Dirt road driving with the i

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TaosEV

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2012
Messages
68
Just wondering if anyone has taken their i down a dirt road. I'm curious about the ride and handling. We live on a dirt road that does get some "washboarding" between the monthly grading by the county road guys. No pothole action, fortunately. We have around 1/2 mile of dirt road before we get to the paved roads. The washboarded section is typically a couple hundred yards long.

Our Ford Escape Hybrid handles the road just fine, but it's a heavier car with a longer wheelbase than the i. It also has fatter tires than the i.

No jokes about us having the dirtiest i on the forum. :mrgreen:
 
TaosEV, having lived on a rutted barely maintained 1/2-mile-long dirt road for over 30 years (until it got paved recently), I wouldn't worry about the iMiEV. It's just fine on rough stuff and it's negligible overhangs make it better than many other cars when it comes to dips and gullies. Note that the rear axle has a klugy stiffener plate in the middle that protrudes downwards, reducing the car's ground clearance there, so you simply want to avoid that hitting something (like a high crown in the road or a large rock in the middle). As far as the washboard is concerned, the ASC might annoyingly kick in occasionally, so I'd simply hit the switch to temporarily disconnect it if it bother you. That ASC is most noticeable when going fast around a corner on a rough road surface. You'll be fine.
 
Thanks for the info JoeS. That klugy stiffener ... any guess as to ground clearance at that point? Taos is also the Land of Speed Bumps (or Speed Humps as they're known here), and while most of them are gradual enough to not be a worry, some of them are more peaked than you'd like to slow traffic down. Just eyeballing them, I'm hoping the i's wheelbase is long enough to make those a non-issue.
 
Hi TaosEV - I just crawled under the car and measured the ground clearance to that protrusion: 6-5/8"
Now that I looked at it closely, that klugy stiffener actually isn't that much of a kluge, as it's a low-weight method of adding rigidity to the crossbeam.
Speed bumps are no problem as both wheels ride up over the speedbump, raising the car. I hate them.
I haven't yet experienced any problem with ground clearance ... I think the iMiEV might actually be better than my Gen1 Insight.
 
Not on dirt, but I can report that the i has ample torque and clearance to smoothly climb over a 6" sidewalk curb. Just hold the brake carefully to keep the suspension ridin high and not bottom out when you come down the other side! I took it at an angle, but it went so easily I'd bet you could take one head on in a pinch... Of course, there are some sidewalks that could leave an i high-centered... :eek:
 
Thanks JoeS and jray3 ... 6 5/8" should be plenty of ground clearance. Our soon-to-be-sold 2003 Honda CR-V only has 7". We'll be just fine. I'll let you know how we do on the chatterbumps!
 
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