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Ground Clearance?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by kgall, Jun 9, 2009.

  1. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    What's the ground clearence on the Gen 3 Prius?
    I ask because I live on a dirt road, not too bad, but not perfectly smooth. My antique (1999) Corolla does OK here. But I saw some complaints about low clearance on the Gen 2 Prius.
    Does the clearance differ with trim level? I'm not planning on getting the 17 inch wheels.
     
    #1 kgall, Jun 9, 2009
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  2. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    The specs provided by Toyota say that the minimum ground clearance is 5.5 inches.
     
    #2 Boo, Jun 9, 2009
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  3. LRKingII

    LRKingII New Member

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    Minimum clearance is listed as 5.5 inchs.
     
    #3 LRKingII, Jun 9, 2009
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  4. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    It is more than the 2004-2009 Prius and I very rarely have problems doing down dirt roads, even ones with large pot holes. I regularly take mine offroad on our nature preserves and it does quite well as long as you don't try to go up too steep of an incline where traction control might kick in. In my case, the incline doesn't have to be very steep. :(
     
    #4 F8L, Jun 9, 2009
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  5. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    Because it says "minimum" I presume they're talking about the 17" tires which has a diameter that's 0.4 inches less than the 15" tires.

    Therefore I'm guessing that the ground clearance with the 15" tires is 5.9 inches.
     
    #5 Boo, Jun 9, 2009
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  6. RodJo

    RodJo Member

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    I didn't check your math (although that seems like a big delta), but wouldn't it be the radius difference that you're looking for here? Making it 5.7 inches?
     
    #6 RodJo, Jun 9, 2009
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