Optimum ground clearance of a Car? & how it is measured...

[Shakensoul]

I'm reviving this thread after a long time.

I plan to take my WagonR up to Leh next year. As I understand, the ground clearance of the WagonR is 165mm at stock. I have changed the tyres from 145/70 R13 to 165/65 R13, so has this lowered the car even more ?

Will it be safe to install metal spacers of about 2" to the shock to increase the GC, or what should be max that I can go for ? This is only for the trip and I'll remove them once I'm back.

I googled and it led me to tbhp

[tsk1979]

Your GC is more now by around 6mm
165*0.65 = 107mm
145*0.7 = 101mm
Metal spacer will change the handling drastically. We had NE118. and it used to bottom out on all the spead breakers. We got GC raised by 1" (25mm approx) and the car became a little wobbly on fast cornering.
2" may be an overkill, go for 1" spacer
Also try to get a sump guard under the engine.
With careful driving you will be okay

[Shakensoul]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Your GC is more now by around 6mm
165*0.65 = 107mm
145*0.7 = 101mm
Metal spacer will change the handling drastically. We had NE118. and it used to bottom out on all the spead breakers. We got GC raised by 1" (25mm approx) and the car became a little wobbly on fast cornering.
2" may be an overkill, go for 1" spacer
Also try to get a sump guard under the engine.
With careful driving you will be okay

Thanks for clarifying. Will go for 1" spacer.

Also by sump guard, do you mean like a skid plate under the engine , or only for the sump ?

[tsk1979]

the oil sump is usually the lowest part on the engine, so its the same thing.
I am not familiar with Wagon R undercarriage, so can't really comment on what is vunerable.
For comparison, the most vunerable part in the indica is power steering system(hose pipe) and the alternator/Power steering/Brakes pully. Very awkward location, if you hit spead braker fast, can get damaged!

[kailashnj]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Your GC is more now by around 6mm
165*0.65 = 107mm
145*0.7 = 101mm
Metal spacer will change the handling drastically. We had NE118. and it used to bottom out on all the spead breakers. We got GC raised by 1" (25mm approx) and the car became a little wobbly on fast cornering.
2" may be an overkill, go for 1" spacer
Also try to get a sump guard under the engine.
With careful driving you will be okay

Hi TSK

The calculation that you have provided seems to be useful, but I had one question - Radius of the trye will also effect the GC right? By this, I mean 165/65 R13 will have certain GC but the same in 165/65 R14 will have a different clearing. Your calculation is true if the radius does not change right?

I am asking this because I want to change the tyres on my baleno and wanted to ensure that the GC does not reduce.

Also as per your calculations - following would be the results for my car upsizing
Stock - 185/65 R14 - 120.25 mm
Upsize 1 - 195/60 R14 - 117 mm
Upsize 2 - 205/55 R14 - 112.75 mm

Another option that I was thinking on was 205/60 R14 - 123 mm. Is this a good upsize for Baleno. PS:- Bridgestone website tyre selector - Upsizing is shown in the availabe options and this was one of the option there. Question here is will upsizing to 205/60 (by the calculation) improve the ground clearance and also the error over the stock is only 0.9%.

Can someone please help me with this information and also tell me the issues that I may face if I upsize to 205/60 R14. I think 205/60 will fit in the current stock alloys. Please give your suggestions at the earliest.

Regards,
Kailash

[tsk1979]

I am just talking about sidewall height. To get actual radii you have to add 14" or 13"
185'60 on 14" rims will not fit the wagon R. The tire will touch and you will have issues
Its not advisable to increase the diameter of the wheel(total diameter, tire+rim) by more than a few mm.
Upto 10-15mm increase is okay, but any more than that its trouble

[kailashnj]

tsk,

The stock tyres in my Baleno are 185/65 R14 and I am thinking of upsizing to 205/60 R14 as mentioned in the earlier post. Do you think there will be a problem.

Also all the Tbhpian gurus, kindly provide me with some input on this.

Regards,
Kailash

[aneeshanand]

Hi Kailash,

somebody have already started a thread on this..
i saw it many times ...by the way, you should consider the upgrade of tyres with care. Isn't there a chance your higher profile could touch the body while cornering? Also you will get an error factor on the odo and speedo too.

Me too have the same 185/65 R14 on my verna, and quite happy with that, as Tbhp gurus told me to stick with that one. But for speedsters who need more grip on the road, will go farther, i know.

Consider the Michelin, if you are to that, coz they have got a name in that sector.

[ajaysurfs]

How is ANHC's GC (also for that matter Jazz) of 160 mm work out? Any experiences?
I have seen on most of Linea's posts's (Esp. the diesels with a lower GC as compared to petrols) that the front engine covers scraps majority of the time.

My Indica V2 usually scraped on silencer and one day the silencer pipe broke.

[diabloo]

Originally Posted by ajaysurfs

I have seen on most of Linea's posts's (Esp. the diesels with a lower GC as compared to petrols) that the front engine covers scraps majority of the time.

I thought this problem was only with Hyundais...

My Indica V2 usually scraped on silencer and one day the silencer pipe broke.

Scraping is ok. But breaking parts, not ok.

How is ANHC's GC (also for that matter Jazz) of 160 mm work out? Any experiences?

Fully loaded it (not the front engine cover or the silencer) scrapes few huge speed-breakers. But there is nothing to worry. Reason, my friend's NHC with 160mm GC has done 5 years in Bangalore. Occassionally it was scraped the few speed-breakers and the service engineer has certified there is no problem with underbelly or chasis.

Note: I think it also depends on driving style. Once we saw a BMTC Volvo bus's rear overhang hit the speed breaker. But, when we went over it, the car didn't scrape.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ajaysurfs

How is ANHC's GC (also for that matter Jazz) of 160 mm work out? Any experiences?

Most Honda's scrape over large speedbreakers. One reason is the lower (in this case 160 mm) ground clearance. The second is the soft rear suspension (especially in the Civic). Combine these two factors, load the rear seat with 3 passengers = scrape.

[Yamaha100]

Hi Folks,

As i understand the important factors which decide will your car underscape while moving over a speed-breaker are GC, load on the car, how soft/hard the suspensions, wheel base and vehicle-speed are. We can ignore other factors if they do not play a major role.

I also read that the manufacturers print only the maximum ground clearance meaning the measurement taken with zero people on board and no fuel !! Is it true, then its unbelievable.

Now for any buyer to make any sense of the specification I think we need to have the GC values with minimum load (1 person + half fuel tank) and maximum load (5 people + full fuel tank + 50 kgs of baggage). This way people will have.

Does any manufacturer release these information? if not any knowledgeable folks on this forum can give some numbers for the popular cars.

I have put down the wheelbase and GC information below. Now if someone can post the groundclearance when these cars are fully loaded.


Car Swift Figo Polo i20
Wheel Base (mm) 2390 2489 2456 2525
Ground Clearance (mm) 170 168 168 165

[mithun]

Yamaha100: Most of the cos will the GC for the unloaded condition. It's difficult to get the data unless you try it yourself !

[narendra.vw]

Let me tell you my experience in m/van . I added extra shocks in the front, it did wonders in handing. Pitching stopped, bottoming stopped .
Same I did for m/esteam front& back suspension. 4 people on board Road hump was like a breeze. Suspension was bit stiffer.( fiat front shocks were used.)
Note: In f/w drive cars silencer pipe is the culprit in most cases. Changing silencer rubbers also helps.

[vinaydas]

absolutely love the Palios GC (170??). I have performed mild off roading feats with this Car