Team-BHP - Ground Clearance: How much do you really need?

I voted for the second option. I have suffered enough with low ground clearance of my previous cars that I cannot go back to a low GC car.
Since I got my Ecosport, I never had a second thought about the roads that I need to take. I have driven in all road conditions and at all times of the day and night because of the high GC and the reliability.

Though the roads have improved a lot in the recent years, you can never predict when a new speed breaker or a new pothole will come up. I can never drive my brother's City as confidently as my car because of the difference in GC.

A car with higher GC will face less damage when going over a unmarked speed breaker that are plenty on our roads.

Also personally I was saved from a mugging in my earlier safari. I could drive over the large stones kept to block the roads with no damage. This could not have happened in a car with low GC. This was on a narrow single lane road, had little chance to reverse and get away quickly.

A long time ago, I damaged the engine fan's blade by entering a deep pot hole which buried one of the front wheels of the Ambassador. Most of the time I ventured into the State Highways filled with potholes, I had to be very careful to pilot the Ambassador Mark II to avoid damaging the engine oil sump - the Isuzu engine was fitted low.
After Safari came, it takes anything thrown at it -until one day last February. It was a ghat road -sorry no road behind a hillock. Some moron who had a dirt bike guided me towards that road. After a couple of kms, I was staring at a stretch filled with boulders and rocks. After covering a few hundred meters, I was drenched in sweat and made a U turn. Safari probably can handle that. One thing is sure - I can't. The earlier experiences have left me with PTSD.

I voted for "adequate is fine & its not a deal breaker". I live in Pune & my office travels generally include complete off-roading for 3-4 months of the year during monsoon when half of the roads are washed off. Potholes become craters that need monster trucks to go over. Yet - I don't mind slowing down and navigating around them patiently.

My current car has one of the highest ground clearances at 209 mm unladen. However, it wasn't even on the list of reasons for which I picked it. My previous car had very soft suspension & just 165 mm of GC. Yet - I never grounded or scraped it anywhere. So no - its not an absolute must for me - at least for now. Future is in the hands of the MSRDC, NHAI and district authorities responsible for rural and suburban road infrastructure. :D

Afterall, the GC on paper is indicative. It doesn't mean the car is go-anywhere if its high nor does it mean the car will beach on every speed breaker if its low. Depends on overall car dimensions, front & rear overhangs, wheelbase & driver's ability to judge the limits while driving.

Instead of ground clearance, I often check out the front and rear overhangs on the car. If front overhang is too much, I don't prefer that model.

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedmiester (Post 4808075)

I cannot go back to a low GC car. Since I got my Ecosport, I never had a second thought about the roads that I need to take.

+1, a very valid point. When Ecosport and Duster were launched, they set the sales chart on fire. There was a genuine demand for vehicles with a higher GC that also have Car like handling. Since the disruption, the segment has only grown exponentially. May be we can call this new generation as "SUV mules" since they are not technically SUVs but are rather beefed up hatchbacks. In the last 7 years, most of the superhit models belong to this category (look at our COTY) and we find them in all price bands. Even entry level hatchbacks these days come with 180mm GC and SUVish stance.

Thanks for asking this question!

Below is my list of cars and their scraping behaviour

Zen Jelly Bean - No Problem
Palio - Would scrape under full load
Civic - Would scrap large breakers even without full load. With full load the situation was worse
Zen Tiger - No Problem (never drove this full load)
Swift 1st Gen - No Problem
City 4th Gen - I would always be scared on large speed breakers, but the car never bottomed
Polo 1.6 (2011) - I thought that this small hatch wont scrape, but IT DOES with full load. The polo has worse ground clearance than the 4th Gen city in my view.

The Polo has a weird extension which comes out from below the Passenger side door hinge. (Any knows what that is?

Scraping my car in almost all the big bumps would be the last thing I would think of. Ground clearance is very important for me. Being a teenager I feel that a car with good ground clearance is like having a license to literally go 'anywhere' without a second thought. We have a Ciaz and the roads we travel is not at all suitable for the car (low ground clearance + soft suspension + long wheel base). I like sedans and their low stance but its not at all suitable for me in my present conditions.

First reason: There are giant speed breakers on my way to home.

Second reason: Scraping is compulsory whenever we go out with five members on board.

Third reason: We go to places(native) where there are literally no roads and slopes and the poor front bumper takes all the beatings.

After facing all these situations we bought an Ecosport and now our Ciaz is happily doing only city runs.

Ground Clearance: How much do you really need?-20200520_131834.jpg

Currently I've added up a front lip which protects the bumper and even that has gone off many times :uncontrol
If there were only small speed breakers and a separate car(Big SUV) for long trips then I would happily buy a low slung sedan.

My daily drive to work covers some rough patches and for 3 months of the year it's like driving on the moons surface. In those months, I am reduced to the speed of a lunar rover as well. On other days, I drive around in the western ghats and sometimes to konkan as well. My Polo has definitely scraped a couple of times, but it has taken me places that you wouldn't normally take a Polo to, without any complaints as such. I'm fine with an adequate GC.
However, my next car will mostly be a tall boy but that's for the clearance between my vertebrae rather than the car and the ground :)

I've used and driven predominantly sedans all my life. I've taken my cars to many hinterlands without scraping it's underbelly. But then it had more to do with careful planning than the GC coming as a saviour. Like if I book a resort in a hill station, I always check with them if my car can comfortably access the place. Many a times i've had to change the place of stay because the last mile road to a place is unpaved or have no roads where only a SUV can take me there. See how I've possibly lost out on a beautiful vacation on a secluded hill top for I missed out on those few millimetres of GC :). Many a times i was caught off guard when I had to take a forced detour or traverse an unfamiliar route which you're doing first time etc. The constant fear one have is about the road ahead.

Given a chance I would any day prefer a car with high ground clearance even at the cost of losing out on a bit of handling. I always upsize my car's tyres with an eye on upping the aspect ratio too so as to gain some bit on GC. May be I'll opt a low slung car again the day we all forget What was GC (Read better roads everywhere!)

It doesn't matter how high the GC of your car is. It still needs a bit of patience and skill to get over a tricky speed breaker or a bad stretch of broken roads. Key is to take it slow and modulate the suspension travel in your favour. I've seen fully loaded XUV 500's and Innova drivers approaching speed breakers in a hurry and scraping their under body badly. It's not about what you've, it's about how you do. One has more peace of mind while driving in night on pothole ridden and poorly lit roads or on a rainy night if you're sitting high on GC. On such a day, all it takes is a 15-20 cm tall stone for your expensive low slung, loaded to the hilt Merc, Audi or BMW come to a screeching halt and keep you stranded in the middle of a night in a no man's land. Same plight on a two lane highway if you're forced to go off the road on a rainy night by a speeding moron coming at you or for that matter you're blinded by the high beams . Am I going overboard? Probably not, i've had friends who got stuck at nights with wheels bend or with axles/ tie rod broken for exact same reason I shared above..

Just wondering if this poll would've cut the mustard in countries with 10 lane motorways and largely beautiful roads. We're here in India and GC is such an important element on our cars. The SUV frenzy our country has been witnessing since few years has lot to do with poor condition of our roads and people want peace of mind while at the wheels and the last thing they want is to worry about their car beaching on a speed breaker. It's not just for the butch looks nor for the heavy road presence one buys an SUV I feel. Hence GC is important and I voted for option 2 - I absolutely need a very high rating. Better safe than sorry.