Back in April, after having a new Berlingo as a hire car in France, one thing that I wrote (tinyurl.com/3ad4l3z) was: "My wife told me that while passenger knee room was fine, the footwell was not quite as long as in the old Berlingo, so she could not stretch out her legs."
This came back to me today. My parents have a new Honda Jazz, and my mother told me that one thing that she really doesn't like about it is the fact that even with the passenger seat all the way back, she cannot stretch her legs straight out - which, on a long journey, she sometimes wants to do. (I totally agree, by the way.)
So, I tried it myself, and can confirm that in the front passenger seat in a Jazz, I cannot even get near to stretching my legs. In the (old) Citroen Berlingo, I can do it, but only just. In our old Ford Ka, I can stretch out easily in the front, even though I'm not exactly short.
I'm surprised. I would never have thought that the tiny Ka was easily the roomiest of these cars in this respect.
But more than that, I notice that it is the newer cars that have the shorter footwells (OK, I admit that the sample size is rather small), and hence that there does seem to be a trend for the front passenger footwells to be getting shorter, even though cars are tending to get longer. Could this be true?
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>> But more than that, I notice that it is the newer cars that have the
>> shorter footwells (OK, I admit that the sample size is rather small), and hence that
>> there does seem to be a trend for the front passenger footwells to be getting
>> shorter, even though cars are tending to get longer. Could this be true?
>>
People are getting taller.
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>>People are getting taller. <<
'People' may be getting taller, but individuals generally do not ,once maturity is achieved!
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>>People are getting taller. <<
Would someone tell me what they're taking please?
All I've ever wanted is to be taller:)
Pat
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It's all down to genes and as i find getting taller and now getting fatter i will need new jeans!
im 6ft-4 not so much leg room i want but to be able to move when i have a passenger at the side broad shoulders here!
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>> All I've ever wanted is to be taller:)
Think twice before taking "plant fertiliser". tinyurl.com/yjh8xuz
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OK, let me re-phrase the question.
There seems to be some tendency for the front footwells of cars to be getting shorter. A couple of cars designed about 15 years ago have appreciably smaller footwells than equivalents designed in the last 5 years. However, my sample size is so small as to be insignificant.
So - two questions.
1) Is this the case on other cars? How does the footwell on a modern Fiesta compare with that on the Fiesta Mark III or Mark IV? How does the footwell on the current Mondeo compare with that on the original one?
2) If footwells are getting shorter, could it be something to do with crash protection?
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I think we went through a period where foot wells did indeed get more generous. As a driving instructor I was well impressed when the Ka came along in 1996, I could stretch my legs without any trouble. My current 04 Jazz is the same, easily stretch out, and I'm 5.10.
However I booked a test drive in a Toyota Auris last week and immediately I was surprised by the lack of foot well room, so much so I dismissed the car without even going out!
The lack of room in the foot well and the fashion for 'individual cockpits' in the Toyota made it very cramped. Perhaps Ok for crash test dummies but not for this punter spending £1000's.
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I've found the same - especially with the pedal boxes.
The worst was a large pickup truck, where I battled to get my feet onto the pedals without hitting the underside of ther fascia. Also, the pedals were very close together.
And this was a utilitarian type truck so we could assume the drivers would be wearing boots?
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>> 2) If footwells are getting shorter, could it be something to do with crash protection?
>>
Maybe I'm just being silly, but the more legroom I have, the safer I feel!
when I'm in a car that's tight on legroom, I get a fear of getting my feet trapped if we did have a bad crash......
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No trouble with front or rear legroom in my Mondeo(59 plate).I am 6 foot 4 and my son can sit behind me who's 6 foot and we both have loads of legroom.One of the reasons i bought!.
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passenger legroom / footwell length - L'escargot
