Medalion touring exhaust

I'm not sure about just lowering the car, but with the mods I did, my MPG went down drasticlly.

The urge drive spiritedly is just too much!! When I install that turbo kit that MI is selling, I just know my MPG will drop even more. :cry:

[thebarber]

lowering won't have any effect on the mpg assuming you drive the same.

[Flipper_1938]

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[brg88tx]

i think lowering does help slightly. i browse on ecomodder website and many talk about lowering, moon caps, and belly pans to reduce drag.

[fnkngrv]

After installing my AMR springs my MPG has not changed whatsoever.

[sickpuppy1]

Lowering it the amounts we do and at the speeds we travel, it wont help mileage. Now if it were raised like a 4x4 then you would notice. The air turbulence under a raised vehicle creates more drag and lowers mileage. going lower creates downforce and actually more traction as a vehicle is pulled toward the ground. But this applies more to race vehicles that have smooth underpans to eliminate pockets and such....an also travel at much higher speeds than we do. LOL or even CAN,lol Aerodynamics and airflow management......

[MadMax]

I think it causes a decrease with some people because they drive faster since the car handles better. Same is probably true with the rear sway bar.

Otherwise, the differences should be nominal...

Cheers! M2

[rningonfumes]

If you're one to chase MPG, it is a factor. If you're one who drives normally who happens to enjoy the mileage of the car, then it might not be too much of a difference.

For me, I notice some easier cruising speeds and I was able to *cough* coast a bit longer when the chance availed itself.

[Flipper_1938]

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[fnkngrv]

^ Lowering is not going to be only for looks. My stability as well as turning radius increased ENORMOUSLY! This along with the rear sway bar have made driving on the open road a joy. I am not fighting the cross winds at all really. This was extremely apparent during my recent almost 1700 mile trip from Maine to Alabama. I ran into high winds during periods as well as high winds and heavy rains. With the springs and sway bar the car took it with ease and like a champ. I can easily compare this because in 08 I made 2 trips from Maine to Tennessee and those trips were pure hell. I was blown all over the road. It was the same when I bought the car in Minnesota in 06 and drove it to Maine 4 days after buying it.

[fnkngrv]

I'm not really chasing mpg's, but don't like taking it in the butt for the sake of good looks either.

I put a set of 17's on my old echo and it killed my gas mileage and overall acceleration by a noticable amount. After the first set of tires wore out, I went back to my steel wheels and hub caps.

For looks, I would like to drop it a little...but I don't want it to drop me below the 40 mpg that I am used to getting.

If you would like good food for thought check out my thread if you haven't yet on my trip summary this week:

http://yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31696

I averaged over 36.5mpg with all of my mods and the car having a close to maximum payload...to me that speaks volumes.