Hi all. i need some help. We are considering driving a long distance to obtain a crazy deal on a 2020 Prius Prime. As a former 2014 Prius owner, I remember how low to the ground it is. We scraped the bottom multiple times either hitting bumps in the road or going onto an incline. Well, our new home has 2 inclines on the driveway: one when you first drive up to it and another after the sidewalk. How in the world would I know of the Prius can clear them? There’s no dealer that would let me test drive the vehicle to my house...nor would they let me try a test that could possibly damage the vehicle. Any ideas? My wife thinks we just have to forget this deal.
Should clear it no problem. If there was damage to the driveway and it was not level then you might have a problem.
The current Prius and Corolla have 5.1 inches of ground clearance. The Prime's is 4.8", but that is mostly because of the plastic trim. I'm guessing that is a Fit in the photo; its ground clearance is 4.4 inches.
I have an inclined driveway that many guests scrape their bumpers on when turning in or leaving the driveway. Our Prime would surely scrape if I didn’t know the technique from lots of practice with previous cars. Just make sure to cross that line one tire at a time. It really does make a difference.
The left and right bottom edge on my fenders is really scrapped up from a driveway similar to yours. I'm not too concerned about it though. It's plastic and not going to rust and I can't see it unless I lay on the ground.
To be safe I try to attack ramps at an angle whenever possible. Learned that trick during my flying days to avoid “Prop Dings”.
No way a Fit without load is 4.4” - maybe you’re quoting a full car with passengers and cargo? Honda Canada lists unladen at 5.4” and fully laden at 4.4” Their 2014 Prius is listed at 5.5”. The Prime is 4.8” (all unladen). The issue is the longer overhang on the Prime compared to the regular Prius. If they’re scraping the bumper with the old Prius, they’ll scrap with the Prime. Hell, I’ve scraped the bumper on a standard curb, pulling up curbside (I thought I hit the curb with the wheel but it turns out, it’s the front bumper).
1)...cross it at an angle 2)...Azuza's steel plate 3)...SLIPLO Bumper Skid Plate Scrape Protector For Spoliers & Splitters
The Prime is lower, as already stated. And the front overhang is longer. But the front overhang is angled up on the bottom. So places that used to scrape the front bottom of my PiP do not scrape the front bottom of the Prime. I don't scrape as often against parking blocks with the Prime either. However, a rock that the PiP would straddle might be too tall for a Prime. On steep driveway transitions, I do like @schja01 and take it diagonally. It works most of the time. And, again, it's plastic. Won't rust. Not visible except to oil change personnel and to any slow pedestrians who don't get our of your way.
I measured mine this morning. Front center had 7-1/2" clearance. Toward the sides it was more like 7-1/4". That's quite a bit more than my PiP had even though the Prime extends farther forward from the front axles. Oh! And I didn't notice any scrape marks on the bottom. The car has about 45,150 miles on it.
Maybe try backing in. Lots do! Im thinking of purchasing a back-up camera and mounting it on the frount. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
My Gen 2 would always scrape the curb backing up from the garage to the street. The Prime does not do this. YMMV, but in my experience it is better/improved. Can also try doing it at an angle as that can help.
