How Much Ground Clearance Do You Need?

[riverc0il]

Really disappointing to see fellow forum members slagging off on a brand new forum member. If you don't understand why the issue is important to the poster, then just drop it, disregard, and move on. No need to pile on.

Back to digging up this old topic...

If you are driving on paved roads that receive normal plowing, you don't "need" anything more than a FWD vehicle with snow tires.

I am a storm chaser and I've always gotten by just fine with low to the ground compact cars. If anything, my current Civic Hatch might have the least amount of clearance of any car that I have owned. If the snow is so deep that ground clearance is going to be an issue for a compact car, you probably shouldn't be driving even if you have a vehicle with large ground clearance as that means the plows can't keep up and even large clearance AWD drive vehicles will have issues with travelling safely.

If you routinely drive on roads that do not receive good plowing and you need to plow through a full night of snowfall without plowing, by all means get a big SUV or a truck.

Otherwise, ground clearance really shouldn't be a factor in most people's decisions. I've been a storm chaser for almost 20 years and I have never had a single issue (excepting when I first started storm chasing as a flat lander without snows, fixed that issue right quick).

I will eat crow on this post. There definitely is a ground clearance level that is too low for hassle free parking and storm chasing. My 2017 Honda Civic Hatch is quoted at 5.2" (suspect), and that drops a bit lower with a driver and their gear. It is just a bit too low.

I've beached the thing twice trying to park in unplowed snow (nothing too deep, but obviously deeper than the ground clearance). That is a concern when you are looking to earn turns and are parking in places not plowed as well as a parking lot.

During a particularly manky storm with bad plowing, I was getting tossed around due to not enough clearance and opted to bail on the drive (that was a first). I've been chasing storms in sedans, coupes, and wagons for over 20 years and never had any issues snow tires couldn't handle, before that instance.

On the flip side, my VW TDI wagen was listed at 5.4" and that thing was an absolute tank in the snow (FWD). So perhaps there are other issues besides the ground clearance at play. Likely, manufacturers are not consistent on their measurement methods (I really doubt my Civic is actually 5.2" off the ground). +7" might be the sweet spot for not too high but not too low.

Much as I love the overall lifetime 37.3 MPG of my Civic, I'm looking for something new this summer. There are a lot of lifted hatches and crossovers with AWD and good MPG now. That wasn't the case a few years ago when good MPG and AWD were mutually exclusive. Then again, there are also a ton of options with highway MPG topping out at only 28-30, which is still terrible.

 

[Brownski]

You’re right, man. I’m sorry. I think I’m just all bent out of shape cause the season is ending. I guess we should have redirected Herb to the complaint form

https://nyskiblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/important-form.jpg

Note to the admin- might be time to change the title of the complaint form

 

[MC2]

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the word police are auditing the car threads.

Lol, yes, it must suck to have “the word police” come after your posts, even though you are free to respond in whatever way you want (and you certainly uhhhh... did) and it this guy is absolutely not affecting your ability to post at all.

 

[Brownski]

.

Lol, yes, it must suck to have “the word police” come after your posts, even though you are free to respond in whatever way you want and it this guy is absolutely not affecting your ability to post at all.

Point taken. I don’t even know who/ when somebody shockingly used that outdated, offensive totally not okay slang. It just struck me weird that that would be somebody’s first post. Maybe I was wrong to connect it to the recent spammers trying to sell stuff here but it seemed spammy to me, in its own way.

 

[MC2]

Point taken. I don’t even know who/ when somebody shockingly used that outdated, offensive totally not okay slang. It just struck me weird that that would be somebody’s first post.

I get it, you think it’s funny that he found it offensive.

Maybe you should make a thread where you can say all the offensive shit you want.

 

[Brownski]

Hey MC, are you JT1000? I wasn’t really paying attention but now it seems suspiciously close to JTG. It’s you right?

 

[MC2]

Hey MC, are you JT1000? I wasn’t really paying attention but now it seems suspiciously close to JTG. It’s you right?

I don’t use alt accounts. I just post under my own name.

Weird that you assume that though. I think you should make that offensive thread. You seem to feel very strongly about trying to offend new forum users.

 

[jt10000]

It just struck me weird that that would be somebody’s first post. Maybe I was wrong to connect it to the recent spammers trying to sell stuff here but it seemed spammy to me, in its own way.

I wouldn't only post about that as my first post. I put in six paragraphs of what I thought were real ski-travel related perspective. Sorry to not notice that thread was old.

I frankly winced when I saw that word used several times - it's really bad (though wasn't used a slur as I noted).

It's wild that six people have jumped up to push back against my simply *asking.* I would have thought that if someone didn't care they'd just move on. And it's really ironic that yall that seem so triggered by my asking are suggesting *I'm* the one who is butthurt or thin skinned. That's funny. If a request like that annoyed me or bothered me I'd do some self-reflection. YMMV.

No, I'm not transgender myself (and am not MC2). But I know transgender people (you may also, even if you don't realize it) and they face a lot. Language matters. So I care. I wish more people cared.

But you do you. I'm not policing you - just asking.

 

[jt10000]

Then again, there are also a ton of options with highway MPG topping out at only 28-30, which is still terrible.

Yeah. Our Outback only gets (listed) 33mph highway, which is not good.

 

[Tjf1967]

I wouldn't only post about that as my first post. I put in six paragraphs of what I thought were real ski-travel related perspective. Sorry to not notice that thread was old.

I frankly winced when I saw that word used several times - it's really bad (though wasn't used a slur as I noted).

It's wild that six people have jumped up to push back against my simply *asking.* I would have thought that if someone didn't care they'd just move on. And it's really ironic that yall that seem so triggered by my asking are suggesting *I'm* the one who is butthurt or thin skinned. That's funny. If a request like that annoyed me or bothered me I'd do some self-reflection. YMMV.

No, I'm not transgender myself (and am not MC2). But I know transgender people (you may also, even if you don't realize it) and they face a lot. Language matters. So I care. I wish more people cared.

But you do you. I'm not policing you - just asking.

I wish you made like a bird. Tranny is not offensive. If it bothers you thats your problem. pushing your desire on others is offensive to me, please stop.