how do you feel about small cars?
 

I wanted to ask here because this is a gas saving forum, many people have small cars (civic/corolla/sentra, etc). I have a 97 prizm, and before this I owned 3 other civics, and a 92 camry. I rarely drove the camry because it drinks gas.

but, I just watched a program on CNBC and it showed the volvo studio where they do the crash testings, and then i read up articles about safety. Just going from a compact to a midsize, death rates were cut in half. and the more heavier the vehicle, the more safer, up to a point (4500 pounds). also, SUV's are rated not so safe because of rollovers, and the safest vehicles are midsize/full size sedans and vans.

i have driven these small cars all my life, my friends usually have at least a mizsize car. I love the gas savings, easier parking, cheap insurance, and i never really needed that much room to haul anything, If i do need the room I just put the stuff on the roof. After watching the video, I really wanted to just get a midsize car and sell my prizm. it is a 2200 pound car, and in those crash test videos, it looked awful. Im a defensive driver, Im really careful and dont speed at all. there are some things that I do that aill avoid an accident, but there are moments where its beyond anyones control, when some other nut is doing something stupid, bad things happens, If a person is getting t boned, they are really better in a chevy suburban than a little CRX.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

well I am of the opinion that the reason our cars aren't safe is because of the larger cars. even a midsize car is no match for an 18 wheeler or a dump truck. one of the worst things I ever saw was a ford ranger that got T-boned by a dump truck. it was horrendous. I don't think it would have mattered what he was driving at that point. Dumptruck wins.

all that being said, I have luckily not been in any accidents (other than hitting deer) in my life. I've been driving for about 17 years. I have had some near misses that in my opinion would have been collisions had I been driving something less nimble (larger vehicles). I think it depends on where you live and the roads you drive. I am in a very rural area and rarely get in bumper-to-bumper traffic. most of my roads are 2 lane roads with speeds of no more than 55.

I just have a hard time with the scare tactics that some of the people actually use to get people to buy bigger cars. put any car going 100mph vs a stone pillar (a big one). it will be terrible looking. it doesn't matter what car/vehicle is hitting it. small car vs big car...small car loses. it's just physics. suburban vs 18 wheeler (suburban loses)

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

As I get older I am willing to sacrifice gas mileage for comfort. I hate getting beat to death driving a small car for longer than 3 hrs.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

I kind of want to get an accord or camry, but the prices are just too high for what it offers, i see 97 camrys and 98 accords going for 2500 with 200k miles, its just not worth it for a 15 year old car thats going to need major repairs sooner or later.


as for SUV'S, I seen a isusu rodeo or honda passport that was t boned and flipped over while driving to my friends place, the whole roof tore off and the glass was everywhere, I bet that the passengers got seriously hurt. I would bet that if that was a midsize sedan, it would just have got t boned, passengers got hurt, and no roll over.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

Give me a small, nimble, efficient car for everyday driving. My wife and I each have one. Her Fit is safer now than the big Detroiters were 20 years ago. My del Sol will probably fold like a house of cards, but I will take my chances.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

The way I see it, people who never go outdoors never get killed by Mountain Lions, bears, snakes, bees, or lightning. But look at what they miss in their pitiful cloistered lives.

The same thing goes for the people who drive big cars and SUVs. My dream car is a Lotus Elise, or an Ariel Atom.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

I drive a F 150 because my legs are too long for cars... almost any car. My wife's old Corlla gave me a backache in about 20 minutes.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

+1 that it's the larger cars making smaller cars unsafe.
+1 compact now is safer than anything 10+ years ago.
-Then again, a compact now is the same size as a mid-size 10 years ago.
-Cars are growing as fast as the american public on the outside without getting any bigger on the inside: the new taurus is within 1/2" of every interior spec as my '90 cressida (except width...that's 4" wider in every seat) while externally several miles wider and longer and 1000 lbs heavier.

That being said, my preferred cars are compact/mid-size imports of 15-30 years ago. My toyota pickup is rated pretty low in crash tests, and I drive motorcycles as much as I can.

Like I always tell my wife, just sit back, relax, and enjoy life as much as you can. you might be 100x more likely to get in a car accident than plane crash but you're still not terribly likely to be in one. I'd rather enjoy the ride than drive a modern car...that's like trying to enjoy a gourmet meal right after the dentists office and the novocain is still in full effect.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

Accident avoidance. I drive a 2002 Civic Si hatchback. I pay attention to the road, no texting or phone calls, and I usually have both hands on the wheel. I believe taking an more active part in staying out of an accident is better than a big vehicle.

Re: how do you feel about small cars?
 

going with that... psychology takes part in that too. If you keep telling yourself you're going to be in an accident and need a bigger vehicle because of that, you're more likely to be careless enough to be in an accident. sort of like the whole convincing yourself you'll fail a test in school.

and from the other direction, people with big SUVs think "because I have a huge SUV I don't have to be as careful about accident avoidance because I'll come out on top"

heck I spend most of my time on motorcycles. can't get much more exposed or invisible than that.