Prime height off ground

Compared to 2014 Prius Plug-in, Prime dose not scrape front bottom as often in my area of driving. But I understand your frustration.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

are there suspension mods that will raise it a bit?

 

Yeah, it's low. I did my first scraping of the front bumper a few weeks ago. I do think it does contribute to the fuel efficiency though. Must be the less air passing under the car better the fuel efficiency.

 

As there are cars with good fuel economy that aren't so low, obviously not. But the Prius aims for great fuel economy and to get that >50mpg rating it needs to squeeze every little advantage it can. I suspect many of the odd-ball design choices in the Prius/Prius Prime are there to squeeze out another 1% increase in fuel economy.

 

3600 mile road trip last two weeks. Scraped the nose on a whoop-de-doo in the road, scraped the plastic tray under body twice in gas stations, got a stick pushed through the plastic panel below the passenger door in a camp ground. It's a low car.

 

In the west, most often in-town streets are sculpted with the drain cast with the curb (for the occasional rain). When turning from one street to another, there is the dip that must be crossed .... often with a scrape if not careful.

Even in front of the Toyota Dealer .... the drive is heavily scarred, scraped and rutted where vehicles have bottomed out turning into the dealership.

I can understand that Toyota wan't to achieve every mpg possible, and aerodynamics are important. But at what speed does it really become significant?

 

I saw improvement on a HHR with a not optimately placed air dam. My speed averages in the 30's on roads posted for 25mph to 55mph, and I did exceed the highway one at times.
These and lowering are a somewhat common ecomod.