Cars with Best Ground Clearance in India with Good Suspension. Cars with Highest Ground Clearance in 2021 in Hatchback, Sedan and SUV Segment for Drive in India
Cars with Best Ground Clearance - 2021
Ground Clearance in a layman language is the shortest distance between the road surface and under body car part. Its taken as something so that car can cross bad roads, potholes at ease without scraping the underbody
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. Comparing 2 Cars with Similar Ground Clearance - but with different wheelbase - can have much different handling characterstic - due to suspension and shockers.
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. A Car with Soft Suspension despite of raised ground clearance although will deliver in slight plush ride but will likely scrape if driven on speed as the springs (shocker) which support the weight will compress more. Generally, has longer spring
Relation between Wheelbase, Ground Clearance, Suspension
Suspension: Suspension Plays a Critical Role. A Car with High Ground Clearance but with Soft Suspension can scrape in Under-Body on Potholes as against a car with relative stiff suspension but with slight lower ground clearance can better take on bad roads on higher speed with better cornering as against Car with Soft Suspension.
For Instance - Renault Kwid comes with Segment Best Ground Clearance at 184 mm. But this car comes with Soft Suspension, and if loaded with 4 People on board can possibly scrape underbody when driven on potholes.
While Soft Suspension provides plush driving in City, Stiff Suspension is considered for High Speed Dynamics. Car Companies tries to create equilibrium to provide the best of Handling Aspect by creating the best among too.
Wheel Base: Maruti Celerio comes with Ground Clearance of 165 mm and Honda City too has 165 mm Ground Clearance. Despite both Cars having same Ground Clearance - still Expect Celerio to perform better here in terms of clearing Potholes due to Wheelbase Difference.
Despite of same Ground Clearance, Celerio with Wheelbase of 2425 mm will perform better to prevent underbody to scrape against Honda City which comes with Wheelbase of 2600 mm.
A Car with Short wheelbase will not hump as much as what City can do and are easier to maneuver, but a Car with Long Wheelbase like Honda City will feel more Stable
Net All - 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.
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 - 170 mm+ Ground Clearance is Ideal considering Indian Conditions - to take on all high speed breakers, potholes etc. on most of Indian roads
Hatchback Cars with Best Ground Clearance in India (2021)
Considering Indian Roads with High Speed Breakers, Relative larger Potholes in Upcountry roads - a Ground clearance of 170 mm+ is considered apt for taking on roads at ease.
Still below are the Hatchback Cars with Best Ground Clearance
| Segment | Model | Ground Clearance |
| Entry Hatchback / Entry Crossover | Datsun Redi Go | 187 mm |
| Renault Kwid | 184 mm | |
| Maruti S Presso | 180 mm | |
| Mid Hatchback | Ford Freestyle (although Ford calls it CUV - but is essentially a raised hatch) | 189 mm |
| Maruti Ignis | 180 mm | |
| Tata Tiago, Mahindra KUV100 | 170 mm | |
| Premium Hatchback | Maruti Baleno | 170 mm |
| Toyota Glanza | 170 mm |
Sedan Cars with Best Ground Clearance in India (2021)
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Below are Sedan cars with Best Ground Clearance in India
| Segment | Model | Ground Clearance |
| Compact Sedan | Ford Aspire | 174 mm |
| Tata Tigor | 170 mm | |
| Mid Sedan | Maruti Ciaz | 170 mm |
| Honda City, Hyundai Verna | 165 mm |
SUV Cars with Best Ground Clearance in India (2021)
Below are SUV cars with Best Ground Clearance in India
| Segment | Model | Ground Clearance |
| Compact SUV | Mahindra Thar | 226 mm |
| Kia Sonet | 211 mm | |
| Ford Ecosport | 200 mm | |
| Mahindra XUV300 | 200 mm | |
| Maruti Vitara Brezza | 198 mm | |
| Hyundai Venue | 190 mm | |
| Crossover | Tata Nexon | 209 mm |
| Honda WRV | 188 mm | |
| Maruti S Cross | 180 mm | |
| Mid SUV | Renault Captur, Nissan Kicks | 210 mm |
| Jeep Compass Trailhawk | 205 mm | |
| Tata Harrier | 205 mm | |
| Renault Duster | 205 mm | |
| MG Hector | 192 mm | |
| Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos | 190 mm | |
| MPV | Mahindra Marazzo | 190 mm |
| Renault Triber | 182 mm | |
| Maruti Ertiga, XL6 | 180 mm | |
| High End SUV | Mahindra Alturas | 244 mm |
| Ford Endeavour | 225 mm | |
| Isuzu Mux | 220 mm | |
| Toyota Fortuner | 220 mm | |
| Volkswagen Tiguan | 189 mm |
Tyre Upsize for Increasing Ground Clearance
One of the ways to Increase Ground Clearance of a car is through Tyre Upsize
- Check Existing Car Tyre Profile
- Find either 'One Wheel Bigger' Tyre or New Wider Tyre in 'Same Wheel'
and Calculate Easily is the Tyre Fit for Upsize with Proposed Gain in Ground Clearance of Car
| Calculate Tyre Size with Best Upsize |  |
But Still Why do Car Companies have Models with Low Ground Clearance ?
Reason - 1: 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 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
Reason - 2: Because GST is higher in SUV Cars with Raised Ground Clearance of 170 mm+. Some Models like:-
- Toyota Innova Crysta has 167 mm Ground Clearance,
- Mahindra Marazzo has 165 mm Ground Clearance
- Mahindra XUV500 has 160 mm Ground Clearance
on Papers but in real world has relative much higher ground clearance, as some bars are underneath / stone Guard so as to prevent higher tax. Although these Models can well cross on almost any Indian Road
Reason - 3: Unrelated to Car Manufacturer, its the change in way Ground Clearance is now computed by ARAI. Earlier it used to be in Unladen Condition, now with Laden Condition
