Increase ground clearance?

[dmacarthur]

I know that this is counter to the thinking of maximum m/kwh, but where we live we could really use a bit more clearance. For years we jacked up our VW diesels, adding stuff to increase clearance, but they were beaters and could be thrown away when they broke (which was almost never, BTW). Now our first new car ever, a 2019 Plus, any ideas about raising a couple of inches? MOST of our miles are gonna be around here, not so much on the thruway.....

[coleafrado]

Lift kits for the Leaf are available; depending on the height change, you could lose 10-20% of your range.

[dmacarthur]

I believe that the ground clearance will affect coefficient of drag primarily, the faster I go the more mileage I lose as a percentage, sound right? For us, around here, might not matter that much....

[LeftieBiker]

I believe that the ground clearance will affect coefficient of drag primarily, the faster I go the more mileage I lose as a percentage, sound right? For us, around here, might not matter that much....

Yes, it would mainly affect range at speeds above, say, 30MPH.

[estomax]

taller tires would be the easiest way to get more ground clearance, albeit that has it's limits, getting another inch with taller tires is not going to have overly negative effects with the exception of your speedo being off.

spacing up the suspension is going to put some extra wear on your CV joints, and those kits seem to be available, something like this:
https://www.spaccer.com/en_US/prices/ 300$ about, to lift your leaf half an inch.

this looks a little more sketchy but cheaper:
https://www.amazon.com/Tema4x4-Complete ... B07FQ2TBMK

might be able to put suspension from a nissan juke for less, if the springs are taller/stiffer, then they will lift it more.

[jjeff]

Even a rise of 1" would have saved $5k for our '13S Leaf
Someone was driving it along a dark highway, with vehicles on either side. There happened to be an aluminum floor jack in the road, unfortunately, it was 1" too high to just drive over and it ended up hanging up on the radiator and front support, pulling the whole nose of the vehicle downward and jamming under the vehicle causing it to come to a screeching stop! It was a year and they were quite close to just junking out the vehicle, luckily we had collision on the vehicle, albeit with a $500 deductible. Just one measly inch! it's one of the reasons our next vehicle will probably be an SUV(Rav4 plugin or Outlander PHEV) both of which has significantly higher ground clearance at the expense of range.

[coleafrado]

Even a rise of 1" would have saved $5k for our '13S Leaf
Someone was driving it along a dark highway, with vehicles on either side. There happened to be an aluminum floor jack in the road, unfortunately, it was 1" too high to just drive over and it ended up hanging up on the radiator and front support, pulling the whole nose of the vehicle downward and jamming under the vehicle causing it to come to a screeching stop! It was a year and they were quite close to just junking out the vehicle, luckily we had collision on the vehicle, albeit with a $500 deductible. Just one measly inch! it's one of the reasons our next vehicle will probably be an SUV(Rav4 plugin or Outlander PHEV) both of which has significantly higher ground clearance at the expense of range.

A one-in-a-million accident with a piece of road debris is enough to make you switch to an SUV?

[jjeff]

Even a rise of 1" would have saved $5k for our '13S Leaf
Someone was driving it along a dark highway, with vehicles on either side. There happened to be an aluminum floor jack in the road, unfortunately, it was 1" too high to just drive over and it ended up hanging up on the radiator and front support, pulling the whole nose of the vehicle downward and jamming under the vehicle causing it to come to a screeching stop! It was a year and they were quite close to just junking out the vehicle, luckily we had collision on the vehicle, albeit with a $500 deductible. Just one measly inch! it's one of the reasons our next vehicle will probably be an SUV(Rav4 plugin or Outlander PHEV) both of which has significantly higher ground clearance at the expense of range.

A one-in-a-million accident with a piece of road debris is enough to make you switch to an SUV?

Only "one" of the reasons.
Higher and easier entry/exit being a major reason, more cargo room another and hopefully more rear-seat room another. Oh and AWD for MN winters being another, lastly the increased ground clearance would be handy for the half a dozen times/winter we get 6+" inches of snow and the plow doesn't do our street until noon or later
A few negatives of an SUV, fuel efficiency probably being the biggest, cost also a fair amount higher for an SUV

[dmacarthur]

I gotta say jjeff that the LEAFs have been wonderful winter cars, great traction with studded snow tires, good heat, always start (although they are not very efficient at minus 5 degrees F), decent room inside (especially the newer one), with the exception of clearance we are more than happy not to have an SUV.....

[coleafrado]

Seems fair enough!