mikeyb
11-08-2005, 01:27 PM
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/il/columns/ggreen/smallcars.lead.500.jpg
Small is beautiful once again, a reflection of fuel prices and good taste.
In Praise of Small Cars
By Gavin Green
Date Posted: 11-07-2005
If cars reflect their surroundings, is it any wonder that America a big country with big skies and big people has a preference for big cars? America's predilection for expansive machinery began in earnest in the affluent, hedonistic '50s. It was an era of vast hoods and aircraft-carrier-sized trunks; of booming V8s and greater power; of more road mileage but less gas mileage; of optimism and excess; of happy days and cheap gas.
The Middle East's first attempt to hold the West to ransom demanded (from oil-starved governments, as much as gas price-sensitive drivers) a modest motoring miniaturization. It was the '70s, the first time that the Japanese and European carmakers small-car specialists due to the demographics of their home market, their paucity of natural materials and the topography of their towns got a major foothold in the United States. They have never looked back.
Naturally, when the good times returned, vehicles got bigger. But this time around, it wasn't so much sedans that blossomed. Rather, the Big Three found a new full-size goldmine, the full-size SUV. Those who demanded as much metal as possible for the money and Americans have always wanted more for less, never mind the quality naturally chose the biggest feasible vehicle. They bought an SUV.
Now there's a new oil crisis, caused by hurricanes and high prices. Once again, Americans are downsizing. Once again, Japanese and European makers are benefiting (will the domestic automakers ever learn?).
But instead of despairing, Americans should celebrate! Smaller is better. Starbucks teaches us why. It reversed the longtime American trend of quantity over quality. When it was easy to buy a Big Gulp-sized cup of coffee for a quarter, why spend a few dollars on a smaller cup of Arabica bean Costa Rican? "Because our coffee is better," argued Starbucks. It was a sociological shift for Americans.
Equally, we celebrate the miniaturization of iPods and TVs, of computers and cameras, of stereos and cell phones. Most components in cars are getting physically smaller and lighter. Yet, that old anachronistic adage "Bigger and better," as though the two words were synonymous still pervades the American auto mentality.
It makes no sense. Why buy a mushy-sprung roly-poly big sedan or SUV when frequently for less money and certainly for lower gas bills you can buy a compact sedan or small sportster that handles better, goes faster, is lots more fun to drive, is mechanically more sophisticated, is frequently more comfortable and, in these uncertain economic times, will almost certainly hold its value better? There have never been so many good compact and small sporty cars on sale in America, from the nimble Ford Focus to the Honda Civic; from the practical Honda Element to the sporty MX-5; from the Mini Cooper to the BMW 3 series.
Smaller cars are better in so many ways. Weight not only destroys fuel consumption, it also damages handling, agility, steering precision, roadholding, braking and performance.
Smaller, lighter cars are more fun to drive. The best handling car in the world is probably the Lotus Elise slogan: "Performance through light weight." It will do 150 mph and zero to 60 mph in under 5 seconds not because it has a great lump of fuel-consumptive V8 up front, but because it is made of that loveliest of all lightweight metals, aluminum, and it has none of the fripperies and unnecessary addenda that weigh down so many other "sports cars."
What I love about the Elise and the new MX-5 and 3 Series and Focus and the best of the Civics and the Mini Cooper is that small-lizard-down-a-drainpipe nimbleness, that marvelous feeling that you're wearing the car: It's an extension of your natural agility rather than an encumbrance to it. Many big SUVs and large sedans are crippled by their obesity. Myriad electronics and powerful engines and big tires mask much of their girth but not in a braking or handling emergency, when these monsters display all the agility of Homer Simpson doing hurdles.
"What about safety?!" you cry. It is generally true that, in an accident, a big car is better than a small car. But airbags and modern materials and computer design have massively improved the safety of all cars. And a small, nimble car is less likely to crash in the first place than a big, bloated one.
What about that big-car-for-a-big-country romance? Is a Honda Civic, a car originally designed for the back streets of Tokyo, really the right car to cruise Route 66? You bet! Air con on full, good music coming from its (Japanese) stereo, excellent comfort, fewer fuel stops because of that extra economy (which means faster point-to-point progress). Plus and this is still possibly the Japanese auto industry's greatest contribution to motoring an absolute guarantee of getting there.
<!-- end legacy --><!-- Footer content -->
source:http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Columns/articleId=107891#2
Small is beautiful once again, a reflection of fuel prices and good taste.
In Praise of Small Cars
By Gavin Green
Date Posted: 11-07-2005
If cars reflect their surroundings, is it any wonder that America a big country with big skies and big people has a preference for big cars? America's predilection for expansive machinery began in earnest in the affluent, hedonistic '50s. It was an era of vast hoods and aircraft-carrier-sized trunks; of booming V8s and greater power; of more road mileage but less gas mileage; of optimism and excess; of happy days and cheap gas.
The Middle East's first attempt to hold the West to ransom demanded (from oil-starved governments, as much as gas price-sensitive drivers) a modest motoring miniaturization. It was the '70s, the first time that the Japanese and European carmakers small-car specialists due to the demographics of their home market, their paucity of natural materials and the topography of their towns got a major foothold in the United States. They have never looked back.
Naturally, when the good times returned, vehicles got bigger. But this time around, it wasn't so much sedans that blossomed. Rather, the Big Three found a new full-size goldmine, the full-size SUV. Those who demanded as much metal as possible for the money and Americans have always wanted more for less, never mind the quality naturally chose the biggest feasible vehicle. They bought an SUV.
Now there's a new oil crisis, caused by hurricanes and high prices. Once again, Americans are downsizing. Once again, Japanese and European makers are benefiting (will the domestic automakers ever learn?).
But instead of despairing, Americans should celebrate! Smaller is better. Starbucks teaches us why. It reversed the longtime American trend of quantity over quality. When it was easy to buy a Big Gulp-sized cup of coffee for a quarter, why spend a few dollars on a smaller cup of Arabica bean Costa Rican? "Because our coffee is better," argued Starbucks. It was a sociological shift for Americans.
Equally, we celebrate the miniaturization of iPods and TVs, of computers and cameras, of stereos and cell phones. Most components in cars are getting physically smaller and lighter. Yet, that old anachronistic adage "Bigger and better," as though the two words were synonymous still pervades the American auto mentality.
It makes no sense. Why buy a mushy-sprung roly-poly big sedan or SUV when frequently for less money and certainly for lower gas bills you can buy a compact sedan or small sportster that handles better, goes faster, is lots more fun to drive, is mechanically more sophisticated, is frequently more comfortable and, in these uncertain economic times, will almost certainly hold its value better? There have never been so many good compact and small sporty cars on sale in America, from the nimble Ford Focus to the Honda Civic; from the practical Honda Element to the sporty MX-5; from the Mini Cooper to the BMW 3 series.
Smaller cars are better in so many ways. Weight not only destroys fuel consumption, it also damages handling, agility, steering precision, roadholding, braking and performance.
Smaller, lighter cars are more fun to drive. The best handling car in the world is probably the Lotus Elise slogan: "Performance through light weight." It will do 150 mph and zero to 60 mph in under 5 seconds not because it has a great lump of fuel-consumptive V8 up front, but because it is made of that loveliest of all lightweight metals, aluminum, and it has none of the fripperies and unnecessary addenda that weigh down so many other "sports cars."
What I love about the Elise and the new MX-5 and 3 Series and Focus and the best of the Civics and the Mini Cooper is that small-lizard-down-a-drainpipe nimbleness, that marvelous feeling that you're wearing the car: It's an extension of your natural agility rather than an encumbrance to it. Many big SUVs and large sedans are crippled by their obesity. Myriad electronics and powerful engines and big tires mask much of their girth but not in a braking or handling emergency, when these monsters display all the agility of Homer Simpson doing hurdles.
"What about safety?!" you cry. It is generally true that, in an accident, a big car is better than a small car. But airbags and modern materials and computer design have massively improved the safety of all cars. And a small, nimble car is less likely to crash in the first place than a big, bloated one.
What about that big-car-for-a-big-country romance? Is a Honda Civic, a car originally designed for the back streets of Tokyo, really the right car to cruise Route 66? You bet! Air con on full, good music coming from its (Japanese) stereo, excellent comfort, fewer fuel stops because of that extra economy (which means faster point-to-point progress). Plus and this is still possibly the Japanese auto industry's greatest contribution to motoring an absolute guarantee of getting there.
<!-- end legacy --><!-- Footer content -->
source:http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Columns/articleId=107891#2