Are small cars any good

[castellan]

Are small cars any good or are people just buying rubbish.
One of the small cars I liked was the Peugeot 306 and the sporty GTI6.
The ride was magic for a small car.
The braking was magic as the rear end does not send the rear up in the air like other cars do, this thing the rear goes down when braking real hard.
Why don't all the new cars come out like the 306.

[ebxr8240]

Peugeot are not what they cracked up to be ..
Well? Previous models overheated and had head gasket issues ..

[superyob]

No...

[tranquilized]

I drove my friends 1 year old Corolla the other week. Keeping in mind this is the highest selling car in the country - it was god-awful. NVH from the engine in particular was incredibly intrusive, difficult to drive smoothly, dash a horrible blob of cheap black plastic. Based on that experience - no - small cars aren't any good.

But I have driven a previous-gen Focus XR5 a lot, and been a passenger in a few Golf GTi's, and based on those experiences - yes - small cars are very, very, very good indeed.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

I drove my friends 1 year old Corolla the other week. Keeping in mind this is the highest selling car in the country - it was god-awful. NVH from the engine in particular was incredibly intrusive, difficult to drive smoothly, dash a horrible blob of cheap black plastic. Based on that experience - no - small cars aren't any good.

But I have driven a previous-gen Focus XR5 a lot, and been a passenger in a few Golf GTi's, and based on those experiences - yes - small cars are very, very, very good indeed.

Yes I am lead to believe that the Focus XR5 and Golf GTI's are a good small car to drive and enjoy driving type rewarding car.

Like you say the Corolla is just that, but most do not know it's just truly only rubbish car and saying that, most would not know it was as backwards as it is.

A member in the family is looking to buy a new small car and was looking at the Corolla but said now he is not going to buy one.
I think the Subaru Impreza maybe for him and her.

[DBourne]

My XR5 is pretty damn good.

So, yes.

[Bill M]

The other car is a 2009 Corolla, I much prefer the room in my Falcon as I am a large framed fella! How do other large people find small cars?
Bill

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

My XR5 is pretty damn good.

So, yes.

Ditto...

As is my partner's Mazda3, it does everything we need and is v-good on fuel.

[Itsme]

I have 2000 model KN Laser, brilliant small car, so yes small cars can be good.

[xw_beast]

Buy a Peugeot if you have your heart set on it, a motoring mag applauded the 306 for it's chassis rigidity, but I call bull**** on that claim, as I saw one in the shop at least once a year for a cracked windscreen, on the exact same spot (top left, no impact mark) that could only have been caused by body flex, and I would have put 5 screens in, 2 genuine and 3 from our non gen supplier, In the end he sold it.

[XRtowcar]

Wifes got a Peugeot 307 XSI and it has been generally a reliable car.
Some electrical gremlins.
Not overly powerful for a 2 litre or comfortable to drive though.
Needs a careful gear change to drive smoothly.
But has plenty of room and features.
Wouldn't like to pay the timing belt or service costs though as I do that myself.

[jpblue1000]

Originally Posted by castellan

Are small cars any good or are people just buying rubbish.
.

Define Good.
If by good you mean agile, more fuel efficient able to get into smaller car park spots, then yes.
If you mean as big as a falcon no?
If by good you mean dynamically enjoyable, competent performer and fun to drive, then yes.
If you mean as fast as a GT(whatever number floats your boast) falcon, probably not!
If you mean reliable, economical to own and good service/warranty experience then probably yes.
If you ask most on this forum...No

JP

[Giant Cranium]

no they suck, or it could just be my 195cm.

[Franco Cozzo]

185cm here and no problems with comfort in my Focus or Fiesta.

Front two seats are the place to be in small cars, back seats not so much.

[zilo]

If you mean are they as safe as a big car?........NO

[99AUXR]

Originally Posted by zilo

If you mean are they as safe as a big car?........NO

Beg to differ and to many variables, what big car and what small car?

Out of all the crashed cars we pick up I think you will be suprised at how safe the drivers of late model small cars are. . . .Provided they are wearing seat belts :/

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

If you ask most on this forum...No

JP

Still laughing.

[Trump]

Originally Posted by 99AUXR

Beg to differ and to many variables, what big car and what small car?

Out of all the crashed cars we pick up I think you will be suprised at how safe the drivers of late model small cars are. . . .Provided they are wearing seat belts :/




Still laughing.

As a general rule, all things being equal, the heavier your car, the safer you are in the event of a shunt. The occupants of a small, light five star ANCAP rated hatch will fare rather poorly in a head on shunt with a large, heavy 5 star rated sedan.

[jpblue1000]

Originally Posted by Loud_Noises

As a general rule, all things being equal, the heavier your car, the safer you are in the event of a shunt. The occupants of a small, light five star ANCAP rated hatch will fare rather poorly in a head on shunt with a large, heavy 5 star rated sedan.

As a general rule of thumb, nothing is equal though!

JP

[Trump]

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

As a general rule of thumb, nothing is equal though!

JP

That is very true JP.

The more metal between the rest of the world and me, the better

[zilo]

Originally Posted by 99AUXR

Beg to differ and to many variables, what big car and what small car?

I'll make it as succinct as possible.

My big 5 star Mercedes and your small 5 star Focus/Mondeo/subaru/yaris/...

Both 5 star, way different mass.

Mass wins....everytime...
(unless you have an anomalous crowbar sized object that comes through the windscreen at me.)


I'll even go further and say......

5 star buzz box with 500mm bonnet length versus 4 star big car with 1.5 metre bonnet length.......4 star car wins.

At impact, (which is the stopwatch trigger for decelerative forces), the longer the bonnet the slower the rate of deceleration.

Using above example.

At 60km/h small bonnet car G forces of 33 on occupants.
At 60km/h big bonnet car G forces of 12 on occupants.


The vehicle with slowest deceleration wins in the injury stakes.


Now let's not come up with the usual examples of how we have a neighbours/cousins/pet dog/pool cleaners wife who wrote off an 80's 4WD ute and came out with not a scratch.

You can't beat simple Physics.

Comes down to a choice of what colour wheelchair you want if you rely on a gazilion airbags as an alternative to mass.

[BradEL]

Small cars once were cool, but the definition of a small car in the 1960s was somewhat different.....

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by BradEL

Small cars once were cool, but the definition of a small car in the 1960s was somewhat different.....
image

You mean the American definition of small car was, and still is different. Remember the XK Falcon was sold as a small/compact car over there, but family sized here.

Originally Posted by cheap

It is interesting comparing small V's BIG, because today's small cars aren't small when compared to 1950-1960's small cars.

Whilst the world has become smaller, cars generally haven't.

You don't need to go that far back, the 1980's is enough to illustrate your point.

The first Toyota Camry sold in Australia was 100mm shorter, 80mm narrower, and 60mm lower overall than the current Corolla.

The current Holden Cruze is only 150mm shorter than the VB Commodore, but 66mm wider and 106mm higher.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

You mean the American definition of small car was, and still is different. Remember the XK Falcon was sold as a small/compact car over there, but family sized here.



You don't need to go that far back, the 1980's is enough to illustrate your point.

The first Toyota Camry sold in Australia was 100mm shorter, 80mm narrower, and 60mm lower overall than the current Corolla.

The current Holden Cruze is only 150mm shorter than the VB Commodore, but 66mm wider and 106mm higher.

The Cruze does not feel as big inside as a VB Commodore, the Cruse maybe heaver ?

Small cars have been getting fatter like the Corolla.

[castellan]

As for small cars inside some are even better than the bigger cars, mainly for head room especially in the back seat.
I can't sit in the back of a AU Falcon as the head room is just rubbish, but in the back of a Suzuki Swift I can sit in the rear with no problems with head room.

Some years ago car mags would show a spec of the interior, it may of been Fords own spec, but it's a load of rubbish, as where and how do they take the points from ? the top of the seat foam ? or some angle that has nothing to do with the human body sitting in the seat.

[jpblue1000]

Oh yeah forgot to mention if you drive a 'small' car according to the research conducted by some AFF members you will die a horrible nasty death and the scourge will affect generations of your family.

JP

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

Oh yeah forgot to mention if you drive a 'small' car according to the research conducted by some AFF members you will die a horrible nasty death and the scourge will affect generations of your family.

JP

I have died numerous times in my ST in the 2 years ive had it, so they must be correct

[cheap]

Originally Posted by DJM83

I have died numerous times in my ST in the 2 years ive had it, so they must be correct

You could always have "big" head on with a big heavy vehicle and tell us how it works out, except you'd probably be dead...

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by cheap

You could always have "big" head on with a big heavy vehicle and tell us how it works out, except you'd probably be dead...

And that saying can go with big cars having a head on.
With any type vehicle on the road you will always risk being killed in an accident regardless of vehicle size.

[mik]

Originally Posted by trublu

And that saying can go with big cars having a head on.
With any type vehicle on the road you will always risk being killed in an accident regardless of vehicle size.

yes big chance death will ensue with a head on , but there are lots more ways you can damaged in a car than a head on, and i would not like to be in any car in that instance , but especially not in a smaller car.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by cheap

You could always have "big" head on with a big heavy vehicle and tell us how it works out, except you'd probably be dead...

Yeah, I'm really concerned about that so I bought one of these as my daily: