Keeping plot spacing intact using Cowplot align

Question

I am trying to make some 'close stacked' plots using Cowplot. I can get the effect I want using the following MWE:

library(ggplot2)
library(cowplot)

disp_plot <- ggplot(data=mtcars,aes(x= hp,y=disp)) + geom_point()+ 
             theme(plot.margin = unit(c(0.3,0.3,0.0,0.15), "cm"),
             axis.text.x =element_blank(),axis.title.x =element_blank())
mpg_plot <- ggplot(data=mtcars,aes(x= hp,y=mpg)) + geom_point()+
            theme(plot.margin = unit(c(0.0,0.3,0.0,0.15), "cm"),
            axis.text.x =element_blank(),axis.title.x =element_blank())
qsec_plot <- ggplot(data=mtcars,aes(x= hp,y=qsec)) + geom_point()+
             theme(plot.margin = unit(c(0.0,0.3,0.3,0.15), "cm"))
mp <- plot_grid(disp_plot, mpg_plot, qsec_plot,ncol = 1,align='v', axis = 'l')

Notice that mpg is not the same vertical scale as the others. To get the plots to be the same vertical size as well, I'd like to use "align='hv'" in plot_grid. However, this causes the spacing set by the margins to revert and the figures fly apart again. Is there a way I can preserve my spacing?

Answer 1

Not cowplot, but this seems to work.

library(egg)
library(grid)
grid.draw(ggarrange(plots=list(disp_plot, mpg_plot, qsec_plot)))