As a rule, when buying a car, few people think about what is the clearance of the car. In the meantime, this setting is an important aspect that needs sufficient attention.
High clearance for passenger cars is indispensable for off-road driving, where there are many pits and bumps. However, even in an urban environment, significant cross-country ability of your car may be required to overcome the formed obstacle course. So, the small clearance, of course, is more prestigious, but not comfortable enough in operation. So, why is it so important to increase clearance?
Ground clearance is the distance between the ground and the lowest part of the car body. However, it is sometimes difficult to evaluate this parameter, since many structural elements are located on the bottom of the car. So, to determine this distance, it is necessary to select several control points, along which measurements will be made.
It is necessary to increase the clearance in the first place in order to protect the front bumper. He takes all the trials with harsh urban conditions. Most often, it is the bumper that becomes a means of measuring the height of roadside borders. The standard clearance for cars is approximately 14-20 cm, and for SUVs and minivans - up to 35 cm inclusive. Having at least basic knowledge of what a car’s ground clearance is, you can better imagine how to choose the right car. If you just fear for the safety of your car, you can install the parking sensors system.
An equally important control point is the sump, which is located under the hood and represents the most protruding parts of the bottom. For many passenger cars, the
ground clearance is only 12 to 17 cm, which, you see, is quite small for active use in difficult conditions. Therefore, the question of what is the clearance of the car, for such cases becomes crucial. For jeeps and SUVs, this value is somewhat larger, but you need to pay attention to it if you live outside the city or often go there.
Recommendations on how to protect the underbody of the car, as well as what is the clearance and how to increase it, can be given only by qualified specialists. They also advise installing additional carbon fiber or metal inserts.
The third control element is the parts of the exhaust system. This structural part of the car serves as a specific protection of the environment from exhaust gases that pollute the atmosphere and, therefore, worsen the living conditions of people.
How to be? To begin with, you should carefully study the features of your car, identify its strengths and weaknesses. Then, if it is really necessary, you need to carefully understand all the ways to increase ground clearance. Among the most common are the following:
- increasing the diameter of the rims or tire profile;
- spring replacement;
- installation of raising spacers.
However, you must always take into account that changing the standard parameters leads to changes in the rules for operating a car.