Is bigger also better? (Cars, that is!)

[john.wigley]

I'm talking about conventional cars here. Nothing against 'bubble' cars, Reliant / Bond three-wheelers and suchlike, but they were always intended as niche rather than mass market vehicles - a role that they admirably fulfilled.

Let us take the first Mini, which seated 4 people (just) with a minuscule boot.
It was:
3.054 Metres long,
1.397 Metres wide,
1.346 Metres high, and weighed 587 Kilograms at the kerb.
It's 'footprint' was therefore 4.266 square metres.

Now let us consider it's bigger brother, the Austin Maxi, which was a full 5 seater with ample luggage space.
It was:
4.039 Metres long,
1.626 Metres wide,
1.384 Metres high, and weighed 968 Kilograms at the kerb.
It's 'footprint' was therefore 6.567 square metres.

Now let us consider the new (2018) Mini 5-door. Sold as a small car, it's dimensions compare closely with those of the Maxi, above.

The Mini is:
3.982 Metres long,
1.727 Metres wide, (with the mirrors folded)
1.425 Metres high, and weighs 1,150 Kilograms at the kerb.
It's 'footprint' is therefore 6.877 square metres, or 61.2% greater than the original Mini, and 4.7% more than the Maxi.

Coupled with both the increase in vehicle numbers and the (relatively) few 'new' roads laid down in recent years, is it any surprise that we experience the congestion and related issues that abound on our roads today? It may also go some way towards explaining the pressure on parking spaces that we also experience today, which seem to me me to be getting smaller day by day!

So, is bigger always better? Discuss!

Regards, John.

[Welton]

I guess it's all about safety ratings, I wouldn't want to have a heavy accident in a 1960's Mini now.

I often think about this, cars used to be really flimsy, fold up horribly and sometimes trap the occupants but there were far less cars around so less chance of crashing?

Now the roads are heavily congested and everyone is driving too fast in over-sized SUV's etc. there's even a case for 'needing' an SUV because everyone else has one so you'd be 'safer'.

And yes Car Park spaces are well and truly stuck in the past, if there is a British Standard parking space size then they really need to visit a Costco Car Park and have a rethink....

[biggbn]

I'm 6ft, 124kg and drive a new mini. Couldn't do so comfortably in old one. Modern mini surprisingly well packaged for front two inhabitants, I don't need seat right back cos I can't put clutch in if it's right back. Can get my mountain bike in with wheels off and seats down. Drove smart cars for years, now that was a triumph of packaging. Huge space for tiny footprint.

[Whippy]

With a wife and 2.4 loin fruit to carry, plus luggage plus crumple zones plus safety equipment plus room to stretch and move about on long journeys it pretty much dictates having larger cabins. Yes, you can 'manage' a smaller car but it's not always as practical nor as safe. Having said that both the V70 and the A6 are just about as big as I would want to hustle down the rather constricted rural byways down here.

[e123]

Today's mini is incorrectly named. There is one in the range that is bigger than a V50. It really should be called the Maxi, but then, it doesn't have the same cachet and following that the original Mini had.

[biggbn]

Originally Posted by e123

Today's mini is incorrectly named. There is one in the range that is bigger than a V50. It really should be called the Maxi, but then, it doesn't have the same cachet and following that the original Mini had.

I didn't buy mine because of the 'mini' name, yet I do like the retro styling and upright screen with old fashioned air vents inside, driving position is perfect and if there is a better driving car in it's class I want a shot. Oh and 70plus mpg from it's blown BMW triple cement mixer is nice too!!

[T5R92011]

When you watch crash tests of things like brand new Volvo XC90's etc... they make low speed crashes look like a minor inconvienience to the driver.

Purely in terms of safety I cannot argue against it. Even comparing something like a P3 V70 to a new XC90.... the XC90 is the place to be if you want minimum injury in an accident due to it's bigger surface area.


However in terms of general products/items etc, i think compact is always better provided it is functional.

For example, the whole "tablet/iPad" market is seriously going down the pan. Sales are down massively because the product just isnt as convinient as a regular smart phone...The tablet's size contributes to it's impracticality and cannot complete with a Laptop in the workplace..so the product is almost redundant as a daily use device, even though they are literally identical to smart phones, just bigger in size.

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by biggbn

I didn't buy mine because of the 'mini' name, yet I do like the retro styling and upright screen with old fashioned air vents inside, driving position is perfect and if there is a better driving car in it's class I want a shot. Oh and 70plus mpg from it's blown BMW triple cement mixer is nice too!!

First of all, may I thank everyone for their responses thus far.

I didn't select the Mini for any other reason than as a representative example with which to illustrate my point, 'biggbn'. That, and the fact that I once owned an original example, while Linda had a Maxi, which allowed me to draw a direct comparison. I also agree with you that its reincarnation is a cracking little car.

Regards, John.

[green van man]

I have had both small and big cars.
Small was a 1967 imp, 875cc. Lots of fun, high maintenance and therefore costly. 2 kids the wife and dog loaded into the car, trailer on the hook with camping gear and getting there was an adventure.

Big, xc70 discovery 1 landrover. Comfort, big 2.4 and 2.5 lazy power diesel engines and they match the fuel economy of all the smaller engined petrol cars I have owned, the xc70 will even match those cars fuel economy while towing the caravan.

Would I go small again? No. Not willingly.

As for car parks, it can be civilised. I visited a sainsburys supermarket in Cardiff last time I was there, their parking bays are defined by a lozenge loop rather than a single line. Parking, exiting and entering the xc70 was no problem even with cars parked within their bays either side of me.

Paul.

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by T5R92011

When you watch crash tests of things like brand new Volvo XC90's etc... they make low speed crashes look like a minor inconvienience to the driver.

Purely in terms of safety I cannot argue against it. Even comparing something like a P3 V70 to a new XC90.... the XC90 is the place to be if you want minimum injury in an accident due to it's bigger surface area...

But what about the vehicle it crashes into?

The obsession with larger vehicles (particularly SUVs) is generally Making the roads less safe... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crit...ility_vehicles