Clearance

Lower aprons mean coming DIAGONALLY off of steep driveways. You can't snuggle up to a parking curb.

 

Compared to my parents 2003 Buick LeSabre, the Prius is a VERY low car. There are cars lower to the ground, but not by much. A lot of the clearance problem is the aerodynamic skirt in back and the chin under the bumper.

With my winter tires I can drive through snow up to the bumper and keep going, but anything more than 4 inches deep and I hear nasty crunching and scraping sounds underneath the car.

If you routinely have to drive through deep snow and rutted unplowed streets/roads, it may be better to hang onto a pickup or SUV for the winter months.

 

i have only bottomed out once- during evasive action, but i have been extremely careful otherwise. it hasn't been a huge problem for me here, but i imagine back (home for me ) where you get all that snow it could be a pain. i noticed that when we were living in wi they were getting progressively slower at getting the roads plowed after a good snow...

 

The fuel tank on the classic Prius is above 6.5 inches and the outer container is steel. The bladder is inside of that. I suppose it is much the same in the new model. A "tear" in the steel would probably upset the fuel vapor containment system, and set a trouble code. OTOH it would be easier to patch than conventional, unless the bladder becomes damaged as well.

Having driven on a few too many dirt roads I have some dents in the exhaust pipe, but the fuel tank shell is unmarked.

 

Thanks for alerting to the low clearance.

I am picking up my 06 in mid Jan., and I had not thought about this as a potential issue. Normally I am driving on good roads where this should not impose a problem, but once or twice a year i go to a cabin in the mountain with a good friend, and those roads are far from good!

I will make certain to take my precautions when going there some time during spring next year...

 

i have never bottomed out while driving normally (ran into a little hole while trying to save time scooting across a field at the park... i only did it because there were tracks there...) but the front does scrape those curb block thingys.

i realize the low dam height helps to reduce aero drag so i live with it.

 

I too have learned not to snuggle up to a parking curb thingy.
Getting over the tall driveway curb was remedied . . . $700 new curb and ramp. (Although I was considering doing it before the Prius forced the issue.)

The only other problem I have experienced may not necessarily be a low clearance thing. I ran over a plastic shopping bag and it adhered to the hot catalytic converter . . . which if you look, is quite exposed to oncoming debris. I scraped off what I could, but it still stank for weeks. :huh:

 

And that has never made sense... because when I measure it, the lowest point is 5.25 inches.

 

hehehe... must be that extra air pressure in the tire John!!

 

I have rubbed my share of parking lot barriers. I have also ground the bottom on steep driveways. As well as bumping the center when the whole fam damily is in the car and we go over a speed bump. The low clearance enhances aerodynamics, and it makes us drivers more aware of high spots. I can imagine that many of you have had more serious problems than I have had.

 

It was (heck, still is, since the car is just a little over a month old) a problem for me, having come from a Highlander. I find I remember the clearance when I see dips in the road and driveways, but I forget about low curbs and parking lot blocks. Ouch!

 

It must mean the lowest point on a fully loaded car.

I let my brother haul some band equiptment to the recording studio and on the way back he hit a Racoon and knocked my radiator grille off. I guess he was used to driving his lifted Tracker that would have went over it.

 

Go to the Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting Forum and find a topic from 2/27/05 called Ground Clearance.

 

kind of funny, but for me, Prius almost has an clearance of SUV. It is higher than any other European Toyota for sure (cars of course).

It all depends on what you are used to I would guess.

 

That would make sense; however, still to this day no one has been able to explain how "full" is determined. And if that was the case, why wouldn't "driver only" numbers published as well?

 

6 inches is the maximum I drive in anyway. Deeper than that, traffic grinds to a halt and you are better off just waiting for the plows... which are quite prompt in Minnesota. So, I haven't ever had problems driving with my Prius in "deep" snow.

 

Again, with the proper winter tires you will find at 4 inches you will hear crunching/scraping sounds underneath, especially if the snow is hard with some ice in it.

At 6 inches you're pushing the limits of the car, unless the snow is VERY light and fluffy. We rarely get that kind of snow here in Winnipeg, it's usually heavy and dense, especially the drifted snow.

Once the lower grille area under the "bumper" starts pushing snow, expect to bog down. If you don't push it too far, too fast, and have the proper winter tires, you should be able to back up once forward motion ceases.

If you drive in too far, you're done. The traction control will all but prevent "rocking" like in a normal car. I tried that out at my hobby farm last winter by driving into a snow drift on purpose, and the car went aground. Took a lot of shoveling and a gentle tug with a tow strap to get me out.

I have been forced to drive in ruts on unplowed streets, and the snow is usually up to the licence plate bracket. Call it almost 12 inches. As long as I can keep a pace of 20-35 km/h I'm fine.

My parents Buick LeSabre can handle snow another 3-4 inches deeper before it runs into trouble. It also has a button on the end of the column shifter to disable the traction control, so with gentle pedal pressure it's possible to rock and get going again.

jay