Anyone raised a Prius? I need 2 more inches of Ground Clearance!

06+ comes with front bumper spoiler as standard to improve aerodynamics under the car. You can try to remove it. I am not sure how many inches you will gain. It might be enough and not scretch.

 

Bigger tires???

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(inventor00 @ Nov 4 2007, 08:01 PM) [snapback]534754[/snapback]</div>

That's what I did. Went to 195 65's and gained a bunch. I live on a redneck highway... (gravel road) in Arkansas. I have heard in a thread here on PC that you can go up to 205's with no problem.....jf B)

 

Funny, I lowered my car.

Wouldn't it be cool if ground clearance was like carbon offset credits? I could maybe sell an inch or so of what I'm not using...


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I had 195/65 15's on mine before I changed wheels, and there was a ample clearance inside the wheelwells. Now, it's lowered with the Touring wheels and 205/55-16's and I've encountered no problems. So I'd humbly suppose that 205/65-15's would fit...but they might be kind of heavy, too, and those tall sidewalls and big tires on the relatively narrow stock wheels might yield somewhat ---for lack of a better word--- 'flabby' handling(?) I definitely noticed it a bit with the 195's...higher cornering limits, but a bit more indecision getting there.

 

If it's just a driveway, careful analysis of technique will get you a long way without changing anything (it's the only way a lot of cars survive in Los Angeles county, steep driveway aprons everywhere). Usually approaching the difficult spot from a different angle will do the trick. Give us a pic to work with?

And I assume we're talking about scraping the front end? What part of the car is dragging?

Edit: Hah... after writing that, I went back and saw that you ARE in LA County. I've been gone since 1993 but I remember a lot of tricks for these issues!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John Ford @ Nov 4 2007, 08:22 PM) [snapback]534760[/snapback]</div>

We installed 205's because of the many potholes in Honolulu. The 205 Comforttreds smoothed out the potholes, made the car stand a little taller and improved the ride greatly. I think the 205 is the right size tire for the pri.

Suggest you find a Pri owner with 205 comfortreds... the test drive will sell you on the change.
richard

 

Hello there, I am in the market to buy a Prius.

So how many inches did you gain by using the 205 comfort treads tires? I would love to get 2 inches too!

 

Yes, there was a Prius for sale last year and someone had used air suspension to raise the entire body. The thread is still in here as of last week. I'll try and find it for you.

 

I went wth 205/65/15 for my snow tires. Gained .5" which gets the Prius close to 6" ground clearance which is more than a lot of cars. More than AWD Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon

Interesting aspect of going to the 205 is the speedometer is finally accurate, at least according to all the traffic radar speed signs.

Winter mileage, rain, snow, wind, cold, winter gas with the 205's has been excellent, 45-48 mpg.

And they look better. The 195's looked too small.

When summer comes I'll likely get some high mileage LRR Michelin's in the same size for summer driving.

But TWO INCHES puts the Prius at 7" and you are in AWD SUV range there. That's pretty high. You might want to think about modifying the driveway as most cars are in the 5"+/- range. Over time it is probably cheaper to get the driveway into spec.

 

i wonder if toanfam has figured it out in 5 1/2 years?

 

lol...

Just sayin - with my GC sleeves you CAN go higher than stock height, at least OVER +1"

 

I stiffen my rear axle to pull a trailer, by installing Firestone coil-rite air springs ( F-4136 ). Aired up to about 35 lbs, it lifted the rear UP all most 2 inches.The air springs cost about $ 85.00 for a pair. When I'm not pulling a trailer, I have about 5 lbs in it, it might be 1/4 inch higher; makes for a better ride.

 

Airbagit.com is the other resource I was thinking of for lifting with air bag suspension.

 

....Please explain for us newbies and wannabies.

 

When I installed these: Ground Control - Part #:8070.01

At even Mid-Point on the sleeve I was a touch above normal riding height. I ended up dropping it down to .5" from the bottom of the sleeve to get the height I wanted. But had I wanted to raise the height, it would have been super easy and given me AT LEAST +1 (prob up to 2")more drive height.

 

Sweet, thanks for sharing! I've been looking for something like this. Will give it a try.

 

Yes, I bought spring spacers from Autozone...it raised the car 1 inch all around.........just enough clearance to help out on steep driveways etc......

 

The 185/65-15 24.5” diameter.
The 195/65-15 25”
The 205/65-15 25.5”
So you go up a 1/4”-1/2”

If it’s a gravel road, get a load 14 yeards of 1 1/2” gravel and fill in the spot you rub on your driveway, if you have a tarmac driveway, buy a few bags and spread them.