Cars with Best Ground Clearance in Hatch, Sedan, SUV Segment

Cars with Best Ground Clearance in India with Good Suspension. Cars with Highest Clearance in 2017 in Hatch, Sedan and SUV Segment for Drive in India

 

Cars with Best Ground Clearance 

Ground Clearance in a layman language is the shortest distance between the road surface and under body car part

However - comparing 2 Cars with Same Ground Clearance - one need to have additional factor of Wheelbase and Suspension System of the Vehicle

Wheelbase: is like the distance between the center of front tyres to center of rear tyres. A car with longer wheelbase gives sufficient legroom space in the cabin along with better driving control and lesser fatigue.

Suspension System: Built up of Combination of Shockers, Link Rod, Lower Arm, Springs - that connects a vehicle to Wheel of The car and thus determines the Handling of the Vehicle

Comparing 2 Cars with Similar Ground Clearance - but with different wheelbase - can have much different handling characterstics - due to suspension and shockers.

 

Relation between Wheelbase, Ground Clearance, Suspension

Think of this way. There are 4 People sitting in the Car - the car due to its shockers and suspensions jumps a bit on speed-breaker and settle down with shocks and springs going down, if the car has longer wheelbase and slight soft suspension, the car center body can scrap with the speed breaker or patch - due to shocker going down.

Maruti Wagon R has Ground Clearance of 165 mm but has Wheelbase of 2400mm, while Honda City has 165 mm Ground Clearance but with wheelbase of 2600 mm - Expect Wagon R to perform better here - due to short wheelbase the car body will not hump as much as what City can do - due to shocker and suspension

In Net Off - It actually should go in proportion, if the car has longer wheel base then ground clearance again should be on higher side. Its not a straight forward comparison to just check Ground Clearance of 2 cars on relative basis. But - on general - 170mm+ Ground Clearance is Ideal considering Indian Conditions - to take on all high speed breakers, potholes etc. on most of Indian roads

But Still Why do Car Companies have Models with Low Ground Clearance ?

Cars with High Ground Clearance can at sometimes gives a feel of Body Roll. While - Low Ground Clearance helps in lowering down the center of gravity of car with relative shorter springs. This aids in better handling characterstic of car.

As you might have noticed - all International and High End Luxury Cars - have lower ground clearance - this is due to giving optimum focus on drive and handling part of car.

Car Manufacturers tries to keep an optimum Proportion of Ground Clearance with Wheelbase

 

Hatch, Sedan, SUV Cars with Best Ground Clearance in India  (2017)

Considering Indian Roads with High Speed Breakers, Relative larger Potholes in Upcountry roads - a Ground clearance of 170mm+ is considered apt for taking on roads at ease.

Segment	Model	Ground Clearance		Segment	Model	Ground Clearance
Entry Hatchback	Datsun Redi Go	185 mm		Mid Hatch	Ford Figo (but Suspension feels much Soft in Figo - best to upsize tyres to R15 195 Tyres or go for Figo Sports)	174 mm
	Renault Kwid	180 mm			Maruti Swift	170 mm
	Tata Nano	180 mm			Toyota Etios Liva, Tata Tiago	170 mm
Premium Hatch	Fiat Punto Evo	185 mm		Compact Sedan	Tata Zest Petrol	175 mm
	Chevy Sail UVA	174 mm			Ford Figo Aspire	174 mm
	Maruti Baleno	170 mm			Tata Tigor	170 mm
	Hyundai Elite I20	170 mm			Hyundai Xcent / VW Ameo	165 mm
Sub Compact Crossover	Maruti Ignis	180 mm		Entry Sedan	Chevy Sail Sedan	175 mm
	Mahindra KUV100	170 mm			Toyota Etios	170 mm
	Toyota Etios cross	170 mm
Crossover	Tata Nexon XZ	209 mm		Compact SUV	Ford Ecosport	200 mm
	Fiat Avventura	205 mm			Maruti Vitara Brezza	198 mm
	Hyundai I20 Active	190 mm			Mahindra TUV300	182 mm
	Maruti Nexa S Cross	180 mm
Mid Sedan	Fiat Linea	185 mm		MPV	Maruti Ertiga	185 mm
	Maruti Ciaz	170 mm			Honda Mobilio	185 mm
	Skoda Rapid	168 mm			Toyota Innova Crysta	176 mm
					Renault Lodgy	174 mm
SUV	Honda BRV	210 mm		High End SUV	Chevy Trailblazer	253 mm
	Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano	205 mm			Ssangyong Rexton	252 mm
	Tata Safari Strome	200 mm			Ford Endeavour	225 mm
	Tata Hexa	200 mm			Toyota Fortuner, Isuzu Mux	220 mm
	Hyundai Creta	190 mm