IJS what we now call “Full Size” like the Impala, we used to refer to as “Compact” up till the early 90s.
>we used to refer to as “Compact” up till the early 90s. source?
Have you ever been in a car?
American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
21–30 of 114 posts
Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#22Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#23You could just make them smaller. There's no rule saying you can't. There kind of is. Fuel efficiency requirements are stricter for smaller vehicles, creating a perverse incentive to increase size. Here's a 2011 paper that predicted exactly what would happen: https://news.umich.edu/cafe-standards-create-profit-incentiv...
This is the reason we are all driving beasts. For a small wheelbase vehicle to meet CAFE standards it has to get an unreasonable 90mpg or the manufacturer gets fined.
Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#24Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#25Pretty slanted. Could write a complementary article: large cars are safer for the passengers. Why don't we keep pedestrians separate from traffic more effectively?
Large cars aren't inherently safer for passengers. They are only safer in collisions with other cars that are smaller, at the expense of the safety of the people in the smaller cars. Having an arms race where people buy bigger and bigger cars to be safer in collisions with other cars is really not ideal, because it doesn't improve overall automobile safety on a national level even just for drivers, and it hurts safet…
It’s also a matter of comfort.
Cities including mine are drunk on putting speed humps everywhere.
But obviously they’re not “tuned” for each vehicle size.
A coupe/sedan needs to slow down to half the speed limit to go over, while a larger vehicle with a suspension and tire sizes to match can take them at speed.
Same story for potholes, which of course are worsened by heavier vehicles while small vehicles pay the price.
Literally encouraging an arms race when it comes to vehicle size.
Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#26Pretty slanted. Could write a complementary article: large cars are safer for the passengers. Why don't we keep pedestrians separate from traffic more effectively?
Large cars are less agile, making it more difficult to avoid accidents. SUVs in particular are also much more likely to rollover than passenger cars. This makes larger vehicles less safe for their passengers.
It really depends on the vehicle. Minivans are quite large and are some of the safest vehicles on the road.
Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
>we used to refer to as “Compact” up till the early 90s. source?
> source? A bunch of us were alive in the 90's and driving cars.
Sorry that's not a source, and is seemingly contradicted by sources like [1], which say
>The highest-selling full-size car nameplate is the Chevrolet Impala, sold as a full-size car from 1958 to 1986, 1994 to 1996, and then from 2000 until 2020.
Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#28IJS what we now call “Full Size” like the Impala, we used to refer to as “Compact” up till the early 90s.
The Impala was never compact. Compact cars are smaller, like hatchbacks and such, the Civic, the Escort, etc.
Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#29Back when I used to have a car (over 10 years ago now...) I drive a 2001 Subaru Forester. Newer Foresters are much bigger and nigh unrecognizable. I occasionally rent cars and always ask for a sedan, but half the time I get "upgraded" to a tank that has huge blind spots (how are you supposed to see cyclists?), uses twice as much fuel and is much harder to park in front of my condo building (which requires maneuvering…
Similar, I'm always getting an "upgrade" when I travel. Inevitably to a Suburban or most recently a Expedition MAX which was one of the biggest pieces of absolute crap I've ever driven. The hoods are so long, tall and square you could hide an entire classroom behind them. They drive like absolute trash, slow to stop, body roll for days, turn the wheel 4 times to make a tight turn, etc... I know there is some demented subset of people who equate their masculinity to these things, but who else actually want to drive these monstrosities?
Re: American cars are huge and unsafe, but automakers don't want the simple solution
#30You could just make them smaller. There's no rule saying you can't. There kind of is. Fuel efficiency requirements are stricter for smaller vehicles, creating a perverse incentive to increase size. Here's a 2011 paper that predicted exactly what would happen: https://news.umich.edu/cafe-standards-create-profit-incentiv...
I wish this was higher up. We love to blame consumers and automakers but in America a large part of the problem is the incentive driven by CAFE.