With the winter just around the corner, people are again wondering if the Gen III's ground clearance would pose a threat. The Prius is generally said to be low slung, so I set out to find out how it compares to other sedans and hatchbacks. I used the minimum ground clearance published on US/Can websites for this comparison. Of course, body design, trim levels, and ground effects kits will affect real world performance but that gets subjective. Sadly, Nissan/Infiniti, Hyundai, Volvo, and the three domestics don't publish ground clearance data. The Prius is 5.5" Acura TSX: 5.9" TL: 5.9" Honda Civic: 6" Accord: 5.7" Insight: 5.7" Fit: 5.9" Kia Forte: 5.9" Forte Koup: 5.5" Nissan Altima: 5.4" (from Edmunds) Lexus IS250: 5.3" IS350: 4.9" HS250h: 6.1" Mazda 3: 6.1" Mazda 5: 6" Mazda 6: 5.1" Mitsubishi Lancer: 5.5" Subaru Impreza: 6.1" Legacy: 5.9" Toyota Yaris: 5.8" Avalon: 5.3" Corolla: 5.8" Camry 5.5" Matrix: 5.8" Matrix XRS: 5.3" VW Jetta: 5.5" Golf: 5.4" Golf GTI: 5.0" Passat: 5.2" It appears that the Prius is in same ballpark as everybody else. The front lip does dip low, but still, snow tires will be far more influential that the height of the car. Last year, snow fall here in Winnipeg wasn't heavy so I didn't test its limits. This year, I have set of Nokian Hakka 5 ready to rock. Keep an extra blanket, a cell phone, and a shovel in the car in case you get stuck.
Made it through last winter without much trouble on stock tires! Drove slow, also good for mpg's, parked in unplowed lots and passed fishtailing pickups! May get Blizzaks this year, it's supposed to get rough up here!
Always nice to see those numbers. I ran mine through about 5-6" of fresh stuff, last year in a parking lot. It did fine even up a slight hill with snow flying over the hood. With snow tires on of course.
Good advice, Need snows for mine also!! My 17s are like banana peels My car seems to have better traction in B mode? Had average winter last year...50 inchs! I need a 4wheeler with a plow!!
Park it in 7". ABS protects the electrectic moter to such a high level that you can't rock out like traditional car. Bring a rope to tie to tow hooks in front for quick pull. Get 4 good snows regardless.
Those accustomed to SUV clearance should be aware of lower clearance, especially in the crusty stuff, given the plastic aero panels and the front panel. Other than that, it gets around great.
Agreed. We had unusually deep snowfalls (for the mid-Atlantic) this past winter, and it was my first real test of the snow-driving capabilities of the car. (I know mine is a Gen II, but the differences for this purpose should be negligible.) The only time I got stuck is when I drove into a deceptively deep patch of wind-blown snow in my driveway. The Prius makes a lousy snowplow.
The OP has a 2010 Gen III Prius. The traction control on the Gen III is much improved when compared to your Gen II. Tom
wow.. I thought the Prius was a tad lower than everyone else. Interesting to find out that it's in the ballpark of other more common vehicles. Thanks for the numbers MMB! Last year, we had one system that dumped 15cm of snow. That was about the limit for the Prius as I did get stuck in a parking lot. I was able to slowly rock myself out. I was running on Nokian Hakkapeliita R.
I just tore off part of the plastic panel under the exhaust system in front Right on ice mound. This is happened last winter too. Repair guy said installing 16" tires would raise ground clearance 1 inch. IS THIS TRUE? He said I'd lose 4 miles per gallon if I did this. Too bad Prius doesn't have an electric hydraulic system like the Citroen. Any ideas or suggestions. BTW, I live in Maine. Thanks
Normally if you put 16" tires on it you would use a tire that would give you the same diameter (or close to it) so it would not raise the car AT ALL. If you DID increase the overall diameter by 2" (to give you a lift of 1") it would mess up many things, including speedometer, odometer, and possibly other stuff. Not a good idea. Not sure how he knows what the mpg penalty would be, suspect it's just a WAG (Wild Assed Guess). You could change the springs to give you more ride height. Of course this would increase airflow under the car, so you would lose 2.978 mpg (I, of course, am an expert in all of these things). More commonly people use lowering springs for appearance reasons (coolness).
Had a lot of adjustment re: ground clearance over my first winter since I was coming from a truck. Put a 2" crack in my front lip even. I've never had much trouble traction-wise since I run 4 good snow tires. I wouldn't run through a New England winter on the stock tires but I know some do.
Lifting a truck is generally not a great idea. Lifting a Prius is almost certainly a bad idea. As pointed out above, wheel size does not relate to overall diameter. Normally large wheels are used with lower profile tires, yielding nominally the same overall diameter. You could, of course, use a higher profile tire and gain some ground clearance, but it's probably a bad idea for several reasons: 1) Wheel well clearance in most cars is limited. Using a larger diameter tire will likely cause mechanical interference between the tire and car. 2) A larger diameter tire changes the effective gear ratio. The Prius is a highly refined, highly optimized system. The effective gear ratio is a major factor in this system; changing it is likely to cause unpleasant side effects. 3) Mileage will certainly drop. Raising your Prius will increase the aerodynamic drag, plus the possibility of other reductions from #2 above. 4) Your odometer reading will be incorrect. If your stock Prius cannot properly handle your winter driving conditions, perhaps you need to consider a different vehicle, or a winter vehicle. I have a Jeep TJ for exactly this reason. Tom
