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

Voted for Option 1 but the key words here are "adequate" and "deal breaker", both of which I would interpret strictly and literally. I managed just fine with 7 years of Civic ownership and honestly even in stock form never complained like many did because I was just careful, and ok to be so. Having said that, it is easier to just not have to bother as much, as my GT has joyfully revealed. This (GT) is a car I have toured extensively in all over MH including some very rough rural roads, long trips to Goa and other weekend holiday type parts of MH and daily in the ultimate off roading challenge (i.e. driving in central Mumbai). Given my experience of both cars, GC is a BIG factor and while I can live with 'adequate' and it won't be a deal 'breaker', the car I choose will have to make a compelling case on many other fronts for me to ignore a merely adequate GC (the Kia Carnival is a good example of the kind of unique product I'd make that sacrifice for, for all the other unique advantages it brings.)

On that note, I cannot imagine why we don't have a product like a VW Transporter Camper (4 x 4) in this market. It has MPV comfort inside with proper hardcore 4x4 abilities. I was taken on a Sierra Nevada tour last year in one of those where he actually took a trail and the damn thing climbed on large rocks just like a Fortuner would. All done in a nice MPV style package and seating comfort -it did not have the conventional SUV body roll and yet had killer capabilities. In our country where so many people are fans of MPVs (for their comfort) and also want 4x4 capabilities in their vehicles because of our roads, I think there should be a mature section of the market that would lap up such a product despite it not ticking the "SUV image". Some pics of the actual vehicle we were driven in at the bottom of this post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4807962)

Have extensively toured in my C220 (~145 mm GC), 530d (158 mm) and Civic

Quote:

Originally Posted by laluks (Post 4808045)

Knowing your car and knowing where you go, you can be good with any car.

Practically my Civic had taken me all around the place.

Voted for Option 1.

@GTO and @Laluks: hahaha - it seems we were all 3 trained by one of the best in the business in getting comfortable with mediocre GC. The indomitable Civic which was renowned for its GC woes but what joy it brought in terms of the ownership pleasure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reinhard (Post 4808339)

Are you referring to the jack mount points? It should be on both sides though. Can you post a picture of this extension you mention?

Picked this image from OLX and tried to highlight the part. This is much more pronounced in my 2011 model car. Also with a better angle, you would possibly be able to see that its a slope (forming a triangle with the chassis as base) rather than a sudden bulge,

My guess is the Tank, what do the experts say?

Option 2 for me.

I had to sell off my first gen Figo because of inadequate GC, went for a Scorpio S10 4WD :D.

Got a Swift ZXi+ MT for errands and I scraped it yesterday even, imagine and that was, when I was trying to go below the road to someone's house and it had a sharp dip. But, the Swift has better GC than Figo [ride + handling is better too, steering is evens].

My one car [read SUV] has to have more than average GC, AWD [or 4WD] because of extreme uncertainties on a road travel and even commutes.

Voted for the adequate clearence option.

The requirements also stem from what kind of driving you mostly do. In difficult terrain and one that needs to be handled often, it is prudent to choose the vehicle appropriately. Someone living in the hills for example is better off having the right vehicle for the job than having just a really low slung, very fast car in his garage, simply because he loves them. If you fall into the category of folks who do both exploratory drives and nurbugring stuff, vehicles for each department are more appropriate, ofcourse garage space and finances permitting.

What I find quite perplexing are buying decisions where an SUV is bought to clear two monumental speed humps to make it to work but for no other reason. Thats a rather sad usecase for the car as well as for the owner who for all you know might want to corner carve but is held back by the two speed humps playing havoc with his senses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2000rpm (Post 4808630)

I misunderstood when you said "passenger side door hinge". I thought you were talking about the LHS front door! My bad.

What you are referring to, isn't the fuel tank. Rather its part of the chassis under-body. You can clearly see it here in this picture. -
(I\'m borrowing it from a fellow BHPan\'s thread here.

The red boxes I have drawn denote what you are referring to. They seem to be multi purpose members in the chassis used to provide cabling tunnels + hot air venting-out. More importantly, their slanting angle towards the rear is quite a smart idea. In case of scraping, these will ensure the key components of fuel tank (denoted by arrow) and exhaust plumbing will not get hit. Smart Germans. :D

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

Voted for option 2.

I look for decent ground clearance in my car. That was one of the prime reasons for avoiding a sedan (along with low seating posture) while I was looking for a new car.

I driven across quite a few states in our country. During such trips, I have always come across roads (NHs, SHs, kaccha roads, local bylanes or that small hillock which the contractor calls as speed breaker) which test the ground clearance of my car. Given such experience, I want good GC to help me crawl through such situations, even if it's once in few months.

I have scraped all my cars - WagonR, M800 and even the Seltos! Good part, I am a decent driver. I have always slowed down and mostly crawled through such situations and hence, there's no major damage ever except for some minor surface scratch. But even such minor scraping sound gives me a major heart ache. :)

The roads of Bihar have improved a lot in last decade or so. I remember driving down from hometown to Patna and the road was wide enough for just 2 small cars to overtake or cross each other without going off the road. If there is a bus or a truck, overtaking or crossing needed extra effort plus going on to the shoulder of road. The shoulders used to be atleast 6-8 inches down and enough to break whatever is in your engine bay. I've seen an i20 and a Swift losing their liquids due to this. The same road is now a 4 laned road but there are some patches where one has to go off road. Plus innumerable small roads within city with huge humps where every low slung car scrapes. So yes, we do need a car with acceptable GC although it's not a deal breaker.

I've voted for option 2 .I would love to have a sedan but the roads inside city are far from having a peaceful ride.

Another thing I've noticed is that we've had Santro (previous generation) earlier and a Wagon R now which have near similar GC. The Santro with same load on same speed breaker would glide through but the Wagon R would scrape. Even with good GC but soft suspension, a car with acceptable GC will scrape. So GC is not the only thing to escape the scraping but other factors also pitch in like suspension, wheelbase, overhangs etc.

I voted for option 1 as I prefer cars with a lower stance for that sporty look. One thing however that has changed with the ownership experience of my 320i is that ground clearance requirement is greatly based on region and road quality. For my case, even though a lot of 3 series owners were happy with the ground clearance of the car, on the roads of Jaipur I often encounter large speed breakers that scrape the underbody even when I literally crawl over them. There have been instances that the low ground clearance has made me opt for another car to take on the journey than the BMW. I keep my fingers crossed and hope for better roads everyday!

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee (Post 4808000)

that is what I had thought until the car was fully loaded.

Exactly. I too was very happy with GC of my DZire, until it was loaded with 4 adults and "appropriate" luggage. Then we went on rural Tamilnadu trips where GC reality dawned on me. What looks tall and ample, looks very different after load and on uneven rural roads.

The speed breaker that my undercarriage cleared, scraped my rear bumper. This was at crawl speed, even a child could have walked past us until we cleared this breaker.:Frustrati

My opinion of GC preference = max. load expected (Total # of adult passengers + 1 week worth baggage) + Terrain

I have been to Leh in my Swift Diesel from Mumbai, sure it did scrape a bit at some odd places, but more or less, it has been good. What worries me on Indian roads is the unscientific speed breakers, big potholes or even stones sometimes which I might find myself in at good speeds on the Indian highways, a good ground clearance just gives that added confidence to tide over these.

But to be honest, its in one of my wishlist to own something which has 190 to 200 ground clearance and still handles well, case in point the Fiat Linea which had a 185 or 190 mm (Not sure) ground clearance and still handled quite well, even the SX4 for that matter.