Rise in ‘bigger’ cars

[Hannahblueberry]

Driven by women specifically. Prompted by a conversation between my friend and I today after witnessing a woman trying (and failing) to park a ridiculously large car in a shopping centre car park.

What do you think the rise is driven by? Cars being made bigger in general?

My friends theory was that due to Covid and hybrid/WFH policies, couples sold one of their cars and in the main, the man kept their car which tended to be the bigger one.

Ok I’m imagining you’re 5 years old - let’s break it down for you. Take a big square and a little square - which one takes up more space? The big one, obviously. Now think about an ambulance trying to get through a gap. Which is more likely to block it if parked badly - The big vehicle or the small one?Bingo! That’s why a badly parked small car is less likely to cause an obstruction than a badly parked big car. It’s just basic logic.

Ha but we’re all laughing at you! We’re not envious. Most of us could probably afford one too but have different priorities than looking like a belled in a massive car.

I drive one. I feel much safer. I was involved in very serious car accident over 15 years ago, in the small car. When I saw the pictures of the car after the accident…. I got not idea how I survived that how am I not disabled for life.

Again, utter bollocks.

A small car can easily block a single track road/one way narrow street if parked badly.

Or are you claiming that that never happens?

SMH.

You don’t need to. Just accept that smaller cars weigh less, so require less fuel to move them. SUVs can never overcome this, because physics.

Deflecting and changing the topic.

I never debated weights - you brought that up.

I called you out on your wrongful view that SUVs are not efficient - and they are.

Physics proved it.

I just don’t see how people wear their outdoor shoes inside the home. Grim.

For families with more than two kids, car seats.

I'm one of three and my parents always drove quite dinky cars with us three kids shoved in the back. You can't really fit three small kids in a normal-sized car nowadays due to the car seats. Ironically, it's the third adult who has to sit contorted sideways in the middle seat between two kids, comfy in their car seats, when the middle seat was always for a child when I was growing up 😂.

I have an SUV, over 20 years old. Because we need a car that will do rural and get all the dogs/luggage/dog beds and crates in when we go on holiday in this country. Sure it’s too big for London but I’m not buying another car.

SUVs are much easier on the back when taking small babies and children in and out of child seats and cars. The view of the road is better and you are also less blinded in the rain on dual carriageways and motorways.

I have the opposite problem. I want to buy a small car and they keep making them bigger.

A badly parked small car can be a nuisance, but a badly parked big car is statistically more likely to cause a total obstruction. That’s just maths. If you still haven’t managed to work this out yet, I can’t be bothered to try again as it’s clearly not going to sink in.

Most of them are on finance. That’s why you see them outside houses which don’t quite match the car.

To add; I’m really short and when I drive DH’s 911 I feel like I’m looking though a periscope. I feel like I’m a better driver in the Volvo XC40; more aware of the road and the peripheries.

Hilarious - you fail to accept that a scenario of a badly parked small car on a narrow / single lane road can be just a much a problem as a bigger car.

Maths not needed for such a scenario. I dont care for the stats - a badly parked car is a badly parked car. End of discussion.

I'm not! You can't open your door wide enough to get out of the car.

I didn’t say SUVs are not efficient. Of course they can have efficient engines. However, because they weigh more, they require more fuel to move themselves around. This is the simplest of physics.

😂😂 But remember to tiny people a tiny car is probably a big car. Perhaps the tiny people in tiny cars are looking at you thinking you’re a huge person in huge car. And then they feel good, happy they’re not as huge as you. Different perspectives..

Taking that to its logical conclusion then a badly parked articulated lorry would cause no more of a problem either?

My mum leases her car, but lives in a council house.
Or they could be on the Motability scheme where people use their PIP to pay for them.

Wrong again.

From Google:

"Yes, hybrid SUVs are generally more fuel-efficient than traditional petrol (gasoline) or diesel cars, particularly in city driving and short commutes where the electric motor can be utilized more effectively. The use of both an electric motor and an internal combustion engine, along with technologies like regeneratove braking and engine stop-start systems, reduces fuel consumption and emissions compared to conventional vehicles."

My husband has a large SUV as he has to fit a mobility scooter and hoist in. He used to drive estate cars for quite a few years but they’re not as common now. He also finds the height easier to get in and out of. I have a ten-year-old Nissan Micra that I use as a runaround, and it feels tiny in comparison.

Of course you don’t like statistics! 🤣 you’re brilliant fun.

Have no problem with big cars if their drivers can actually drive them. I have weekly stand offs with (usually a woman but the occasional man) who is incapable of passing on a narrow road or reversing their huge car. I even had a woman get out of her huge Mercedes 4x4 the other day to check the space she had on the passenger side to pass me - isn't that what mirrors are for?

Honestly you can easily get 2 3.5t horseboxes passing each other on our lanes but it seem to be beyond the capabilities of a lot of people in their huge SUVs (yes I drive a SUV and also a 7.5t truck. I can reverse and park both of them very well!)

You can only buy what exists.

If you want a decent size car for a family and their possessions, a Sierra no longer exists. The current equivilent for capacity is usually a SUV or people carrier. The development of better quality car seats and their increased length of use also increases capacity requirements. No more shoving excess children in the boot, or bunching up on a bench seat (MiL had 5 children in a Mini in the 70s)

Safety requirements for structure and crumple zones mean all cars are chunkier than their previous versions/ equivilents. A modern Polo takes the same external space as an old Golf.

I had a 00s "mid-size" car. By the time she was aging, she was feeling pretty small as though she'd shrunk. I often struggled to see past SUVs at junctions so frequently couldn't make observations to safely advance. I don't have a SUV and have no appetite for one, but my current car has a more upright seating position which is helpful most of the time.

My criteria for a car are ergonomic for a short woman and big enough for a family (now adult-sized teenagers) and their gubbins (including all that food they plough through). That leaves surprisingly little choice.

There are people that go excessively large as a status symbol. Some of the largest have bonnets high enough to smash my ribcage which is crazy. But all cars are bigger than 15+ years ago and we're all trapped into buying what's avaliable.