The end of cool small cars • Hacker News Board

Re: The end of cool small cars

#31

Post by FranzFerdiNaN » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:35 AM UTC

redeeman wrote: post #20

dusted wrote: post #2

I've noticed a large increase in what I call "idiot cars" in Denmark too, these giant monstrosities that seem impractical in every way except for driving through smaller cars and making sure the driver survives whatever incompetence lead them to buy it in the first place. I feel it might be time to legislate this, there are perfectly legitimate reasons to drive a very large car, like, you live 100 miles from the near…

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No, they dont. Those same people also lived thirty years ago, most likely had a much more active lifestyle and did perfectly fine with much smaller cars.

Re: The end of cool small cars

#32

Post by redeeman » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:37 AM UTC

FranzFerdiNaN wrote: post #31

redeeman wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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No, they dont. Those same people also lived thirty years ago, most likely had a much more active lifestyle and did perfectly fine with much smaller cars.

well yeah sure, they lived, they used what they had.

we also lived with computers of the 90ies, 00s, did mostly same things, Wanna go back? You want them to limit themselves to the equivelant in car tech

Re: The end of cool small cars

#33

Post by masa331 » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:37 AM UTC

rocgf wrote: post #23

dusted wrote: post #2

I've noticed a large increase in what I call "idiot cars" in Denmark too, these giant monstrosities that seem impractical in every way except for driving through smaller cars and making sure the driver survives whatever incompetence lead them to buy it in the first place. I feel it might be time to legislate this, there are perfectly legitimate reasons to drive a very large car, like, you live 100 miles from the near…

> you're an idiot helping to accelerate the problem as this now becomes a weapons race on the road This is a very harsh take for something that is legal and widespread everywhere across the world (at least Western world). You have to try really hard to pretend you don't understand why this is happening. It's a race to the top of the safety spectrum, and for good reason. Traffic accidents are among the single biggest…

It's not a race to the top of the safety spectrum. That's just a disguise and also only for some people. It's a race to the top of the "social" and $ spectrum where you have to show how little you care about the others and the environment and also how much money you can dump on vanity and impractical things

Re: The end of cool small cars

#34

Post by FranzFerdiNaN » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:38 AM UTC

geff82 wrote: post #19

expertentipp wrote: post #3

Some say that traveling educates, meantime people coming back from a travel to US immediately turn into "I want big-ass loud intimidating pickup occupying two parking spaces!"

Indeed traveling educated me concerning cars. 1.) When traveling through the US, I understood that giant cars ("rolling living rooms") make perfect sense for the often long distances that have to be driven to get from one place to the other. 2.) When traveling through Italy, I understood why most people have a small Fiat Panda (because villages are so tight that even my moderately sized family car almost feels too bi…

Bigger means like a Ford Focus or so, not a fucking SUV. Nobody ever needs an SUV. If you need more space to move stuff just get a van.

Re: The end of cool small cars

#35

Post by cookiengineer » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:42 AM UTC

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #9

RamblingCTO wrote: post #5

Don't worry, they are disappearing in Europe as well, mostly (imho) thanks to ever stricter security standards. I read that it's very hard to design a small car that adheres to modern standards.

I think the real reason is it's very hard to make money on a small car.

I think the VW beetle would disagree. The Avtovaz Lada, too.

Opel Corsa, Mazda Familia, Fiat Uno, Trabant 601, Toyota Corolla, VW Golf, Renault Clio, Seat Ibiza...

All of those the best or second best selling models of their manufacturers.

Re: The end of cool small cars

#36

Post by pjmlp » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:42 AM UTC

globular-toast wrote: post #27

pjmlp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thankfully there are many European roads where those monstrosities would just get stuck, and would be full of scratches when pulling them out.

If only. Unfortunately cars are considered sacrosanct in most places, for some reason. Your own body is worth less than a car and the safety of cars is high on police priorities. If cars don't fit down a road they'll just destroy the foliage or verge and we'll pay to widen the road.

Buildings, villages,....

Re: The end of cool small cars

#37

Post by fmajid » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:43 AM UTC

They are disappearing for the same reason as stick-shift cars or small phones. Consumer demonstrate with their preferences they think bigger is better.

Re: The end of cool small cars

#38

Post by cpursley » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:46 AM UTC

sw104 wrote: post #11

Aromasin wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same in the UK. SUVs and large off-road vehicles are taking over. The Range Rover seems to be the car of choice for every wealthy middle-aged mother on her morning school run. Just recently, one of them managed to careen hers into kids outside their school, killing a number of them [1]. Low emission zone are becoming more ubiquitous, which combats the issue to some regards, but I question why anyone but a farmer need…

Range Rovers are a disease in the UK. A brand which had it's origins in the military and farming, which has now been repurposed to drop kids off at a school. It's also the most frequent car I see which is sped around and overtakes with zero concern for other road users. The people driving them seem to not understand the size of their car and either pass over-cautiously or tunnel through everybody else whenever the ro…

Land Rovers are a disease anywhere they go just based on their quality ratings alone. They are consistently rated as the most unreliable vehicles on the market.

Re: The end of cool small cars

#39

Post by etempleton » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:47 AM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #37

They are disappearing for the same reason as stick-shift cars or small phones. Consumer demonstrate with their preferences they think bigger is better.

You saw a resurgence of small cars in the US around 2010 after the US housing bubble burst. High unemployment + suppressed wages + high gas prices had Americans, particularly young Americans, looking for small compact cars.

Re: The end of cool small cars

#40

Post by etempleton » Wed, Aug 30, 2023, 10:50 AM UTC

FranzFerdiNaN wrote: post #34

geff82 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed traveling educated me concerning cars. 1.) When traveling through the US, I understood that giant cars ("rolling living rooms") make perfect sense for the often long distances that have to be driven to get from one place to the other. 2.) When traveling through Italy, I understood why most people have a small Fiat Panda (because villages are so tight that even my moderately sized family car almost feels too bi…

Bigger means like a Ford Focus or so, not a fucking SUV. Nobody ever needs an SUV. If you need more space to move stuff just get a van.

A lot of SUVs are more or less the same thing as a minivan. The minivan, like the station wagon is a casualty of its own success. Both became synonymous with boring domestic middle class family life.