In this post, I shall compare the ground clearance of C-segment sedans and SUVs. In this day and age of SUVs, people often think that sedans are impractical due to our road conditions. To tackle the adverse roads, SUVs are inherently better-suited. But over the last few years, the way the sedans are designed is completely different from, let’s say, 15 years ago. They are not always low-slung cars whose underbellies you end up scraping at just about every speed-breaker. This time around, I compare the two similar-sized products from the same carmaker to see the difference in ground clearances of SUVs and sedans. So, let’s dive into it!
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Ground Clearance of C Segment Sedans and SUVs
| Sedans | Ground Clearance | SUVs | Ground Clearance |
| Hyundai Verna | 165 mm | Hyundai Creta | 190 mm |
| Skoda Slavia | 179 mm | Skoda Kushaq | 188 mm |
| VW Virtus | 179 mm | VW Taigun | 188 mm |
| Honda City | 165 mm | Honda Elevate | 220 mm |
| Maruti Ciaz | 170 mm | Maruti Grand Vitara | 210 mm |
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Hyundai Verna vs Hyundai Creta
First, let us compare the ground clearance figures of Hyundai Verna and Creta. Both these belong to the C segment in our market. The lengths of these cars are around 4.3 m. These two share the powertrain and transmission options as well. In fact, the prices of these models overlap each other to a large extent. Hence, the only point of differentiation remains the styling and body tyre. On one hand, the Verna is a sedan with a ground clearance of 165 mm, while the Creta is an SUV with a ground clearance of 190 mm. This is a relatively significant difference. Still, a ground clearance of 165 mm is not bad for a low-slung sedan. It can glide over tons of obstacles easily.
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Skoda Slavia vs Skoda Kushaq
Both these products are underpinned by the MQB A0 IN platform of the VW Ground. This offers around 95% localization which helped VW and Skoda to bring the cost of their cars down remarkably. Not only that, but the service, maintenance and spare parts costs are drastically lower too. For Slavia sedan and Kushaq SUV, the difference between their ground clearance numbers is much lower. Slavia sits 179 mm above the ground, while the Kushaq sits 188 mm above the ground. Hence, the difference is a mere 9 mm which is hard to notice in real-world conditions. As a result, the Slavia can go over just about every obstacle as the Kushaq.
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VW Virtus vs VW Taigun
Under the VW Group, VW and Skoda cars in India share a lot of components. These include the platform, body panels, engines and transmissions. Therefore, the Virtus and Taigun are corresponding to the Slavia and Kushaq, respectively. The only point of difference between these are the styling and interior cabin. This also implies a similar gap in the ground clearance numbers to the previous pair.
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Honda City vs Honda Elevate
Then we have the Honda City and Elevate siblings. For reference, the City has been around for years in our market. Its previous generation models used to have ultra-low ground clearance. They belonged to that era where sedans were traditionally low-slung. But the newer iterations offer better statistics in this regard. For instance, the existing model of the Honda City has a ground clearance of 165 mm. That is enough to tackle most challenges on the roads. However, the Elevate, being the newest model in Honda’s lineup, offers a massive ground clearance of 220 mm. In this case, the difference is huge.
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Maruti Ciaz and Maruti Grand Vitara
Finally, we have the Maruti Ciaz and Grand Vitara on this list. Note that the Ciaz is a much older model in comparison to the Grand Vitara. In fact, the largest carmaker in the country has not updated the Ciaz for our market for a long time now. In all honesty, I have no reason to believe it will come up with a new model of the Ciaz. The competition in the segment is at an all-time high. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki developed the Grand Vitara in collaboration with Toyota as a part of the joint venture. Hence, it rivals the mighty Hyundai Creta and the likes in that segment. Since the difference in inception of these two cars is huge, that also gets translated to their ground clearance numbers. The Ciaz sits 170 mm above the ground, while the Grand Vitara has a ground clearance of 210 mm.
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Author’s Note
After this post, I hope that it becomes somewhat clear that modern sedans are quite capable in terms of ground clearance. Gone are the days when sedans were extremely low-slung only suitable for immaculate roads. Today, particularly in India, the carmakers understand the road conditions. As a result, they offer decent ground clearance even on the sedans. As with the SUVs, we expect them to have enough ground clearance to overcome any obstacle. These are the major differences between the ground clearance numbers of sedans and SUVs.
