8 ms·
Cars have become absurd. We have an older car, and I occasionally look at what we could replace it with, and everything is huge and expensive. Literally, the on
by mulderc 1mo ago
Cars have become absurd. We have an older car, and I occasionally look at what we could replace it with, and everything is huge and expensive. Literally, the only car I have been interested in is from BYD and will never be available in my country.
- Thlom 1mo agoBYD also have some humongus cars. I have the BYD Tang and it's too big for some parking spaces.
- mulderc 1mo agoBYD also has very reasonably sized cars like the Dolphin.
- chrystalkey 1mo agoHey so, why would you even buy that? Was that some external requirement?
- Thlom 1mo agoBecause it's one of few cars with some space left in the trunk with the third seat row up. Luckily our need for the last two seats has been reduced, so the next car wil be smaller. :-)
- moffkalast 1mo agoFrom what I've ridden in the newer models it seems like internal cabin space remains the same or is genuinely getting smaller, but crumple zones keep increasing in size. There has to be some kind of ever increasing safety bar that keeps rising every year and this is the malicious compliance they're getting in response. In 2100 every car will have a total of 1 person of internal space, span the size of a city block and will be made entirely of cotton balls to achieve a 4 star safety rating. For the 5 star rating you also have to make sure the driver is immortal so they can't die of old age.
- MSKJ 1mo agoThere is no malicious compliance, just compliance. Who would they be malicious to? There is enough competition, it would only hurt their bottom line
- moffkalast 1mo agoTo the consumers who hate big bloated cars? It's not like people can or would say they want less safety in exchange for something smaller. There are arbitrary metrics to hit and that's all people look at. The more people say "this car looks absurd" the more it hurts their bottom line.
- wolvoleo 1mo agoAlso the business model will definitely shift more to services. A car will be not just the matter of buying it, but renting services on it like FSD, paying by data collection (which pays for 30%+ of the actual cost of current gen TVs etc). And in cars they make it much harder to disable data collection. For safety of course.
- MSKJ 1mo agoAgreed on this point, everyone wants a subscription
- MSKJ 1mo agoThe thing is bigger car are proportionally safer. And the market likes bigger cars, so the consumers are voting for bigger cars. In the markets where consumers prefer or need smaller cars, they are offered. E.g. Japan
- bobthepanda 1mo agopart of the problem, at least in the US, is that the SUVs destroy other cars, so it is quickly becoming a weird safety arms race.
- 1mo ago
- comradesmith 1mo agoGet a Honda Civic Type R
- gravypod 1mo agoMitsubishi just discontinued the car line that I drive [0]. The Mirage was great. I can drive from NYC to Boston on ~10 gallon. The only downsides were: No arm wrest, no sunglasses holder, and the media console won't turn on if you leave the car in the hot sun for a while. I'm hoping to make my next car an electric car but all of the US ones are massive. [0] - https://www.mitsubishicars.com/mirage-history https://www.mitsubishicars.com/mirage-history
- Grazester 1mo agoThe Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg ZR was a hell of a car. One of the higher output 1.6 litre 4 cylinder engines there were(175hp). Taking that to its 8200 rpm redline was glorious. But this isn't the car you're talking about.
- antisthenes 1mo ago> I can drive from NYC to Boston on ~10 gallon. NYC to Boston is only ~220 miles. You can drive literally any car there for 10 gallons. Or did you mean there and back?
- gravypod 1mo agoI have taken a few cars on that drive. Adding in traffic, I usually have to fill up at the gas station just outside of Boston that has the burger king in it. In my Mirage can get me to Boston, drive around a bit, and usually just need to fill up on my way back.
- Zambyte 1mo agoConsider something other than a car. Last year I purchased an electric scooter to complement my car. I ran into mechanical trouble with my car, and it wasn't worth repairing. Instead of replacing it with another car, I have ended up complementing the shortcomings of the electric scooter with an acoustic bicycle. In particular, the bike is better for carrying cargo (I can put things on the bike or even in a trailer instead of just a backpack; I have even moved furniture with my trailer!), and better at dealing with weather (I never have to worry about the battery getting cold or wet, and I also have studded tires for ice). If I knew I were getting rid of my car, I probably would have gotten an e-bike instead of an e-scooter. Having both has been quite nice though and they complement each other to be better than just having an e-bike. Depending on your cargo carrying / passenger needs, a cargo e-bike or a regular e-bike may be a much cheaper way to replace your car, and may be much more practical than you expect!
- mulderc 1mo agoWe already barely drive and the car is largely just for groceries and other shopping. We can almost get away without having a car but it was be a bit frustrating and neither of us enjoy biking.
- jjav 1mo agoThe philosophy that most resonates with me is Colin Chapman's "simplify, then add lightness”, so I really hate everything about what cars have become (even ignoring the spyware part, for a moment). I want to buy a car that is like the 1988 CRX HF but with almost 40 years of engine and materials engineering advancement. That car with primitive mid-80s fuel injection could do 49 MPG and weight was about 1800lbs. I am certain with modern engine control technology and judicious use of carbon fiber (without making it excessively expensive) Honda should be able to build a 2026 CRX HF that is 1700lb and get maybe 80 MPG. I wish they would. I wish governments would allow them to build it.
- moltar 1mo agoHow about Yaris hybrid? It’s quite small, great performance, and very reliable.