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I don't think any real small sedan or hatch can be "beautiful" but they can be "eccentric" and "interesting" and "quirky" and all that...again, the cuteness factor, with big noses and paws on a small body.
The best defense is to stay out of an accident, that is very true--because once an accident occurs, forces are unleashed which are totally unpredictable outside the crash-lab. If cars were "safe" we'd have no deaths instead of 40,000 a year. So lots of people in "safe" cars are dying and they aren't all in subcompacts by any means.
But then, blow up the xB and you end up with an Astro.
Funny, but for all the ragging that the xB has to endure with, I kinda like it. Probably partly because the blocky, Astro-esque styling makes it look a bit more rugged, and partly because, while it's a tiny little thing, it's more quart-sized than pint-sized.
But style-wise, the only thing that bugs me about the xB is that bumper that juts out too far, coupled with the grille that doesn't jut out far enough. Gives it a blocky step-look in front. I think if they'd angle the grille and headlights, similar to how the Astro did back in the 80's, and shrink that step on the bumper, it would improve its looks.
Guys don't much care for it except I have heard 3-4 times "hey, is that a hybrid?"
I'm thinking of starting a car club called "The Angry Gnats" for modified xAs.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Ho-boy, that one's got to be right up there with "I'm on the pill" and "I'll love you forever and never get fat!" :P
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
After more than a century of automotive development, good ergonomics should be a given, yet it still seems the exception.
I mean, really, you haven't got some long string of analog gauges to look at, and the speedo is big enough to see from the back seat and believe me, you'll KNOW when you're speeding without looking at it...which leaves the tach, and all you care about on a 1.5 liter engine is where the redline is.
So my argument is that there is nothing to look at of interest anyway. :P
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I mentioned this somewhere on edmunds before, but I wear bifocals (ok I admit it I am getting up there in centuries) and that center mounted gauge cluster is in the worst possible spot for me. Its right at, and/or above, the line separating the two different prescriptions. That means i see regular gauges through the lower half and they are in focus. But those center mounted ones are either distorted by the changing prescription or seen through the upper half and they are not far enough away for that.
So my argument is that there is nothing to look at of interest anyway.
"Gee officer the reason I was going so fast is that I wasn't watching the speedometer, you know that gauge that is of no interest."
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Others have argued that a subcompact is not worthwhile since, for a few K bucks more you can have a bigger, more powerful, more luxurious more whatever vehicle. My thoughts run in the opposite direction: as much as I would like to have a new Miata, it is difficult to justify $6-8K more than a Fit as a daily driver, and they're both about 2500lbm. Yet the Miata's greater power/mass and superior handling would make it a safer and much more enjoyable vehicle not to mention its "drop-head" benefits.
But the Fit has better utility (which would be an infrequent benefit). The Fit consumes less fuel, yet even at $3/gal it would save less than $300/yr - from that perspective the Miata is cheap entertainment considering what others spend in greens fees, movies or sports events. And of course RWD vs FWD - no contest! Still there's that $16K vs $23K out-of-pocket.
I'm impaled on the horns of a dilema.
The choice today is between idiotic and infurating. The first one is in the center but visible, the second in front of you but invisible because the steering wheel obscures it.
In the past vehicles sold in the US were made for full-sized (read 5'10" +) men. Today, because of their countries of origin they're made for different demographic median. The distance between the steering wheel and the pedals has been changed the same way.
So, while I don't like the center-mounted display, at least I can see it without making ducking maneuvers just to check my own speed.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
That's good Shifty, but I'm not sure I could see the xA as being 'angry'.
Maybe a club called "The Mighty Peeved Gnats"........
Oh, how clever. Since you have graced me with this unnecessary piece of gratuitous bs, allow me to express my jealousy for your statistically median height. Unless I totally lift my steering wheel to the point where it is no longer ergonomic to operate, my wheel's upper rim intrudes in the line of sight. And while the height of the steering wheel all up may be standard, the distance from the steering wheel to the pedals is NOT. That forces the taller among us to adjust the steering wheel down after pushing the seat back. That causes the steering wheel to intrude in the line of sight.
Now, spare me your gratuitous remarks in the future if those concepts are too hard for you.
Scion xA-- well what I meant was that in the xA, or mine at least, you can hear what the engine is doing so I can "know" my speed within 5 mph, no problem. That's one reason I put on a noisier muffler. I like "mechanical" sounds in a car.
But bifocals? Shoot, it's hard enough to WALK in them much less drive. I'd probably forego bifocals in a center-dash type of vehicle and just use the long distance glasses.
Or you could have your windshield ground to prescription and throw the glasses away altogether!
How About "Angry Gnats in a Can"?
Isn't growing old fun?
BTW-what is the big deal about the center pod Toyota likes to save production money on? I mean, Toyota doesn't make enough money as it is...they really should look for ways to gouge us...I...I mean carefully contrive savings however they can with their small rigs, right? Just go with it. Doesn't reflect on the goodness of the car IMO.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
;-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
xA is still topping my leader board in the class...
Or you could have your windshield ground to prescription and throw the glasses away altogether!
This is exactly why horizon displays and HUDs are going to gain popularity. Horizon displays and HUDs appear much further out, closer to optical infinity. This means that even though you are looking at something close up, your eyes see it as something far away.
This is great for a couple of reasons... one is no bifocals, you wear glasses for distance while driving and they work fine because the display appears far away. Also as you age, the "accommodation effect," the time it takes for your eyes to focus on something close up from something far away and vice versa, increases. By making everything appear far away, you minimize this effect.
Unfortunately the center mounted gauges are not far enough away to be read easily with long distance glasses.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
At least with little cars, they're narrow enough that the gauges might not be too far from your line of vision. With something like an xA, you could probably just keep looking straight ahead and roll your eyes to glance at the speedo. Kinda like I roll my eyes at the thought of ever owning something that small! :P
Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that a Miata is a sportscar, not a generic, economy-minded small car. It's designed to handle and perform. And how a car handles and performs really depends more on the way the suspension and steering are designed, as well as the engine, brakes, center of gravity, etc. Tires have a lot to do with it as well.
About the best thing a small car has going for it is that it presents itself as a smaller target to hit. For instance, if you run a red light in a car that's 12 feet long versus one that's 19 feet long, the 19 foot long car is more likely to get hit simply because it's a larger target. Even if it can accelerate out of the way just as quickly as the 12-foot car, it will still take longer to move all that length past a given point. And it would be easier for oncoming traffic to swerve around a 12-foot obstacle than it would be a 19-foot one.
Small cars usually tend to do pretty well in slalom courses, but in some situations those short wheelbases can make the cars feel unstable and jittery. And you'd think a lighter car would brake better than a bigger one, but often they skimp on brakes when it comes to little cars. Plus, in many cases these days, even little cars have relatively large, heavy wheels and tires, and that takes some effort to haul down.
Having said that, I think I could match the MINI's slalom with about a $1,000 upgrade. The brakes are another issue, since swapping drums for disks is a bigger problem (you often have to swap rear axles (even dead axles on FWD)and who knows what else.
Actually the xA's brakes are very good but they cannot stand repeated stress...that's the problem. But for a one-time SLAM, not bad, not bad....surely middle of the pack if not a tad on the upper end. A fatter tire would help but then you run the risk of aqua-planeing.
I bet some braided steel brake hoses and high quality brake fluid would make some difference.
That's good news. I haven't tried Fit yet. It will definitely be one of my criteria in the future. I am tired of "ducking" in my car just to read my speed when I see something b&w on the horizon behind me
But I'm puzzled by Nissan's strategy, since the Versa is >200lbm more than this year's Sentra! And since the new Sentral is now within 200lbm of the Altima, they have three models spanning a range of only about 300lbm while yielding the subcompact segment to the Fit, Yaris, XA, etc.
It appears that Nissan agrees with Boaz that there's no money to be made in small cars.
I tink right now that the car makers would be too nervous getting rid of their medium sized cars until they see how the market likes their small ones. Even though a Fit may have more room than a Civic, some people can't look beyond the exterior size/shape and just "think" it's too small.
Yes but I seriously doubt that the posters on these forums represent a cross section of the buying public. I would bet that at least half the people out there don't know how many HP their engines produce. I have known people who didn't even know how many cylinders their car has let alone the displacement and HP ratings.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
On the other hand, I think that TV commercials do a good job of generalizing an automaker...Mazda and Nisson are seen as the sporty Japanese cars, versus Toyota and Honda the boring ones with the super quality. With Subaru it's the all-wheel drive. Kia/Hyundia it's the big warranty. Volvo is safety. Then you get the BMW, Lexus, Jag, and they're all trying to distinguish themselves in more or less snobbish terms. BMW for the sporty snobs, Lexus for the quality snobs, Mercedes for the traditional snobs, etc. So I think that TV ads do more for selling companies then actual models of cars.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Not if you try to sell it that way, but if you say, "You will be saving $2,000 every year in fuel costs alone while enjoying the same spacious interior" - it might work.
Thats an awful lot of driving to save $2,000 every year in fuel costs.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
The front-wheel drive cars of which I speak include, but not limited to, the BMC Mini (and, its variants like the Austin America), FIAT 128, Renault R12 and R16 (larger, but extremely versatile - the R16 was known as a Sedagon, e.g. a sedan/wagon), Simca 1204, and the Honda 600 (and, later the original Civic). Plus, there were plenty of small European rear-drivers that made an entry in the USA including the DKW, NSU, and earlier Renaults. Another front-driver - one from the late '70s - includes the German-built Ford Fiesta, not to be confused with the later Kia-built Ford Festiva.
Many were "before their time," especially the French vehicles, as the French always required small cars with significant versatility. That's why I find the Nissan Versa so unique, and such a proper name, given its European, and French-derived management, lineage.