I thought the springs in the rear were "stronger" to offset the battery weight? Basically, to not allow the rear to always be sagging a bit due to the ever present HV battery.

 

Rear springs are stiffer in FEH than non hybrid.

 

So would there be any added MPG benefit to lowering the escape? My feeble, non-engineering brain seems to think that a lower car means a lower resistance--is this correct thinking? or will it even make a difference?

 

Sure it would lower the wind resistance. Not sure how you'd do it and not mess up anything else like CV joint angles, alignment caster and camber, ground clearance, ride and handling, steering ...........

 

That's the easy part--I've lowered cars in the past and never had any issues - typically with 4x4s anything more than 2" is going to cause problems. As far as I've seen, there's not a spring kit out there for the escape that gives more than 2" anyways-unless you do something really custom.

I guess my real question is: Would a wind signature that is two inch shorter make that much of a difference?

 

I thought wind resistance (ie drag) had to do with frontal area. Lowering the hybrid, would not change the frontal area, and just 2" should not change the under-vehicle-to-road-surface turbulence all that much.

What would help, is to smooth out the undercarriage. Covering it with "body panels" (don't know what else to call them) usually helps. Matter of fact, I am surprised that Ford didn't do this (does Prius?).

 

That could work--some bolt on ABS panels (or even sheet metal could work).

 

No, the Prius doesn't have anything like this either. I wasn't totally sure about this, but I work at a car dealer & we just happen to have a used 07 Prius right outside the door from where I'm sitting so I went out & looked at it.

~John

 

I have the 08 FEH AWD and the small bump/road cracks and imperfections ride is very harsh and jarring. Speed bumps are almost non existing. Weird but true.

I am interested in replacing the shocks and struts to get a smoother ride on the minor road imperfections without harming the ride over the bigger stuff. I run 42 psi so I can get better MPG's.

I guess what I want to know is, has anyone changed their shocks and noticed an improvement?

 

I kind of wonder what you were driving before. The FEH seems to me to have a pretty smooth ride for a small SUV. The speed bumps are no surprise. The suspension is intended to handle large bumps smoothly. Have you tried reducing tire pressure? The tires handle smaller bumps and then the suspension reacts to the larger ones.