Quote:
Originally Posted by spacemanspif
I worked at pepboys about a year ago and we had 2 feistas for delivery cars, 1 hatch and 1 sedan. And these cars were the first time I noticed what car companies were doing with these small cars. The sedan definitely had a larger trunk than the hatch and I always thought that the hatchback had a completely useless cargo area.
Best I can tell is that Americans don't like station wagons because of the stigma of being "old lady cars" or whatever. So instead of extending the roof over a sedans trunk, they chop off the trunk and add a door and just like that the magazines call it a "hot hatch" so people want to buy it. In the mean time, people who want a useful vehicle like a wagon are left with nothing but what the Germans have to offer....
To me its stupid to cut a car down but I see tons of hatches running around town all the time. Best I can figure is the salesman says "the sedan has 50cubic ft of cargo space, but the hatch has 62, so its got more space for when you go on vacation with the family" and people eat it up...except the hatch has vertical space that is useless unless you want your luggage falling on top of your children...
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Eh, the Bavarians make some good wagons. I did like the new Focus and Mazda3 wagons, but they're not coming here. It's kind of a shame that, for certain reasons, automakers are refusing to bring wagons to the US.
As for sedan vs hatchback, the added length goes to cargo room because the sedan would be woefully tiny without it. Hatchbacks do in fact have more cargo room because you can stack objects to the roof or rear glass. I grew up with minivans and there is a great deal of art to packing that rear cargo area. Occasionally something will fall onto the back passengers. But children and friends are pretty durable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by botsapper
...hatchbacks and wagons have a more abrupt transition and at a larger cross section of the vehicle, while three-box sedans have a stepped and smoother transition into the wake zones. AutoSpeed - Low Drag Car Aerodynamics |
This is another reasons why wagons are better than say a SUV or Crossover, the added length allows for smoother transition. In addition to lighter weight, better handling, and better MPG.
