Where is ground clearance measured

However, not all manufacturers have revised the ground clearance of their models and are still displaying their older unladen values. This new formula for measuring ground clearance should help car buyers take more informed decision while purchasing the car of their choice.

Your email address will not be published. Skip to content. Volkswagen Tiguan, the premium SUV offers a ground clearance of mm globally. But in India, under the new measuring norm it has a ground clearance of mm. As ARAI has directed the automakers to state the ground clearance under the new revised norm, several auto manufacturers have already updated the revised ground clearance. Unfortunately, some manufacturers quote running clearance instead of ground clearance. It also appears that on occasion the running clearance measurement gets morphed into ground clearance, both by manufacturers and motoring journalists.

Why does this matter? Marketing people would understand if a car rated for kW had only kW…same deal with mm of alleged clearance actually being mm. Ground clearance is important on rocks too. As such the only value we publish is the Running Clearance. As per the ADR this is the distance from the surface on which an unladen vehicle is standing to the lowest point on the vehicle excluding unsprung mass.

In other words, they use running clearance, not ground clearance. But it also quotes for the Rugged X, Rogue and Rugged Hilux variants running clearances of mm, mm and mm. They made a similar error with the Fortuner, claiming it was mm when in fact it was mm. Ford is doing the same thing. It quoted an amazing mm of clearance for the Raptor. A differential would be classified as an unsprung clearance. The stated ground clearance for Ranger Raptor is mm, and would adhere to this definition.

It says running and ground clearance is the same, in direct contradiction of the ADRs. And is it just my perception that in this case the Tuscon should have more ground clearance than my Accord? Images from Hyundai and Autoblog. Ultimately it may not matter how it's measured. If you have a certain application in mind you should probably just get a look under each type and see what kind of clearance it has. The low point may be on the suspension near the wheels, but it may also be closer to the center.

Consider that many lifted 4x4s have the low point at the differential housing in the center of the axle, but may have a few more inches on either side that would effectively allow them to clear an obstacle taller than their "official" maximum clearance point. In that case low points nearer to the wheel are less important because they will still clear when the wheel enters the hole, and it's components more near the center that potentially can hit on the edge of the hole.

It will usually be the suspension components at the wheels - they tend to be similar until you get to larger wheels So, the lower arm ball joint or king pin joint is the most likely candidate, while you can jack a car up, the suspension "droops" until it reaches maximum travel. Given that some cars have different wheels, the offset of the wheel can also make a difference - some are deep enough to have that king pin joint inside the inner edge of the wheel, so a different point then becomes the lowest..

The difference for 4x4 is that they may only have 8" clearance to a given low point of the suspension but the available movement for the wheel compared to the body can be so much more - 20 or 22" and on custom ones even more. Which is why it is so impressive to see the "axle twisters" in the 4x4 competitions Sign up to join this community.

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