Cars with Highest Ground Clearance in 2023. Best in Hatch, Sedan, SUV Segment

Cars with Highest Ground Clearance in India with Good Suspension. Best among Hatchback, Sedan and SUV Segment from Ground Clearance Perspective

Cars with Best Ground Clearance - 2023

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. 

Car Buyers in present age seek cars with High Ground Clearance. However - comparing 2 Cars

• Where One Car has 170 mm Ground Clearance - Car A
• Another one has 165 mm Ground Clearance - Car B

Shocking Fact: Chances are that Car A with 170 mm Ground Clearance can scrape in Under-Body on Potholes. while Car B with 165 mm Ground Clearance may not and you will always complain with Car A and may never for Car B.

Reason: Its incorrect to take Ground Clearance as stand alone factor. Rather is always a combination of 3 Factors:

• Ground Clearance
• Car Suspension Tune up
• Wheelbase 

which always matters and plays significant role. If a car has soft suspension and even has higher ground clearance - expect underbody to scrape as against other car having balanced suspension but lesser ground clearance.

So, Before you get on to High Ground Clearance Car - pls read on Wheelbase and Suspension

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 & Crossover Cars with Highest Ground Clearance in India

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 and Entry Crossover with Segment Best Ground Clearance in 2023 on Indian Roads

Disclaimer: These are UnLaden Ground clearance numbers (Laden Ground clearance will be lower by almost 20% depending on suspension tuneup) 

Sedan Cars with Best Ground Clearance in 2023

Below are Sedan cars with Comparison of Ground Clearance Factor

SUV Cars with Best Ground Clearance in 2023

Below are SUV cars with Highest Ground Clearance as reported in India having ground clearance above 190 mm in India.

Disclaimer: These are UnLaden Ground clearance numbers (Laden Ground clearance will be lower by almost 20% depending on suspension tuneup)

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 having Length > 4 Meter, Engine > 1.5 Litre and Raised Ground Clearance of 170 mm+.  Some Models like:-

• Mahindra XUV700 has 200 mm Ground Clearance,
• Mahindra Scorpio N has 187 mm Ground Clearance

But its Unladen Ground Clearance. If you put on Laden Ground clearance (which is like fully loaded) will come under 170 mm. 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