Why does a modern "compact" car needs to be bigger than some old-school 4WD rig?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Ain't that quite shocking at first to notice that even a Volkswagen Up...


...is wider and longer than a Jeep CJ-3A?



Or that a 40-Series Land Cruiser/Bandeirante...



...can be shorter and narrower than a E140 Corolla even if we look at the JDM version?


And the SWB bodystyle of the J40...


...is also smaller than most of present-day hatchbacks (including some which would be considered subcompacts there in the U.S.).

[Fat Charlie]

It's the same reason my 2013 Fit weighs as much as my 1989 Accord did.

Nobody laughed at me for driving a small car back then.

[samwichse]

'Nuff said

	n600	Fit	Civic	Accord
1972	1100			
1977			1500	2018
1987			1841	2529
1997			2238	2900
2007		2432	2660	3100
2017		2513	2915	3240

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Nobody laughed at me for driving a small car back then.

The same way nobody laughs at a J40 or a CJ here in Brazil. Some folks say these rides actually "impose some respect", even though they're smaller than most of the average econoboxes.

[acparker]

Crashworthiness is what has driven up weight and size. I'm not complaining. Too many SUVs and full-size trucks around to feel safe in a Metro.

[airbiteses]

Hmm...the reason is to increase the safety of passengers in the car in case of an accident. And there is more electronics, more equipment, more equipment, etc.... But now they are trying to lose weight by reducing the thickness of the plates, which makes it rust faster and easy to bend, e.g. when hailstorming.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by acparker

Crashworthiness is what has driven up weight and size. I'm not complaining. Too many SUVs and full-size trucks around to feel safe in a Metro.

I feel very safe in my Insight. But, Vermont has far fewer trucks and SUVs per capita than most other states, despite it being quite rural. Lots of small Subarus and Toyotas here.

[airbiteses]

Ecky Tell me which of you are the best riders of Honda FIT/JAZZ or Honda Insight? Without asking about combustion. Only about the dynamics of the car, how it keeps on the road above 200 km/h (125 mph), or tilts strongly when cornering?

[seifrob]

Originally Posted by acparker

Crashworthiness is what has driven up weight and size. I'm not complaining. Too many SUVs and full-size trucks around to feel safe in a Metro.

The trouble is, that average SUV driver feels better and more safe in Metro and Insight world. But when everyone drives SUV, all the safety bonus due size is gone. So carmakers produce something bigger(read better) and start a new round of this nonsense.
Its not safety standards that makes them bigger. Its because some want to have bigger/safer car than others, inherently making all other cars less safe than they were before bigger model was introduced.
Thirty years back nearly every car in my country was Skoda 120. There was a kind of respect on the road because in an accident, both cars were equally wrecked. Now I see reckless driving done mostly with powerful, safe cars. Were there spikes in place of drivers airbag..

[Xist]

Did any of you watch that really old movie called "Batman Begins?" I think that it came out way back in 2005. Lieutenant Gordon and the main guy had a great discussion on escalation. In unrelated news:



When I worked at a school I tended to bump into the curb when I backed into parking spaces next to one or more SUVs (CUVs). My 1999 Accord is longer, but they are far taller and heavier, so don't make the same mistake that Khan did, and think in two dimensions.

SUVs and CUVs have upright seating positions. (Sub)compact cars probably do, too, but my Hondas do not, so weight seems like the better point of reference.

So, the more cube-shaped a vehicle is, the greater the interior volume is relative to mass, right? However, all things being equal, the lower and longer vehicle will have better aerodynamics, right?