How much ground clearance do you have?
Discussion
vx220 was the lowest car I had, needed to plan routes to avoid speed bumps and road works with ramps. Velcro holding on the number plate so it would fall off first as the lowest part before you ended up grounded. Something like 100mm clearance and a short overhang on the vx220.
Edited by Crusoe on Tuesday 6th April 13:06
The Lukas said:
Simply, I may be buying a car with a clearance of 102mm. Was wondering how low your cars are, what they are, and how if affects your driving? Fire away!
The lowest part of the chassis/exhaust on my Griff 500 is about 100mm above the ground but has a splitter under the nose which hangs down about an inch so for road humps, cross channel ferries etc. I guess it's about 75mm - not a problem though if you are award of it and careful. It never grounds out on normal roads. The Lukas said:
Simply, I may be buying a car with a clearance of 102mm. Was wondering how low your cars are, what they are, and how if affects your driving? Fire away!
Got to take into account the wheelbase and the overhangs of the vehicle.Classic minis are very close to the ground, however with minimal overhangs, and a short wheelbase, this isn't a problem. A modern large saloon could have double the ride height, however continually risk smashing the nose and the underside into ramps and speed bumps
The Lukas said:
Simply, I may be buying a car with a clearance of 102mm. Was wondering how low your cars are, what they are, and how if affects your driving? Fire away!
The Caterham is about 100mm. In spirited driving on b-roads I sometimes scrape the sump pan but not often. The plastic angular speed bumps that some places have can be problematic too and require very low speed.
Agree it is all about overhangs - my Saab is pretty low, but with long overhangs. It is a pain in multistoreys, etc., but the worst thing is on fast undulating road it is very easy to scrap the sump guard on the road, which means I end up driving slower and more carefully, looking a few feet in front of the car.
TBH I think very low cars are a compromise too far on UK roads.
TBH I think very low cars are a compromise too far on UK roads.
Seems to be turning into a VX220 thread, although I'm not sure what Crusoe is on about, the standard height is about 150-160mm and the overhang is tiny, it will get places normal cars ground on.
My new one is a fair bit lower (102mm, due to lowering plus front splitter). So far I've only found one place I physically can't get it, but you need to be careful over speedbumps you're not familiar with. The short overhang helps a lot though, 102mm on a car with a big overhang would be pretty much unusable.
My new one is a fair bit lower (102mm, due to lowering plus front splitter). So far I've only found one place I physically can't get it, but you need to be careful over speedbumps you're not familiar with. The short overhang helps a lot though, 102mm on a car with a big overhang would be pretty much unusable.
Edited by snoopstah on Tuesday 6th April 15:13
Jonny671 said:
Snoop, how do you find multi-story carparks, or haven't tried?
Absolutely fine. As I say, there's only one place I've not been able to get (a bank car park which is down a path just wide enough for one car with a very sudden change in angle half-way down).It's my only car so it does get taken wherever I need to go and needs to be usable. I raised the front about 5mm when I first got it because it was just a bit too low, but since then no problem (with care, obviously speed bumps at 30mph aren't feasible!)
Edit: The front splitter on it is designed to take an impact without significant damage though, if we were talking painted fibreglass/plastic I'd be a little less happy with that clearance, as occasionally if you do take a speed bump/car park ramp a bit fast it will scrape.
Edited by snoopstah on Tuesday 6th April 15:32
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