An Open Letter to H&R Springs, originally submitted on 4/10/14 to [email protected]
Hello,
I have fitted a full set of your #28911-1 lowering springs onto my 2012 model USA-spec Mitsubishi i-MiEV. I'm aware that the springs were designed for the Euro-spec car, which is narrower and has less mass. However, I'm hoping that you'll appreciate some customer input, and be interested in developing springs for the USA-spec car.
I haven't put the car on an alignment rack yet, but have not been able to measure any difference in front camber in my home garage. Handling is improved, and I greatly prefer the ride quality of your springs.
However, the rear end poses a problem. With an actual lowering result of 38 mm, the wheel driveshafts measured at a 4 degree upwards angle from transaxle to wheel hub. As I understand, that's too much angle for a CV joint, and I immediately felt a vibration when the car squats under acceleration or is fully loaded. I think that the CV bearings were hitting against the end of their races. To remedy this, I've added 19 mm spacers to the tops of the springs, but still feel a slight rumble under the high-load conditions. It would seem to me that with a wider rear track, the US-spec car would experience less of a change in driveline angle than the Euro-spec car, though that could be overwhelmed by increased mass. I also have a 40 lb trailer hitch mounted on the car.
Any thoughts you can offer will be appreciated. I am a very active owner, so please be advised that this correspondence may be posted to the worldwide http://www.myimiev.com forums.
Sincerely,
Jay Donnaway
Hello,
I have fitted a full set of your #28911-1 lowering springs onto my 2012 model USA-spec Mitsubishi i-MiEV. I'm aware that the springs were designed for the Euro-spec car, which is narrower and has less mass. However, I'm hoping that you'll appreciate some customer input, and be interested in developing springs for the USA-spec car.
I haven't put the car on an alignment rack yet, but have not been able to measure any difference in front camber in my home garage. Handling is improved, and I greatly prefer the ride quality of your springs.
However, the rear end poses a problem. With an actual lowering result of 38 mm, the wheel driveshafts measured at a 4 degree upwards angle from transaxle to wheel hub. As I understand, that's too much angle for a CV joint, and I immediately felt a vibration when the car squats under acceleration or is fully loaded. I think that the CV bearings were hitting against the end of their races. To remedy this, I've added 19 mm spacers to the tops of the springs, but still feel a slight rumble under the high-load conditions. It would seem to me that with a wider rear track, the US-spec car would experience less of a change in driveline angle than the Euro-spec car, though that could be overwhelmed by increased mass. I also have a 40 lb trailer hitch mounted on the car.
Any thoughts you can offer will be appreciated. I am a very active owner, so please be advised that this correspondence may be posted to the worldwide http://www.myimiev.com forums.
Sincerely,
Jay Donnaway
