Clearance what is it in the car
Content
In this material, we will talk about an indicator that is very important for the capabilities of a car, both for a passenger car and for an SUV - clearance. To begin with, let's figure out what the clearance is in a car.
Clearance is the distance between the lowest point of the body and the road surface.
It affects not only the cross-country ability of the vehicle, but also:
- sustainability;
- controllability;
- and even safety.
Influence of clearance
How is it? The higher the clearance, the better the car overcomes serious obstacles, i.e. does not touch them with either the front or the back.
If the ground clearance is low, then the car improves aerodynamics, speed, traction and stability.
When choosing a car, this indicator should also be taken into account, because if you are often in nature, then you need a large ground clearance, and if you only move around the city, then a little will do.
Here I would also like to note that by choosing a car with too little ground clearance, you risk damaging the bumper when parking, this is especially true in big cities.
Quite another thing - SUVs and crossovers. For them, the main thing is the successful overcoming of difficult sections of the road, respectively, the clearance should be significantly higher.
Clearance standard
Many people ask, is there any standard?
In accordance with the technical regulations of the customs union on the safety of road vehicles, a car is considered to be of increased cross-country ability, i.e. SUV if the clearance is at least 180 mm.
But these are still approximate figures, since each car brand decides for itself what clearance its models have.
The averages that divide all cars into categories are as follows:
- Passenger car: ground clearance 13-15 cm;
- Crossovers: 16-21 cm;
- SUV: 21 cm or more.
On some cars, air suspension is installed as an option, which allows you to change the amount of ground clearance at your request.
How to increase ground clearance
There are several ways that you can increase the ground clearance of your car, no matter whether it is a passenger car or an SUV.
Let's take a look at the methods in order:
- Put wheels of a larger radius (if the wheel arches allow);
- Make a suspension lift (“liftanut”, “lift jeep” - used in slang for people who are fond of offroad, i.e. off-road driving);
- If the lift implies significant alterations, then replacing the springs with springs with a large number of turns will allow, without any special modifications, to increase the clearance;
- You can also install spacers (read detailed material: do-it-yourself spacers to increase ground clearance), in some case they can help you autobuffers.
Thus, it turns out that the ground clearance is quite an important parameter for a car, so you yourself need to decide when choosing a car, which is more important for you:
- adrenaline driving on the highway;
- or overcoming off-road.
And depending on this, make the right choice. Good luck!
Video: what is car clearance
