Upgrading from i20 to Skoda Slavia, but worried about ground clearance

I had even shortlisted the new Nexon facelift DCA, but went ahead with the sedan.

BHPian chaitanyakrish recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello BHPians,

I use an i20 IMT and it's been a good experience for the last 3 years.

As most of my drives are on highways/hills, I would like to add a sedan or a compact SUV with a good safety rating and will keep the i20 for city rides only. I had shortlisted Slavia 1.0 AT and New Nexon Creative + 1.2 DCA. I did the test drive of Slavia and it's an amazing car, however, I had some doubts about the GC on hills/bad roads. Keeping that in mind, I am looking for a test drive of the new Nexon.

Please suggest, which of them would be a better pick considering the highway comfort and GC on bad roads/hills.

Update: Just to give an update, I went with my heart and booked Slavia.

I felt Nexon was a little cramped in space, I don't know if any changes were made compared to the previous Nexon.

Here's what BHPian bijims had to say on the matter:

The Skoda Slavia has a GC of 179 mm, which is pretty much the highest GC in the sedan segment and just falls 29 mm short of the Nexon, which has one of the highest ground clearance in the Compact sub 4m SUV space, for instance, the Compact sub 4m SUV with the lowest ground clearance, the Mahindra XUV300 has just 180 mm.

So, The Slavia should be just fine on most roads.

Now, comparing the Slavia 1.0 AT with the Nexon 1.2 DCA, the Slavia gets a 1.0 Turbo petrol-producing 114 bhp and 178 nm of torque mated to a TC AT gearbox, whereas the Nexon gets a 1.2 Turbo Petrol producing 118 bhp and 170 nm of torque.

The Slavia is a much bigger car, with much more length and better wheelbase, the boot is also much larger owing to the sedan body style, the car is much more sporty and handles much better than the Nexon.

So, if performance, space, and comfort are your priorities, the Slavia is the way to go, else, do try out the Nexon and if you are happy with the test drive, you can definitely go for it.

Here's what BHPian On4Wheels had to say on the matter:

Good that you picked Skoda Slavia. It is far superior and more spacious than Nexon and you will never regret about it.

Hugh Ground Clearance! You will never scrape on the road because this concern will be there in your head always despite the reality:

Here's what BHPian Game_of_Roads had to say on the matter:

The GC numbers on paper only tell half the story. Suspension setup, front and rear overhang and approach angle, all contribute to the likelihood of scraping the bottom. IMO we all get hung up on the GC numbers (self-included) but some skill and awareness can make a car manageable.

The Slavia/Virtus are as good as they can get with sedans in India right now. 179mm + stiff-ish suspension and car decent approach angles make it easy to live with. I own a 1yr old Slavia 1.0 AT and coming from a 165mm Grand i10 it has been amazing. Scraped a bump only once so far, that too very lightly when I was a bit too fast with a fully loaded car and boot.

Another less obvious trick I have learnt more recently is to not go over a speed breaker or bump with the brake depressed, rather slow down a few metres earlier and let the car roll over the bump. Under braking the suspension is compressed further and will have lesser travel compared to a free-rolling car. This is a significant difference in scraping vs not scraping especially in a sedan. It's a bit more difficult on an AT car due to the way creep is designed but so far I've been able to manage quite easily.

The 1.5 engine is an absolute beast and if budget isn't a problem (inducing a 2L DSG insurance deposit fund) that's the preferred option.

However as an owner of the 1.0 AT I can report that this is a cracker of an engine and is super fun in its own right, especially if you are coming from a smaller NA-engined car. It's a tiny little rocket that loves to rev hard, sounds good revving, is quick in Sports mode, and can easily hold 120+kmph without breaking a sweat. The only things you will have to live with is slightly more NVH (still great for a 3-cylinder engine) and mediocre mileage when driven hard (and also in bumper-to-bumper traffic with the TC AT). Otherwise, the 1.0 engine is a really fun pocket rocket, and you can put the 2L+ savings into your trips

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