I've had occasion to be parked in London a lot recently in some of the older city centre multistorey car parks and couldn't help noticing the bays are considerably smaller than those now found in more recently built car parks.
In one ( Cavendish Square ) which is mainly underground on a decending spiral, a lady in a Range Rover simply couldn't find enough width between other parked vehicles to get hers in despite there being nothing wrong with the positioning of the other parked vehicles.
I tend to think of my Qashqai as a small car by modern standards but today, I found myself parked next to a Wolseley 6/110. A car I have a soft spot for as my father had one when I was a child. It was always regarded as quite a large car at that time. The Nissan, though, simply dwarfed it.
I remember being told or perhaps reading somewhere that the Aston Martin featured in Goldfinger is actually smaller than a modern Ford Focus. Compare the size of a Focus to a modern Aston Martin.
Of course the most obvious example of dimension gain is the Mini which simply isn't mini anymore and the FIAT 500 is a lot bigger than its namesake of years gone by. New Mondeos versus original Cortinas.
I suppose it's a combination of safety and fashion considerations.
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I remember last year seeing what looked like an original Audi 80 coming along the road towards me followed by a Vectra IIRC, and the Vectra made the Audi look tiny.
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Daughter & I were observing just this morning that the Xantia is too long for the bays in Northampton's Grosvenor Centre car park. I think of it as medium large; it's dwarfed by the Cayenne visiting next door.
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Likewise when I passed an Austin A40 on a motorway recently, it was tiny. My first car was a 1960s Mini, (in the 60s), there is no way the current Mini is aptly named even though there is more leg room in the back of the original Mini. And yes you can in the back of the original Mini, just tip the front seats forward. :-)
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A lot bigger, but unlike the Tardis, little extra room inside most of them, especially for rear passengers...exceptions like new Superb, but it's huge overall, probably S Class length.
Don't mind a bit of extra length..;), but really don't want a wide car, have you seen how tight it is for some of the newer designs in contraflows where the outside lane is 6'6" restricted.
As for car parks, i watched some mind boggling manoeuvres at Stansted services today, men with Audi A6 and 407 coupe among others clueless about reversing into a space, and several ended up herringbone parked all over each others spaces unable to drive competently in either...each driver trying to make it in one...useless, they'd be better off with Micra's.
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Notice it with the C5 - quite often it overhangs spaces, and even in new carparks it fills the space completly
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>> Notice it with the C5 - quite often it overhangs spaces, and even in new
>> carparks it fills the space completly
They are the bicycle spaces that you are parking in?
tinyurl.com/62jyonh
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>> ...useless, they'd be better off with Micra's.
>>
And knowing how to use their mirrors for reversing.
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The Golf's another good illustration. The mk6 is nearly 2ft longer, 7" wider, and over half a tonne heavier model for model than the mk1.
Most modern cars have similarly bloated dimensions compared with their ancestors. It's no wonder car park spaces can struggle to accommodate them.
That said, any gripe about the ongoing bloating of European cars was put into some context watching a chap in a Canadian registered Chevy Silverado in a local multi-storey today, who was forced to park in a Disabled space because he had no hope of fitting it in a standard bay. He would have needed two adjacent free bays to park it, and stand a chance of getting in and out. A monster of a thing.
EDIT: Just looked up the dimensions of the Chevy. Including mirrors, it's a whopping 8ft 1" wide!!
Last edited by: DP on Sun 27 Mar 11 at 21:11
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>> That said, any gripe about the ongoing bloating of European cars was put into some
>> context watching a chap in a Canadian registered Chevy Silverado in a local multi-storey today,
>> who was forced to park in a Disabled space because he had no hope of
>> fitting it in a standard bay. >>
I think that just about sums up the kind of people who drive leviathans like that on roads that are totally unsuited to them. Rather than park somewhere else, say on the street, and walk they choose to use a Disabled Space.
Selfish on so many levels.
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BB, you are so, so right.
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Modern cars are massive. Superminis are the same size now as a family hatch used to be. Look how big a modern corsa is compared to an old corsa. It is now old astra sized.
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The VW Polo is the size of the original Golf isn't it? Or is the Polo bigger?
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I thought that most of these comparisons (2007 Mondeo vs Granada II, 2010 Polo vs Golf I etc) spanned 30 years or more of evolution, but I looked up the dimensions of the current Fiesta last year to find it's only Bcm shorter than the MkI Focus. Cars are growing bigger, quicker.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi {P} on Sun 27 Mar 11 at 23:39
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>> only Bcm shorter than...
How many? I've noticed how much wider cars are when investigating the Mazda6 replacement. The Passat CC is a good bit wider! But I hope I can live with it.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 27 Mar 11 at 23:57
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>> when investigating the Mazda6 replacement.
Can you wait a while longer?
tinyurl.com/5r9ycy5
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>> Can you wait a while longer?
>>
>> tinyurl.com/5r9ycy5
Wow - is that just a show car, or is it close to the production model?
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I've seen that before and if they made it look like that then I'd say wow too. The current Mazda6 is not even an option for me - I dislike the looks.
The Mazda6 I have needs replacing in October this year. So I cannot wait. And so I have to order something soon.
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I think the reason is psychological rather than engineering.
If a premium car looks smaller compared to cheaper cars, most buyers will walk away.
We say "fat cat" instead of "slim cat" to distinguish the riches. So do the cars.
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>> The VW Polo is the size of the original Golf isn't it? Or is the
>> Polo bigger?
>>
Yes, thats correct there is a article in a top gear magazine, that ive got at home that shows a Mk1 golf, and a current polo, and i think that the current polo is bigger than the MK1 golf is.
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>> Modern cars are massive. Superminis are the same size now as a family hatch used
>> to be. Look how big a modern corsa is compared to an old corsa. It
>> is now old astra sized.
>>
Next door neighbour has a new stlye corsa, and I reckon its the same size as the mk1/2 astra is
Makes you wonder what size cars will be in 10-20 years time. will the current Corsa / polo be the same as the equivilant Astra/Golf
Last edited by: Redviper on Mon 28 Mar 11 at 12:22
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It allows the manufacturers to introduce new models at the bottom of the range. Once the Golf was smallest, then the Polo, then the Lupo.
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I can't wait to see how Fiat screw up the Fiat 500 replacement when the time comes. I guess they'll use the Ford KA chassis, which by then will be the size of the current Blandeo.
;-)
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...the size of the current Blandeo...
Oo, saucer of milk for the nameless one. :)
Have you ever driven the finest handling, best riding large family car on the road today?
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No - and with it looking like a slab of half melted chocolate, I shan't be any time soon.
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Bigger than you think.. - Focusless
