Ground Clearance

[colsay]

I know there is a dedicated thread on winter tyres but I have not spotted anything on ground clearance. My car which has the optional (on an Elegance) ESP - electronic stability program- actually does very well on slippery , i.e. ice/snow surfaces and traction on my Good Year tyres is very good. Where the car has a problem is on deeply rutted roads. The tyres provide the traction but the underside keeps bottoming because the Octavia does not have a huge ground clearance. Admittedly the Scout is jacked up a bit so will be better plus its four whel drive will also help. However, for me, winter tyres would not solve the problem. For seven years we had a Freelander and that would cope with any snow/ice conditions because of good ground clearance and great four wheel drive. Just wonder if all these guys rushing to buy their winter tyres have thought of the ground clearance problem. Or does the snow down South never go above 4 inches (100mm) !

[London Les]

IIRC the ground clearance for the Octavia is:

125mm for the Greenline,

127mm for VRS,

140mm for the standard car,

163mm for the 4x4 and

179mm for the Scout.

Regards,

Chief Pedant!

p.s. I agree the standard car always looks pretty low, especially under the sump and back suspension arms.

[Monkeyboyo]

I know there is a dedicated thread on winter tyres but I have not spotted anything on ground clearance. My car which has the optional (on an Elegance) ESP - electronic stability program- actually does very well on slippery , i.e. ice/snow surfaces and traction on my Good Year tyres is very good. Where the car has a problem is on deeply rutted roads. The tyres provide the traction but the underside keeps bottoming because the Octavia does not have a huge ground clearance. Admittedly the Scout is jacked up a bit so will be better plus its four whel drive will also help. However, for me, winter tyres would not solve the problem. For seven years we had a Freelander and that would cope with any snow/ice conditions because of good ground clearance and great four wheel drive. Just wonder if all these guys rushing to buy their winter tyres have thought of the ground clearance problem. Or does the snow down South never go above 4 inches (100mm) !

Agree

I don't think the usual quanity of snow we get is a problem for a 2 wheel drive car on summer tyres as long as the driver is sensible, and has some snowdriving sense !

My 4x4 Octavia got by ok over the last 2 weeks on winter tyres, only finally being defeated by the depth of snow. I was very greatful for the sump/engine guard.

Last winter, I had a Nissan X-trail, with great ground clearance, but it felt utterly OTT on the majority of journeys, so the Octavia 4x4 is a compromise for me.

Had i known about the huge dump of snow we had 2 weeks ago, i might have kept the Nissan !.

Seeing as my major pastime is hiking and climbing in the Scottish Highlands, the Nissan is much missed at the moment !

The big advantage of winter tyres as i see it is when the snow becomes compacted, rutted and frozen hard, or when it snows on frozen surfaces.

Had a near miss going up a small hill 2 weeks ago - everything was fine, then suddenly I had no traction. The snow was sitting on a very frozen surface that had not seen the sun all day.

The car slowly slid downhill, and my rear quarter got to within inches of a wall. :( .

Not only was the road surface uber-frozen, but my summer tyres were clogged up with frozen snow.

I think winter tyres would have helped a lot as they would not have become so clogged up with snow frozen into the tread.

Similarly, I hit a lot of black ice on another journey. The ESP seeemed to work well, but I'd have preferred to have been on aggressive winter tyres if I'd had to try to stop or steer at any point

Edited 21 December, 2010 by Monkeyboyo

[vRSLen]

It must be better than my old MKI vRS

[scottishscout]

Short answer NO, I don't think ground clearance is anything like as important as winter tyres. Basically my winter tyres have been on since October providing better grip on every journey. In some extreme conditions ground clearance becomes an issue, in some ways its why I opted for a Scout over 4x4 or 2wd Octavia. If you go for more extreme ground clearance you sacrifice good handling for the other 99% of driving. I am lucky as I have a true off-road 4x4 as well (Steyr Puch Pinzgauer) but with the exception of one journey on the day of most extreme snow its been the Scout I've used. No vehicle will do everything but if you chose a vehicle on the basis of the worst day of the year we'd all be driving tracked snow-cats or something!! The Audi Allroad tried to get around the clearance problem with its clever height adjustment, but its just something else to go wrong / pay for.

I'm a cyclist and its the same choosing a bike... do you go for the lightweight racing bike (yes in the summer when the Tour de France is on) or a hybrid which is a bit tougher for our potholed roads, or maybe a full suspension mountain bike you can ride down steps on, but its just too slow and heavy for the smooth uphill road Just like a car you can always change tyres to suit different conditions to some extent.

For me the Scout is the ideal year round compromise, its a 50 mpg estate with decent performance and handling, rough track capability and with winter tyres has great traction through the winter months including snow covered roads and ice. If the Scout wasn't available I would sooner have a 2wd "normal" car than an off road 4x4 as my daily driver.

[CEPi]

Spot on. Same here with Scout. I tried a previous model Volvo V70XC AWD and while it has higher ground clearence (21-22cm) i think, the ride was like in a boat, shaky and trashy.

It would be rare to have such a massive amount of snow, but nonetheless the compromise with Scout is perfect. Great ride on dry, quite capable on snow.

[harveys]

We've had some real issues with ground clearance this year (but not in the past)...but only because neither the council or the local housing developer give a toss about clearing the roads, so we are effectively clearing them as we drive...result two tyre tracks (to serve two directions) & huge mounds of snow either side. Not sure my Vrs is going to come out the other side unscathed...especially with the hidden speedbumps & potholes.

[Carpus]

Ground clearance is an issue. This is my first winter in a Scout and putting winter tyres on has reduced the ground clearance further. After owning 2 Subaru's and a Freelander I had my first ground clearance problem at the weekend. Didn't stop me but got hairy for a while. I also noticed a slight burning problem when reversing out of deep snow. (clutch burn I guess but other suggestions welcome). All that said the Scout is brilliant on moderate/ compacted snow and ice and I have to try really hard to get wheelspin and make the traction control light come on. It is very comfortable and surefooted. I also reckon such deep snow is a rarety and if its deep enough to give a Scout problems I shouldn't be out in it.

[PhilP1903]

If you size your winter wheels and tyres as carefully as possible you should not lose very much ground clearance. Wouldnt smaller wheels also cause incorrect speedo readings because of the reduced wheel circumference.

[scottishscout]

The correct winter tyre size for the Scout is 205/55R16 which is oh so slightly smaller than 225/50R17 to enable chains to be fitted

[PhilP1903]

The correct winter tyre size for the Scout is 205/55R16 which is oh so slightly smaller than 225/50R17 to enable chains to be fitted

So IF the CORRECT winter tyre is fitted then the ground clearance difference will be miniscule, but if you fit smaller wheels/tyres, ie incorrect sized wheels/tyres only then will the ground clearance be negatively affected to any noticeable degree.

Edited 21 December, 2010 by BillyT1903

[Carpus]

Just worked out that fitting the correct winter tyres to a Scout reduces the ground clearance by 7.5mm (diameter of a 205/55/17 is 15mm less than a 215/50/17). I recon that is is pretty negligble.

[scottishscout]

The difference may be even less because my new winter tyres had a tread depth of 8 mm v part worn dunlops 3 mm

[London Les]

Carpus - I guess you know neither of the sizes you quote are approved for the Scout in the UK at least: the options are 225/50R17 standard and 205/55R16 as an alternative. Also 205/50R17 is approved for use with snowchains.

[rob_e]

Mine coping ok given the summer tyres but the reduced ground clearance means i'm scraping its tummy a bit on the snow & slush when i'm driving in ruts. My tyres are virtually new which helps i think ( max tread depth!) but lowering 36mm is a big fail in these conditions lol..

I think for next year i'm going to be doing the winter tyres thing on steelies AND when I fit them I should wind my weitecs up to the max height. I think i should be able to get them a little bit higher than stock which would be nice in these conditions.

I suppose I could do it now but I don't fancy crawling under the car in these temperatures :no: .

[Carpus]

Sorry London Les: My mistake (must pay more attention to my tyre sizes in future and not reply to messages before I've woke up) You'll be glad to know that the winter tyres I have on are 205/55/R16 94H, on dealer supplied steel rims. Replacing of course the supplied 225/50/R17. My calcilations were based on these.

[skippy41]

I have the same problem, is there any way of jacking it up a bit possibly longer springs or something else

[London Les]

Carpus - not a problem, I've been trawling the net for a couple of days for winter tyres and the sizes are now etched into my brain! Sounds like you have it sorted. Incidently, I am considering 205/60R16 tyres, because these are a closer match for the standard 17" wheels, and keeps the clearance up. On another thread, Skoda has apparently approved this, although I'm not sure the insurers would.

Cheers,

Les.