Small cars, less or more relevant today...

Uther

Uther

Uther

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Like probably quite a lot of people, my last few cars seem to have got ever bigger, the current one which I've had for over three years now being a 7 seat awd Tiguan Allspace. I'm thinking of doing a complete 180 and getting a Mini Cooper S next, which obviously is still considerably bigger than Minis of old, but not sure if I will regret it, and feel a bit intimidated on the road :p
Are more people just looking for ever bigger supposedly 'safer' behemoths these days?
 
To take it to the logical conclusion: My first car was a Smart and people bullied the **** out of me despite me speeding everywhere for the first 8 years. I bought a boring old grandad car and my experience on the road changed overnight, despite also starting to drive for economy not speed.

I don't think a modern Mini will be bullied as badly though. They're not very small at all :p and don't have a reputation particularly.
 
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It is a pretty weird thing in that respect - the way people behave around you depends quite a bit on their perception of the car rather than the way it is driven - albeit I'm personally very leery of certain cars like the Honda Jazz by perception of the car having seen so many incidents of them going the wrong way on roads either in person or from dashcam clips :s

I get half as much aggro when driving the pickup compared to the Qashqai and when I'm a passenger in smaller cars they seem to get twice as much aggro as I do again :s

Roads do seem to be increasingly a bit polarised with on the one hand the rise of cars like the Fiat 500 and Toyota Aygo and Yaris, etc. and on the other people buying more into SUVs.
 
Uther said:
Like probably quite a lot of people, my last few cars seem to have got ever bigger, the current one which I've had for over three years now being a 7 seat awd Tiguan Allspace. I'm thinking of doing a complete 180 and getting a Mini Cooper S next, which obviously is still considerably bigger than Minis of old, but not sure if I will regret it, and feel a bit intimidated on the road :p
Are more people just looking for ever bigger supposedly 'safer' behemoths these days?
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When I jumped in my daughters mini convertible, I soon realised it felt uber cramped and I don't think I'd want to go back to that. OK to drive for a while, but jumped back in something with a bigger cabin and I much prefer it..
Saying that, the Ford Ka she had prior actually felt more spacious inside, but that was horrid to drive for all the other reasons!

Our Ops director swapped his BMW 6 Series for a Mini Clubman JCW.. he sold it fairly quickly as it just felt too cramped and he missed the much more open/relaxed larger BMW cabin, so got himself a 5 series..

Interesting you say 'safer', because whilst I know there are a few people that have said this, I've never known anyone personally buy a larger Car/SUV because it's safer, more that it just offers more room, easier ingress/egress, and therefore ultimately more practical in ways that suit them..
 
Driving my mk1 MX5 in traffic is always a weird experience. 10 years ago when I got it the thing felt small compared to most cars. 10 years later with everything getting bigger and bigger it sometimes feels like I'm driving a toy car when sat dwarfed by SUV's!

That said I like it feeling like it is made to fit the driver and passenger and not a whole lot else, it is also nice to be able to see out of the thing and to know precisely where all four corners are. Something that is near impossible with modern cars with ever thicker pillars, higher window lines and higher bonnets.

My hope is that the packaging of cars will continue to evolve in the EV era so cars can have more usable space inside while not growing externally. It will take a fair shift in mindset to get people away from the typical 'car with a bonnet and boot' layout though.
 
Small cars are more fun, you can overtake on roundabouts, blast down narrow b-roads and they are enjoyable. Problem with big cars with big power is its never particular that easy to use it and especially on roads you do not know.

It is why the 1990-2010, of course older too, era of cars were in many ways the best blend, still an acceptable size to exploit on the road and powerful enough but not too powerful that you could floor them for a few seconds without racking up some big points scoring prizes on the speedo.

As I've got older I've fallen out of love with big over powered statistics cars and actually find for the enjoyment of driving something older, slower, noisier, smaller can be a lot more fun. :)
 
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Hades said:
I have a Mini Cooper (non-S) and absolutely love the size of it. It's easy to drive, easy to park and can fit in spaces a larger car wouldn't. I love smaller cars.
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I've had big cars for so long now I've pretty much forgotten how much fun things used to be. One of my first cars was an Alfasud, I bloody loved that rusty old thing. I need to get the fun back I think.
 
Also, to add, my (petrol 1.5L non-S) Mini Cooper is incredibly efficient to drive. It costs about £30 to drive from Surrey to York if I'm driving sedately. Bigger cars need bigger engines which need more fuel.
 
In theory, small cars "should" be a lot more relevant.
After all, what's considered small now would probably have the interior space of a 70s family car, whilst having up to date safety features and massively better fuel economy.
I was given a nearly new petrol Corsa as a hire car recently. Sure, it was about as inspirational as most modern pop music, but it was reasonably refined, happily cruised at the speed limit and during my weekend with it, averaged 56mpg.

Unfortunately, we seem to have too many people incapable of thinking for themselves about their choice of cars, so going with another SUV because their mates have them and they might struggle with the kerbs in the local supermarket.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
After all, what's considered small now would probably have the interior space of a 70s family car, whilst having up to date safety features and massively better fuel economy.
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Yes, when I was a kid my parents had an estate car but it's actually shorter in length than the hatchback my dad now drives. Cars are just getting bigger in general.

To the OP, generally people get bigger and bigger cars as they get older simply due to moving on from cheap city runabouts to family cars. This will then tail off around middle age at which point they either have a midlife crisis or just no longer need a family wagon.

Improvements in tech like parking cameras/sensors also opens up the possibility of big cars to womless confident drivers.
 
we supersized our main car going from a nissan qashqai to a Jag ipace....

but we shrunk our 2nd car going from a pug 308 to a BMW i3.

I must admit it is nice having a big practical family car but for our 2nd car small is perfect.
 
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