The '64 Skylark had a regular differential, which anyone who's been stuck in the mud in Alabama knows, you step on the gas, one tire spins, the other tire does nothin'.
The Civic and VW bug (mentioned earlier) have much shorter wheelbases. Probably helps keep them from some high-center issues.
It's also narrower so you can go around most rocks. Rock on the right drive on the left it actually had decent ground clearance for a car my old civic 04 was 6.3 inches maverick 8.3 but longer and wider. Civic could decently go through wash outs slightly better but the maverick can go over rocks on the road so it's a trade off. High short wheelbase is always better typically
Do you mean because the two front wheels are more likely to slip and sling rocks, or because the underside of the Hybrid is more vulnerable somehow?
Underside is exposed. I personally wouldn't do it in a EB without skid plates a lot either. One thing for here and there, chances are low. But too much chance of kicking up rocks, or a wash out, or just a bad line when you are on dirt and gravel roads a lot. When I'm on a gravel road in any vehicle without skid plates and I can hear the rocks pinging off the undercarriage I cringe. Too many wires, plastic parts, and cheap connections for one stray rock to cause big problems.
Where in the Ozarks? I love it there. Do you ever run across any nice properties for sale? I've done a lot of canoeing around there and the gravel/dirt roads around there should be no problem. The issue for those ruts would be ground clearance. I would defiantly avoid the loose gravel bars around the river. my email is
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That little 70s Japanese RWD car with no ground clearance made it some very surprising places. The one time I got stuck/ in trouble was when I went off-road by myself bored after work at midnight. I lost traction uphill and got high-centered backing back down (very rutted road).
For skid plates that means either FX4 or Tremor, right? Someone has probably done a bottom side comparison, but I hadn’t searched for that yet. Good news is the road I take is primarily sand/clay, more than gravel, but still worth considering.
I've seen online you can buy some. I think I recall someone saying the connections are there for all trims (which makes sense) so you could add skid plates. At that point the biggest risk is just getting stuck without AWD.
Even with the skid it's kind of too low. 8.3 inches is nothing square front doesn't make it easy to not scrap on a washout you get this and the road wasn't that bad it slide over a loose rock and I couldn't repostion. The new mid plastic part is thicker and more stiffer looks like a felt made out of plastic the old one that would tear off new one seems like a harder plastic. Might be a change in parts I know the wheel liners are paper thin too
