Lowering Anyone?

[DogMan12]

Hi -

I was looking at my Miev yesterday, and it looks like it can come down about 4" and be fine with tire clearance.

This would reduce frontal area a lot, and improve range for sure.

Anyone looked into this yet?

 

[acensor]

Hi -

I was looking at my Miev yesterday, and it looks like it can come down about 4" and be fine with tire clearance.

This would reduce frontal area a lot, and improve range for sure.

Anyone looked into this yet?

IMO that would be a risky trade off . Pretty low already. Wife drove up a steep driveway....as "hitting" it bottom edge of front bumper/cowling. Had it been even an inch lower likely would've been pretty serious damage.

 

[alohart]

I was looking at my Miev yesterday, and it looks like it can come down about 4" and be fine with tire clearance.

If you might ever face driving through a flooded section of road, you might want to reconsider lowering your i-MiEV. The battery pack is under the floor and is not sealed, so if you run through deep enough water, you could flood the battery pack which would likely destroy it. That would make lowering a very expensive mistake.

 

[DogMan12]

Yes, the lower leading edge is pretty low now, thinking that the 4" is available in the back. Thanks for your replies!

 

[Don]

More than anything else, I think I'd worry about high centering it. It's one thing to hear the grating of your framerail hitting on a speedbump and another thing when you know it's your $10K battery pack dragging the pavement

Don

 

[aarond12]

There are some wide speed bumps in my neighborhood: Approximately 4 feet deep and maybe 6 inches high at the middle. Road humps might be a better description. With my previous car (Mazda 3), I was able to straddle the side (where there was no bump) on one side of the car and the bump on the other. The i-MiEV won't do this without scraping the battery pack. Yes, seriously. This means the ground clearance is far less than an already-low Mazda 3.

 

[DogMan12]

I'll measure the pack clerance before doing anything. thanks, all. R

 

[acensor]

Given that you can't even be sure that lowering actually would reduce wind resistance or even be sure it wouldn't introduce some really undesirable handling characteristics (aerodynamics and handling isn't always Intuitive ). ..... And all the cautionary notes you've gotten here (from some folks very much inclined to experiment, I might add)..... I'd advise you to brainstorm in some other directions. Unless you've got too much spare time AND spare cash, and good comprehensive insurance

 

[peterdambier]

Touched the ground and mowed the lawn myself once.

I did not expect it, crawling around corner and climbing up a hill. Made an alarming noise but lifting the car and looking under her skirt we could not find a thing.

Our ancient station wagon did even have less clearing and mostly always when parking on a lawn we had repairs afterwards.

 

[DogMan12]

OK, I get the messages...thanks all! R