I heard the ground clearance for the Prius is 5" or thereabouts. I have a question. Is that too low? or was it I just happened to go over something that was too high? Here's the situation: I was entering the N. Parkade of my university. Some crew were working on pipes and they had one running across the road leading to the entrance and across the road on the exit side. They had a nice yellow hump to cover the pipe. I had a full load of people. So I slowly go over and then a loud scraping noise could be heard after the front wheels cleared the ramp . So I figured it must be because I had 3 people in the backseat that compressed the rear suspension. So on the way out, the others decided that I should clear that yellow hump over the pipe before they get it. So I did, slowly.... then <scrap>. So, we've concluded it wasn't because I had 3 people in the back but that the car is too low and or the wheelbase is too long for its height (or the hump is too high although I saw a MINI Cooper S clear it)
a fair amount of cars have this groun clearance. the pipe was in a bad spot. a good portion of luxury cars wouldn't be able to make it over it. the mini does have a smaller wheel base though. *shrug*
5" of GC on this WB doesn't provide much breakout angle. The Mini with the shorter WB will have a greater BO angle. 3 in the back won't help but I'd plan on another enterance/exit.
I few times I've had those "mud" flaps catch on a pothole or a sharp driveway approach. Especially if you transition from a pickup or an SUV, it's important to keep in mind that any car will be much more sensitive to road obstacles. I checked the bottom of the parking ramp at my condo and there are plenty of scrapes where cars have bottomed out. Sometimes you'll see sparks if somebody hits the ramp (Going up or driving in) going too fast.
Frank, that hump over that pipe was temporary when they were fixing whatever they were fixing at the side of the road. There is only one road leading to/from the parkade. Hmm, yeah so it is the wheelbase vs. ground clearance factor.
break in angle refers to the angle between the center of the axle at the bottom of the tire and the front lowest part of the bumper/valance panel and break out is from the same spot on the ground and the lowest part of the body of the car so that would be the front lower lip of the reat wheel arch. On the rear wheel it's the angle from the ground under the axle center to the front wheel rear arch and breakout is to the rear bumper or valance panel. Have a look at a picture of a H1 Hummer and you'll see great break in and out angles, and the person who owns it pumping fuel into it mind you. This will be why the Mini got over the bump and Prius didn't. Tideland, one other thing you could try is to cross it at and angle, that sometimes helps.
Just fyi, I checked and the minimum ground clearance is 5.6 inches or 142 mm. Just an interesting tidbit. 8)
No problem Now think of me in my 91 MR2 which from the factory has 5.3 inches and I lowered it approximately 3/4-1 inch with different springs.. Guess I won't be going where you went :lol:
The weekend after I got my Prius I took it for a drive with a friend that was looking at some real estate. We went into this neighborhood that has a LOT of hills. I wanted to get an idea of how the CVT handled the inclines. He complained some when he drove it. But I found it entirely reasonably mannered considering some of these hills. Anyway… On two occasions, I pulled into these driveways where something scraped underneath me. The first time I couldn’t get away, and I had to “drive on through it†The second time I had to back up to get out. I would have been seriously stuck, and I wanted to get to the Super bowl party. I have not noticed any abnormal behavior or even seen any damage. No. I have not had it on a lift. But I have washed it and noticed no marks. I suspect that this wheelbase is susceptible to this sort of problem, and I am now aware of this, and I will be very careful in situations like this in the future.
This week, while working, i drove into someones driveway *bank*.. i went in at an agle.. but it wasn't sharp enough. No damage or anything though. the bottom of this car is really solid. that's the second time i've bottomed out. not bad for 24k miles.. i don't count the offroading where dirt or rocks hit the bottom. still in good shape though.
I just assumed this level of clearance is typical for small cars. My old '87 Civic hatchback had about the same clearance, and would scrape when it hit very sharp driveway curbs. Difference was, the Civic was scraping metal; the Prius plastic. I don't mind if there are scratch marks on the bottom (no one can see them), and they won't rust.
So has anyone taken a Prius to Big Bend National Park? (Chisos Basin Campground--We're debating whether to take the Prius from Austin or to take the Tacoma.) Are the roads too rough for the Prius?
I have scraped the front part of the car many of times. If you pull too close to some curbs you will hear the scrapping sound. Not cool. I have made it a habit of not pulling all the way forward.
