When I think about vehicles that are good for off-roading, the Toyota Prius is not the first vehicle that comes to mind. In fact, in the grand scheme of vehicles that exist in the world, it’s probably closer to the bottom of that list.
Don’t get me wrong, the Prius is a wonderful car. It brought hybridization into the mainstream and delivers amazing fuel economy for those who just want a practical, reliable, cheap-running vehicle that gets them from A to B. But an off-roader, it is not. With normal-car ground clearance, no four-wheel drive, low rolling resistance tires, and average suspension travel, it has absolutely zero attributes that would make it useful when the going gets tough.
Despite the Prius’s inherent lack of off-roading capabilities, it’s become relatively popular in the off-roading and overlanding community. There are Facebook Groups with thousands of members dedicated to off-roading Prii (the official term for the plural of Prius), with people around the country installing lifted suspension, all-terrain tires, light bars, roof racks, and all sorts of other overlanding mods.
At the center of the Prius off-roading universe is Eric, the founder of Prius Offroad. As the name suggests, it’s a business that’s entirely dedicated to offering off-road-minded products for the Prius, specifically generations two through five. In addition to selling Prius-specific lift kits, he also makes roof racks, skidplates, light mounts, trailer hitches, and everything else you’d need to take your Prius off the pavement. And he does it all by himself.
A Rolling Billboard For A Business That Didn’t Exist
Prior to starting Prius Offroad, Eric wasn’t a Prius guy. Before buying his first Prius, he owned an Audi S6 and a Cummins-powered Dodge truck sitting on 40-inch off-road tires. Then, life happened, and his priorities shifted.
While working in the restaurant industry in Pismo Beach, California, Eric and his wife got a divorce. She and their son, who was six months old at the time, moved up to Chico, California, nearly 400 miles north. Being a loving dad who wanted to spend time with his kid, Eric wanted to drive up there every weekend to visit.
“It was like, ‘Well, I’m not taking either of these up to Chico, driving a thousand miles every weekend,'” Eric told me over the phone. “I also had to be able to sleep in it, too, because I didn’t want to pay for a hotel for the two nights I was up there.”
All of a sudden, the Prius became a pretty attractive choice.
“I started looking around and went, ‘Gosh, you know, I hate to admit it, but a Prius kind of makes sense,'” Eric said. “I get great fuel economy, and they drive well, and I can fold the seats down, and in the summers, I can have air conditioning running all night, and I can survive that.”
But as time went on, Eric found that he liked driving his third-generation Prius more than either of his other cars, simply because of how good it was at being a car.
“The more I drove it, the more my Audi and my Dodge just sat,” Eric told me. ”I just like the way it drives. It’s easy not to have to worry about getting in at a parking space or [getting] door dings; it’s super reliable. And I feel like I’m saving all this money. It really changed my whole perspective on drivability [around] the nation as a whole.”
In addition to visiting his son, Eric also took his Prius on long road trips across the western side of the country to go base jumping, a passion he’s held for the past decade. This is where he first ran into the concept of needing a Prius that could do a bit of off-roading.
“It’d be like, ‘I’ve got three days without my son. I’m going to go take advantage of that and go drive 2,000 miles of highway, and then I need 15 miles of off-road to get to the trailhead,” he told me.
Instead of giving up and buying something like a RAV4 hybrid, Eric used his skills from building pre-runners for the Baja 1000—a job he did prior to the restaurant business—to make a Prius that could handle some dirt.
“I just applied that knowledge and built myself a little lift kit,” he said.
The kit was flashy enough to command some incredible attention from Prius owners through Eric’s commute up the spine of California each week—so much so that he began collecting contact information from people begging to build them off-road Prii of their own.
“I was driving up to Chico every weekend, and people would stop me at gas stations or corners or leave notes on my car in the parking lot like, ‘This is so cool. Can you build me one?'” Eric told me. “I kind of thought people were making fun of me at first.”
Eric recounts one specific time where someone brought up a similar issue with their Prius that he faced with the base jumping trailheads.
“Like, you’re joking, right? This is ridiculous. ‘No, it’s awesome. We have a Prius too. We love it, but we leave it at home a lot of the time when we’re going to go on off-road stuff, or we’re going to go camping because it just doesn’t have ground clearance,” he said.
“I was focused on just spending time with my son and making up for lost time, and I just said, ‘I’m not really interested in making any kits right now, but I’ll take your name and number, and at some point in time, I do, I’ll let you know.’ Well, then, by six months in, I had, I think, 40 different phone numbers. I think I was doing 2,000 miles a weekend. And so I was out and about a lot. And people flagged me down on the freeway—it was wild.”
After a year and a half of commuting, Eric finally decided to move up to Chico to be closer to his son. But when he was alone, he wanted to stay busy, so he approached Scott Franklin of the Slag Factory, a welding shop just south of Chico, for a job as a welder. It was here, in his off-hours, that he began developing the idea for proper, off-the-shelf Prius lift kits.
“I worked for [Franklin] essentially like three days a week when I didn’t have my son,” Eric told me. “Then at night, I would go down there and just start tinkering. “So I told him, ‘I think I want to do this business and start building Prius lift kits.’ And instead of going, ‘That’s so stupid,’ He went, ‘That’s genius. Nobody’s doing that. Do it.’ So, he helped me with my first [set of parts.] He was very influential in getting me off the ground and super supportive, and really helped me hit the ground running.”
The Golden Height
Eric makes lift kits for generation two, three, four, and five Prius vehicles, as well as the Prius V, the Prius C, and for 2009-2026 Corollas. If you’ve ever shopped for lift kits on trucks before, you’ll be familiar with how these work. Basically, the kit consists of four spacers for the suspension—one for each corner. They’re installed at the top of each coilover, acting as an extension for the top hat, sitting between the coilover body and the frame. On some kits, you can opt to substitute the rear spacers for heavy-duty springs to improve rear-end control and eliminate sag if you often load up the rear end with gear. Here’s a video of the spacers being installed:
Eric’s lift kits raise overall height by 1.5 inches. That height wasn’t just chosen by random, or because it looked good; Eric picked that height after endless testing, determining that it fit the Prius’s suspension geometry best.
“I hit the drawing board with a few lift designs, and I started with a three-inch lift, and I was like, ‘That looks ridiculous.’ And it’s putting way too much strain on all the suspension components,” he told me. “So I stepped that number to two inches, and then I was like, ‘I don’t really feel super comfortable with my son in the car with that. It’s still a little overstressed compared to what I would want it to be at.’ [I] really found that sweet spot at like an inch and a half. My theory is, if I wouldn’t put my son in the car with it, why would I sell it to customers to put their children in it?”
Eric tells me that people routinely ask him for taller lift kits, but he turns them away. “I can, but I won’t. You’re welcome to yourself, but I have to be able to look myself in the mirror each day and be happy with the person that I am, and I wouldn’t feel good just taking money to put other people’s lives at risk.”
You’d think that with something as fuel-efficient and well-designed as the Prius, changing the ride height in any way, even slightly, would have poor effects on aerodynamics and therefore, fuel economy. But the exact opposite has happened, according to reports from customers and Eric’s own testing.
“I’ve actually seen a ton of hypermilers come in … hypermiling is pretty big in the Prius industry,” he told me. “I don’t personally do it—I’d rather spend an extra $5 and get to where I’m going faster, because time is money for me and I don’t have the patience for that. But people say, ‘I’ve been hypermiling for the past 150,000 miles, and I put the lift on, and it actually increased my fuel economy by 0.5 miles per gallon.'”
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“When I heard it the first time, I was like, yeah, something’s wrong there, [incorrect] calculations, [or] just the placebo effect. And then more and more people kept saying it and saying it,” he added. “The only thing I can think of with that is that instead of losing that momentum and inertia that you have, slowing down for bumps and stuff, you’re just going through them in town.”
“I would have thought it would have affected something to do with the aerodynamics of the car. There had to have been a reason that Toyota had designed them as low as they did. And I know that they were really hyper-focused on the coefficient drag. But I’ve seen zero reduction and often a slight increase in fuel economy with the lift alone. That being said, as soon as you put tires on oversized tires, or even just go away from a low rolling resistance tire, you’re going to lose fuel economy.”
Tires As A Balancing Act
Tires made to improve fuel economy and tires made to go off-roading are on totally different spectrums, with rubber formulated for two entirely different applications. Depending on the use case for your Prius, Eric recommends starting with the lift kit and keeping everything stock, including the tires, and only upgrading in compound and size if you need to. Otherwise, your fuel economy will take a massive hit.
“Unfortunately, all-terrain tires come at the cost of high rolling resistance and weight,” he told me. “And so far, what I’ve seen, the Prius is very susceptible to rolling mass. For every pound you increase tire weight, you essentially lose a mile per gallon. [That’s] the rough ratio that I’ve come to. So, going from a low rolling resistance tire to an all-terrain tire, you’re going to gain almost 10 pounds [per corner]. You’re going to lose 10 miles per gallon, [and] when you have a 10-gallon tank, that really takes a huge hit to your overall range.”
Like Eric, most of his buyers are people who are just trying to get through those last few miles where the going gets tough, whether that’s to arrive at a trailhead, get to a camping spot, or simply explore places where there isn’t enough clearance for a normal Prius to get to.
“I’d say 5% of [customers] are hardcore off-roading, and I love it. I’m here for it. I fully support it,” he told me. “But the biggest thing for me is the people that are like, “Gosh, I want to get outside and enjoy what’s in my backyard, but I need something that can get me to the trailhead, and my Prius isn’t cutting it, and I can’t really afford to buy an SUV, nor is it economical for me. I’m all about making do with what you’ve got.
“If you can take your car that you already have and it’s paid off and you enjoy it, and you can modify it just enough to still do everything, it’d be more versatile, make it happen. And so the majority of my people are outdoor enthusiasts [who] just want to go camping, want to go hiking, want to go biking, and use their Prius as an SUV.”
A Full-Time Job, Plus More
Since the launch of Prius Offroad, the company has enveloped Eric’s time to the point where he’s working 17-hour days when his son isn’t around.
“It’s a blessing and a curse,” he told me. “[When] my son’s in school, and the days I don’t have him, I will work from five o’clock in the morning until midnight, pretty much. [In] summertime, when I do have him, I have to adjust. I pride myself a lot on the father that I am because I didn’t have the best upbringing. So I like to dedicate the time that I have to the point that he looks to me and goes, ‘Dad, you even have a job?’ I look at [that as] such a blessing … I work a lot more than I should, I probably put in 80 hours a week, but I genuinely love it.”
What does the future of Prius Offroad look like? The company is, by far and away, the biggest name in the Prius off-roading segment (if not the only name). But as far as aftermarket off-roading firms, it’s still an incredibly small niche. So if nothing changes, Eric is happy with that.
“I’d love to say I have this huge grand scheme of growth and what I plan on doing and all these new products, but honestly, I’m content where I’m at,” Eric told me. “I love providing this product and providing the service and providing the knowledge through all the trial and errors.”
Of course, if the opportunity comes around, Eric is always open to moving on to follow his other dreams. But only under very specific circumstances.
“I have another company too, called Sticky Whips, and I have two other products that I’ve been working on and have patents in the process for,” he continued. “And I have no shortage of ideas and companies that I want to start up, but until I am able to either find somebody to run this company like it’s their child or sell the company, I don’t have the ability to do that. So realistically, I’d love to operate it until someone with the passion that I have comes along and says, ‘I want to take this on myself and take it over.’
“I’d love to sell at that point in time, but until I find the right buyer at the right price, and it makes sense for me, I’m going to be running it until the day I die.”
Top graphic image: Prius Offroad
Hey automakers, see how nice that looks WITHOUT BLACK PLASTIC FENDER CLADDING?
I’ve seen these around on social media, and while my first instinct was to hate it (because FWD), I get it. If the goal is just to get down a rough road to do the activity you’re actually there for, this makes a lot of sense. If the goal is off-roading itself, I still think some sort of AWD vehicle makes more sense.
Having ground clearance and a tire with some sidewall makes a big difference. I loved driving my 4Runner because I never had to worry about clearance or potholes during normal driving, same with my Ram. I’m about to hit 4K miles on the Ram, probably .5 of them were in 4WD.
I love hearing stories about a person whose unique idea or hobby turns into a business for them. I often wish I had some sort of passion or hobby to do that with.
And the 1.5″ makes sense – even with 4X4 Toyotas the experts will tell you 1.5″ – 2″ is the sweet spot for keeping geometry and wheel travel. A lot of people will go for a full 3″, then have almost zero down travel left in the front. It’s like driving around with the front suspension at full droop all the time.
It’s nice to see former Prius haters come around.
The Prius V seems like a good candidate for this treatment. I had a few silly ideas for a rally/overlanding mods on my old Focus. Did photoshop mockups and everything. Still might be a fun retirement project if I move to mountains when I retire, as a budget hobby/winter beater car.
Would be cool to see an offroad/softroad review of one of these in action. Bring a CUV like the Corolla Cross for comparison.
it increases ride hight by 1.5 inches. and lets you increase tire hight by 1.5 inches for an overal lift of 2.5 inches. it’s not a miricle maker but it can make taking a prius on a dirt road a lot less stressful or more clearence to deal with bumpy roads.
Stoked to meet the man behind the Prius Offroad biz; I bought a Prius C a couple years ago for a work car because I used to drive 30k/yr for work selling booze and soon found myself loving it way more than someone who has owned and loved mainly German cars for the last 30 years should have. 7¢ per mile to run and nothing but filters and fluid for 70k has been a real revelation.
I soon found myself mounting a trailer hitch so that I could pull my 5×8 trailer for around town stuff where my Sequoia seemed like wasteful overkill, and then started using it to tow my motorcycle around Wisco.
I very soon realized that I needed more load capacity for the rear if I wanted to do that with any regularity, so when I found Eric’s site, it has gone to the top of my to-do list for my little trooper. I needed to replace shocks first, and now that that’s done, I’ll be doing the lift + overload springs this summer.
Winter driving in Wisconsin also makes me want this mod, as I regularly have to dodge large ice chunks that have fallen off larger vehicles that my car will definitely NOT go over without destroying my front bumper cover. Also helpful for getting down my driveway when there’s more than 2″ of snow on it and I’m too lazy to snowblow it.
Prii are way more capable than I ever gave them cred for; nothing puts a smile on my face like showing up to pick up a new moto or taking stuff to the dump with a rig where the trailer is longer than the car pulling it and seeing people’s faces.
All that gravel and stones is going to mess up your expensive TruCoat. Better bring it in for a second layer soon.
My off-roading is confined to a friends driveway that is about a mile of, well I guess it’ off road.
But what this would really be good for is all the crap on the freeway that is a little too tall to go under, like that stepladder last year in Oakland.
The other thing is it would be great having enough clearance to clear the curb parking and not have those things in the parking lot rip the bumper off when you back out of the space.
I’ll definitely look into this, or make my own maybe.
This is the same basic concept that made Crosstreks a big winner for Subaru. It would cool to see Toyota work with him on some sort of SEMA special.
I’m a bit of a sucker seeing cars “beat the odds” from what Russians have gotten out of the RAV4, Sorento to that Crown Victoria tackling Moab.
Anyways, it was several years ago but I remember this girl of asian descent going around chucking her blue Prius at various obstacles in the dirt, mud, etc. and making the rounds on some Facebook groups.
It was neat but then she ended up also being a wacko but I digress.
It was also cool seeing a green Prius in the Gambler 500, I believe they referred to themselves as The Regenerates.
I’ve seen these kits, and with my 2026 Corolla I near got stuck in the woods on a regular “road” that had just thawed. Even driving on the roads I’m pretty close to scraping. Considering this but I don’t know if there’s as much proof a Corolla would work well, too.
Looks like he has kits for Corolla as well!
Yessir. Just haven’t heard as much regarding how “good” they are for the platform. Lots of comments and posts about the Prii.
Interesting article! Living in Washington state, I’m surprised I haven’t seen one of these running around. The lift and (optional) all-terrain tires would certainly catch my eye.
I imagine the KC lights (and is that an overlanding pullout tent behind them on the roof?) would be pretty detrimental at freeway speeds, but less so around town.
Anyway, I’m happy Eric found a satisfying niche and wish him the best in his present and future endeavors.
I think the lift, absent all-terrain tires, might be all but invisible to your average non-car person unless it was directly adjacent to one without a lift.
Still, I didn’t get the lift for looks.
I put oversized winter tires on my GR86, resulting in about 7/8″ extra ground clearance and it negates the negative mileage effects of lower tire pressure, denser winter air, and fuel blend. I had attributed it entirely to the taller gearing, but now I’m wondering if the higher ground clearance contributes. In theory, it should be worse, but with a lot of underbody paneling (if not quite as much as a Prius), I wonder if there’s a reduction in underbody-to-road turbulence with the higher ride height that counters the small increase in frontal area. Although, it isn’t explicitly stated here whether the reported higher mileages with the Prius customers is with OEM-equivalent tires and diameter, it seems like that’s the case. As for the tire weight mileage penalty, assuming that coincides with larger overall diameter tires, I wonder if the taller gearing might also be a factor. In the case of the Prius, the engine might have to be working harder to compensate for gearing that is now too tall. On the ’86, the gearing is pretty low and it’s a more powerful car with roughly similar aero to a 2nd gen Prius, so the only penalty is a slight reduction in acceleration.
You say “gearing”, but the Prius has a planetary drive eCVT.
One person’s anecdote, but I have Eric’s lift springs on my Prius v with OEM-spec tires and I haven’t noticed any distinct change in my fuel economy. I also have Eric’s skid plate, which is definitely way smoother than the lumpy factory-original plastic panels underneath.
That’s true, though it still has a gear range and a computer programmed toward efficiency. My question is if these heavier tires people are reporting a significant hit to mileage from are also taller, resulting in more frequent higher load state that negates the positives of an effective taller gearing, rather than it being down to the weight. Of course, going from eco tires to real tires will also have an affect, as well, which I also would think is a more significant contributor than the weight.
Having owned a Gen 2 Prius for 16 years (300k miles) the offroading ability is limited to hard surfaces. In snow, the Gen 2 actively prevents you from driving. It locks up the brakes when it senses different wheel speeds (above some certain threshold) from the front drive wheels to prevent internal damage. Now that I have a Gen 4 AWD Prius, I can take it in the snow and not worry about the car preventing me from moving forward. I guess as long as both wheels are on the ground offroad it should work fine. What happens to a Gen 2 when one drive wheel is off the ground?
Article says “no four-wheel drive”, and I know there’s a distinction made between 4WD and AWD… but it’s been available with AWD since 2015.
I did not know that! I thought only the latest gen had that. Ooh, this makes even more sense now.
That’s 2015 on for Japan; the US didn’t get AWD until 2018 (Gen 4 refresh).
I used to see people doing that to 2nd gen Prius years ago. I’m not sure if there was a commercially available lift kit or they would make their own. There is a lot of room and flat floor in Prius people figured out they are good for camping. I think I would still do that to a 2nd gen over a 3rd gen. 2nd gen is so bulletproof. All terrains look so strange and don’t seem to add much to a prius or other hybrids. I had a set I tried on one my highland hybrids they just reduced fuel economy by maybe 3 to mpg and were loud. Didn’t do much to improve off road granted I’m not rock crawling or doing anything techincal but took it up and old logging trail. That probably 6 or 7% grade. I’ve had good luck with all weather truck or cuv tires. Especially from a horizon tire brand or cross wind.
I adore the idea of taking this specialist fuel miser and making it more widely useful. I’m the one who had my New Beetle TDI lifted by two inches! But I see a fundamental weakness in rough-roading with a Toyota-style hybrid. Below 15 mph, or so, the car is driven only by its EV motor. That’s not much torque for the task. My Ford C-Max, with a similar powertrain, simply didn’t have enough oomph to get started from a stop on a graveled slope of about 10 degrees. It seemed like a power delivery problem, not a traction issue. Has anyone else experienced that?
Can’t speak for the C-Max, but my Prius v will definitely turn on its engine with enough force on the pedal. I’ve stopped on steep uphills before, and yeah, spinning out can happen, but generally slow and steady and it’ll work just fine.
Loose gravel did play a part. It was years ago…
I haven’t driven a cmax in years but recall them being quite anemic at start and generally? Possibly due to tuning. The Toyota systems handle that a little better. Especially the higher trim that are tuned more toward performance.
By the figures I can find, the C-Max has 188 combined HP to the Prius’ 134. The ugly little Ford is deceptively quick, with an 8 sec. 0-60 time.
The one I drove was an early one and recall it being rather slow. Gen 2 prius seemed quick by comparison. Highlander hybrids are fairly quick at about 6.5 sec 0-60 especially for something that looks like they do. They just go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7NEU_8K1lI
For anyone curious–not the kind of thing Eric does, but somebody on YouTube put a more aggressive lift one one, huge tires, and took it to Moab. It can’t do some things, for sure. But it does surprisingly well, I would say, for being a FWD in the land of the hardcore 4x4s.
I’m dying laughing at work over the “0.4 Runner”
Props for discovering a market and responding enthusiastically. Props to working out the details to not just give max lift. And respect for the goal of getting out. I totally get this buyer too. My dad bought a 2nd gen Prius new and then sold it to my uncle who used it to get all kinds of places it had no business being. It didn’t last long living that life and so now he has a lifted sienna.
The person who wants this wants a car for car things, but something with the clearance to do things regular cars don’t do. There is also definitely some counter-culture in there as well. A little “making due with what I have” and a little “those posers in their broverland rigs are at the same trailhead as I am!”. Sure, I guess. Go for it. Works for my uncle, he and his family are some of the most outdoorsy people I know and they get after it. One thing I will say though – you had better be resourceful. You will get stuck, and you had better hope you have the soft skills to make up for a lack of hardware.
Hey! That’s the guy who took my money!
I mean, I got front and rear heavy-duty lift springs, license plate brackets for mounting lights, a skid plate, and ditch light brackets in exchange, but still!
I’mHe’s lucky he doesn’t make a roof rack and front bumper hitch kit for the Prius v or I’d probably be rocking those right now, too.(For those curious, I originally discovered his site because, of all things, I scraped the bottom of my Prius on a speed bump when I had 7 people crammed in it one time. The rest has just been for fun, because with apartment living, having my daily driver as my “hobby” car means it doesn’t take up extra space in my life, and nothing I’ve done has noticeably affected the fuel economy.)
glad to hear of a firsthand account of the fuel economy, that’s very neat
Addendum: he does make a roof rack for the Prius v now. Am I really considering this? Oh no.
Keep us updated if you get the roof rack! I’d love one for my Prius-c but the ones I’ve had on other cars have been mpg vampires.
So I looked a bit closer at the installation video, and installing it involves permanently removing the weatherstripping in the roof. It doesn’t look great up close, and I also paid a good chunk to have my weatherstripping replaced last year, because the factory original ones were falling out every time I went through a car wash.
The thing looks sturdy as hell, for sure, and I don’t doubt Eric has done testing to back up those weight capacity numbers. But ultimately, I don’t have much use for a roof rack, so I’m not pursuing the idea further.
(Plus, that roof rack in particular would be somewhat disruptive for my planned paint job later this year.)
License plate light brackets! I’m about to make some for my own car, driving in the desert at night requires a bit more light so I need something to supplement the stock lights. I am a bit worried about weight though, heavy lights might deform the bumper and plastic clips no?
Can’t speak for all vehicles or what kind of metal you’re using, but these are only a few pounds apiece, if that. I have two on top of each other (one facing up, one facing down–no front plate required in Pennsylvania), kind of like jaws, so that I can have one light below and one on top.
The plastic bracket for the front plate is bolted into the bumper, it’s not just plastic clips.
The lights aren’t heavy, either. I’ve had lights on them for well over a year and everything seems fine. But I couldn’t tell you whether the design of your vehicle would allow for it.
Interesting, guess the only way to find out is to actually make the damn things. Thanks!
This really hasn’t affected your fuel economy?
I don’t keep a permanent log of my fuel economy, but every time I fuel up, I just calculate my trip odometer divided by my fuel added.
This is the Prius v, aka the larger Prius, so the EPA rating is 44/40. Since Pennsylvania sees a decently wide temperature range, it fluctuates a lot during the year. Even before I ever did the lift, I could sometimes reach that 44 mpg in warmer months (usually would be between 40 and 44), and then, while I was doing a 10-minute commute in a really cold stretch, I had 33 mpg in one instance.
Generally, I get 37-39 mpg in the winters, unless it gets down to like 15°F. I got 35 mpg to a tank a couple weeks ago when it was that cold.
So, I can’t say with 100% certainty that my fuel economy was unaffected by the lift (spacers or springs, since I’ve had both)–but my mental model says that the Prius is far, far more sensitive to the summer/winter fuel blends than any effect from the lift. I’m still getting 40 and up in warm months.
Very interesting, thanks.
I have a buddy who had a lifted 2nd gen (likely this company’s lift) and he took his Prius everywhere. It was impressive.
I really like “normal” cars with a bit of a lift to get further off-road, since I use my cars in the same way referenced here. I don’t see why I’d drive 99% of my miles on a 4wd platform with big tires just so I can drive 1% on a gravel road that my Mazda3 could do. There’s a mid 2010’s Sienna in my neighborhood with about a 2″ lift that I always admire and consider building one myself.
My big concern is what the lift does to drivability, durability, and mileage. The hyper-miler bit here is interesting, but I’m still skeptical of these simple spacer lift kits in general. Am I worrying about this too much and should just throw one on my Mazda5 with some wheels and slightly aggressive tires?
Wait, so you have a Mazda 3 or a Mazda 5?
Both, although reading back over this I understand the confusion. The 3 is my daily and I would lower it if anything. The 5 is the family car and typically the mountain biking/kayaking/camping vehicle.
Just one person’s anecdote, but I had the lift spacers for a couple years and then switched to having the front and rear lift springs, and I’ve had those for over a year now, too. Nothing has largely changed except that I feel a little more confident going over speed bumps.
Gas mileage is similar? Did you do anything with tire sizes? I kinda think I’d just do a bigger tire size with an all-season and not worry about increasing traction. I just need a bit more clearance.
No, I kept OEM-spec tires. I admit my original inspiration for this was scraping the bumper on steep driveways, and one time scraping on a speed bump halfway over it. Other than that, I’ve been trying to limit myself to only mods that won’t noticeably affect fuel economy, although so far, nothing really has.
Another anecdote for you, I put a 30 mm spacer lift on my crossover. It resulted in maybe 1.5″ of total lift due to suspension geometry and the only concern was making sure I had a shock absorber extension that the kit included so the rear shocks wouldn’t be running more stretched than usual.
I read a two-inch spacer is about the maximum you can do without worrying about CV’s on the typical CUV but I’d err on the side of conservative if you could.
Drivability barely changed – the components were all the same still, just sitting a bit higher. I kept the same tires as they were Wildpeak AT Trails already, stock size and those did some with a slight economy and road noise penalty.
It’s possible the axle angle change could wear more but I don’t think it would be noticeable.
Fuel economy was comparable to before, I didn’t see a dramatic change before/after on Fuelly but I’m sure there’s a decrease if you crunched all the numbers.
Going off-pavement was a dramatic difference, I was scraping my chin a lot less and my dimensions were comparable to an Outback Wilderness on paper. It still wasn’t quite enough for what I wanted to do so I went to something truckier but if you’re just scraping by with the 5 and love it otherwise, I think it could help.
But it won’t be cheap, maybe $1500 plus, and you may want to do suspension bits while you’re in there especially if higher miles.
Hmm that all sounds pretty promising, except the $1500. With a quick google I see a couple kits in the $200-300 range – was there other stuff you were adding beyond just the spacers or is that assuming new tires as well? I’d do all the work myself. I’ve replaced the shocks, struts, some suspension bushings, and tie rods (and a couple miscellaneous other things) in the last 2 years.
I could afford an “upgrade” car, but I really like the size and packaging of the 5. Plus I don’t want a car payment. So I figure if I can make it a bit of a fun project and add a bit of capability on the way I’ll be even more likely to keep it for another couple of years, and even if I decide to get something new I might keep it around for fun.
Oh whoops in my case it was including the labor at a shop so you’ll come out much farther ahead than that.
You’d just be looking at $200-300 for the kit as you saw and that can be it. Otherwise it’ll be whatever extras you want to add and then an alignment at the end. And a potential headlight adjustment as the cherry on top.
So when did you say you’re going to make one for Mercedes to test out?
Next thing we know, a Prius built by him will actually finish the Mint 400.