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“And now, a rant about wheels and tires that are too big.”
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Honestly I’m kinda bummed that EVERYTHING about cars is getting bigger- not just tires and wheels. I like small cars, small trucks, etc :/
Honestly the same is true with phones, the market keeps moving towards bigger and bigger phones
Agreed. I like my cars small. If I ever become a gazillionaire, I will drive a Nash Metro converted into an EV.
I will drive a first gen miata. Maybe EV converted or LS swapped. I love the little pop up and down headlights 🥺 they make me happy
Ls engine is overkill !!! You ll spin tooo much and adding extra weight to thefront will fok up the almost perfect weight distributiom
Even with a turbo. 350 hp is exagerated
To each their cup of tea !!
That’s fair, there are reasons why its a “maybe”. I’m not too worried about spinning though, its not a super uncommon swap for miatas so folks have given it a go before, and drifting seems like a blast. Currently drive a civic so I’ve not had the opportunity to try it
They look cool, but they’re annoying when they get stuck. I had a couple cars with them through the years. Sadly, never a first gen Miata. I like them too.
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this. My 99 forester SUV is half the size of a modern one, but is still a 5 seater with plently of space in the hatch
No it’s not.
The dimensions are almost the same between the two…
99 Forester Length: 175.2 inches Height: 65 inches Width w/o mirrors: 68.3 inches Rim size: 16 inches
23 Forester Length: 182.7 inches Height: 68.1 inches Width w/o mirrors: 71.5 inches Rim size: 17 or 18 depending on trim
They are less than 10 inches different in every aspect.
I keep hearing people say cars are getting bigger bigger bigger, but they aren’t. There are still plenty of normal sized cars out there. People just have this strange perception of them.
Yes, in absolute fairness there are some cars that are bigger, like they do seem to be marketing larger trucks and less of the really capable small trucks like the S10 or in nowaday terms a Ford Maverick. But this whole consensus on how cars are just getting so big is a stretch.
By ‘modern one’ I wasn’t necessarily specifying the same model but I definitely should have been more clear. It’s small compared to many of the new models I see on the road.
Also just comparing the totals like that isn’t exactly a clean comparison. The whole car sits lower to the ground, it’s actually low enough it doesn’t have a “Risk of rollover” warning on the windshield. Also the design of the hood and windshield itself push further back than newer cars with sleeker designs, it’s more space efficient in general, just ugly.
Haha, I agree with you on the height difference, I have a newer one but prefer the low stance of the older ones.
I do appreciate your opinion on it as it is a fair take and not to the extent that I perceived it.
I just feel like people tend to generalize something that, while in some aspects is true, but not to the extent that some people express.
That being said, I’d be much happier taking a train or bus provided we had better services for it. I lived in Japan for some time and I loved it, it was so easy to get anywhere and I got much more exercise out of it.
I’m stuck in small town nebraska unfortunately, there’s no bus service, the trains shut down decades ago, and the nearest airport is an hour drive away.
And most of the roads here are in disrepair, so much so that the sidewalks became lawns, you can still see the bricks of when they originally paved it 100 years ago. And forget about bike lanes, a couple of our towns are only accesible off the highway.
I would kill for a bus to take me from the town over and back, it would save an hour of driving each day and lots and lots of gas money
Ten inches bigger realistically feels a LOT bigger when it comes to something like a car. If you park a first gen and last gen forester next to each other the new one looks huge in comparison. Just a few inches wider or longer can make a huge difference in how you fit into narrow streets or parking spaces.
As another example, I drive a 90s Land Cruiser. By 90s standards it was a BIG full size SUV and the “small” body on frame option was a 4Runner.
94 Land Cruiser: 188x76x73 94 4Runner: 176x67x66
It’s only ~10” in each direction but the Land Cruiser looks and feels much larger. I parked next to a new 4Runner the other day and it is noticeably bigger than my Land Cruiser
2023 4Runner: 191x76x72
Meanwhile the 300 series Land Cruiser has continued to grow.
2023 Land Cruiser: 195x78x77
Dreading the day my pixel 5 dies and I have to shop for something the same size
Yeah, I think the zenphone is the only option I’m aware of with decent specs. Xperia may still have a small phone option, and I’m not sure what size fairphones have generally been but I know they’re planning to release the fairphone 5 before too long.
I’m still using a pixel 3 with a crap battery 🙃
Is it a case of the market is telling you what you want cause it wants you to want what will make it money?
No it’s because fuel economy regulations are higher on smaller vehicles, and less stringent on bigger vehicles. Car companies would rather make monster trucks than pay a small tax.
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I mean if you ran over a nail, more sidewall isn’t going to save you. But yeah one inch smaller diameter rim helps a ton in having a comfortable ride and hitting potholes and stuff like that.
The problem is that people keep on buying the larger wheels.
Laughs in 185/55/R15.
I can bash my car over bumps and save money doing it.
EDIT: Weight ruins everything. You go through more rubber, more fuel, more oil, more brakes and add premature wear on engine and suspension components. You also get less acceleration, worse handling and longer stopping distances - all while pumping out more noise and emissions. Weight has zero upsides unless you’re playing carmageddon.
You should get the smallest car that gets you by, not the largest car on your budget.
Larger wheels allow larger brakes, to a point.
Which are only needed as a result of bigger and heavier cars.
Bigger and heavier cars are a result of improved crash test ratings, so it’s a worthy trade-off
Not so fast… if we were all driving sub 3000lb cars then we wouldn’t need such beefy crash protection. The problem is when an 8000lb truck hits a 4000lb car, the car takes 2/3 of the impact force. If the truck was a reasonable sized 4500lb then the car could be reduced to 3000lb or less and be just as safe.
Also emissions would be less, and tires and brakes would last longer, and the car would likely just “last longer” since all the wear parts (ball joints, shocks, bushings, etc) would be either cheaper or last longer.
And the emissions requirements that are based on the footprint of the vehicle. So when a manufacturer has trouble meeting emissions standards they just have to make the car bigger and then its all good!
Batteries are heavy, for now
For now and forever.
Anything less than 40 series is just too low profile for daily driving, with 40-50 series being the sweet spot for sports cars, and 45-55 for economy cars or muscle cars. 65-85 is for trucks obviously.
If you are truly driving a track focused car then by all means, a 30-35 series tire will give you better feel than a 40-45, but at the expense of harshness over every expansion joint or pothole or dimple on the road.
I’m fine with smaller wheels, but as a Prius owner, I’m tired of my car being SO low to the ground. I can’t park in my own shitty driveway because my car eats shit on the curb of it no matter my angle of approach.
Absolutely! Please! This low profile look is horrible.
I drive a 3/4 pickup with 16" tires. It’s a 1970 c20.
