My other car is the Acura MDX. Now I use the Civic exclusively to commute to work. I feel the the car to too low to the ground. When driving on the freeway, i would feel that I could almost touch the ground. And any item that is on the freeway that somehow would hit the bottom of my car, and would pierce through and would hit me on my butt. And driving next to another SUV or another car, for that matter; I felt that they would be able to see everything in my car. Every pothole or bump i would slow down. Am I a paranoia? I used to have a Lexus sedan; however i didnt feel that way. Please tell me that i'm not alone feeling this way!

 

Feel the same way in my 1992 Toyota Corolla. In part, that's one reason my husband and I bought the Ford Escape Hybrid (Front-Wheel drive) over a hybrid sedan. It's all perception, though. In the Ford Escape Hybrid, I now fully appreciate just HOW enormous many of the SUVs and trucks are on the roadways -- I felt like they dwarfed me in the Corolla, but at least I expected that. When an Excursion, Hummer or F250 pulls up alongside me and I'm in the Escape, I'm *still* dwarfed and realize, "Holy hybrid, Batman, those things are ridiculously huge vehicles!"

There will always be something bigger and more menacing than you on the roadways. I think the Civic rides a little higher than my Corolla does. About the only thing I ever encountered with less ground clearance than my Corolla are sports cars like the Camaro or Corvette (discounting all the exotic foreign sports cars, like the Lotus Elise I see around occasionally...)

Postscript: Wow, I expected much lower mpg on that Lotus; guess it's due to being so small and probably much lighter than the average American sports car, eg. Mustang.

 

No, I think the Civic isn't bad at all. It is a little low compared to driving my F250, but not nearly as bad as my old car. I had a 2002 Pontiac Firebird Formula that felt like it has a hovercraft. That thing was very low and I felt like I was sitting on the road. Had to watch when parking next to curbs, drive at an angle very slow over speed bumps and dips in the road. The car was stock height! The civic has good height because the bottom and the front of the car clear the height of curbs and parking barriers and it does well of speed bumps. Thats just my opinion though.

 

Well, thanks God I am not going crazy!!!

 

Weird. Sounds like you had one helluva Saturday night last night.

 

And I have read posts from people who want to lower the suspension! Weird.........................

 

I would highly recomend against lowering suspension on any daily driver!

 

Actually, by Fed guidlines, the bumpers should line up with most or all other vehicles on the road today. And, the lower to the ground the better because this improves the aerodynamics of the car. The less air you have flowing underneath the vehicle, the less turbulence created giving you better fuel economy.

 

The only height issue I have is scraping the front bumper on nearly all parking curbs. It's enough lower than the normal standard to hit most of the time if I don't stop early.

 

Amen. But as pointed out by ralph_dog, the aerodynamics improve. Actually, it seems that the body panels are what's low, not the actual frame. Anyway, I guess we get to not only learn to drive differently, we also get to learn to park differently!