Think Inside the Box.

[ekam]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

Everyone knows the best way to kill zombies is with a wooden stake to the head.

You'd only really want to do that when you run out of ammo.

[Overdrive]

I know what you mean, blue, and I agree when it comes to practicality and sporty, hence why I feel you kind of lose the 'sport' label once you start throwing in more than 2 seats, or worse, more than 2 doors. Still, those trunks do come in handy when you take a long ride out to a mall an hour away and end up doing a little shopping, and it's awfully nice to be able to drop the bag or two into that front trunk and drive back home (rear trunk had the car cover in it), rather than have almost no space to put anything in. They may make the car a bit longer than it could be, but I have to imagine it'd look a little wierd with a much shorter front end, kinda like a Toyota MR-S gone wrong.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

Everything's getting bigger. Civics and Corollas now are bigger than Accords and Camrys were 15 years ago. Audis and BMWs do the same thing. It's a trend that sucks if you're a fan of light and responsive cars. Accords used to actually be fun to drive when I was a kid, toss-able even! Now they're closer to 2WD SUVs with trunks.

On the road to work today I saw a brand new Subaru Outback and I was thinking to myself what ever happened to that small wagon? The brand new one I saw today is more along the size of a SUV or minivan! My company also recently bought a new Taurus that I have to drive sometimes. That thing is just HUGE compared to the old ones. Personally I think it's a shame that everything is getting so big.

I just watched the documentary "Supersize Me" last week. I personally think that explains the main reason for this trend. It's McDonald's fault!

Kirk

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

I know what you mean, blue, and I agree when it comes to practicality and sporty, hence why I feel you kind of lose the 'sport' label once you start throwing in more than 2 seats, or worse, more than 2 doors. Still, those trunks do come in handy when you take a long ride out to a mall an hour away and end up doing a little shopping, and it's awfully nice to be able to drop the bag or two into that front trunk and drive back home (rear trunk had the car cover in it), rather than have almost no space to put anything in. They may make the car a bit longer than it could be, but I have to imagine it'd look a little wierd with a much shorter front end, kinda like a Toyota MR-S gone wrong.

The concept car is much smaller than the 986 and it's the best looking version of the style.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4127493469_647a8b46c9.jpg

http://img99.exs.cx/img99/1347/pconcept8zy.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/3158/3301/7894150120_large.jpg

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Kirk

On the road to work today I saw a brand new Subaru Outback and I was thinking to myself what ever happened to that small wagon? The brand new one I saw today is more along the size of a SUV or minivan! My company also recently bought a new Taurus that I have to drive sometimes. That thing is just HUGE compared to the old ones. Personally I think it's a shame that everything is getting so big.

I just watched the documentary "Supersize Me" last week. I personally think that explains the main reason for this trend. It's McDonald's fault!

Kirk

Part of it, and truly only a part, is the improvement in handling that such a setup provides. Wider stance, wheelbase pushed out to the limits, decent size tires, all of which helps to keep the car tracking straighter and overall have good road manners, a bit higher resistance to rolling over, as well as the ability to make quick maneuvers when needed without the car as likely to whip you back around looking the way you came. Average Joe Highway Commuter is not Mario Andretti, and sadly, rather than improve the driver or take away his/her phone and makeup, it's a bit easier to just try and have the car make up for it. Of course, there's only so much you can do to the car to help with that, and in the end, it's still up to the driver to be diligent. Anyways, my point being, some of that is done essentially because a lot (not all or most, just a lot) of people are poor drivers, and very easily distracted drivers, so now we need to make the cars make up for that a bit and stuff them with airbags in places the car doesn't even know it has places. Also, as I believe I mentioned in a different thread about 986 looks vs. 987, some design changes have been implemented of late because of federal regulations regarding crash standards, particularly in the designs of front ends and hoods to decrease the likelihood of killing the foolish person who decides to cross the street in front of a bus where passing drivers aren't as likely to see them. Getting back to the main issue of width and just overall girth, it is indeed sad to see something like the Outback wagon become an actual SUV rather than just a car-(wagon-)based SUV design that just sits a little higher and is slightly more rugged. We used to have one of those early 2000s Outbacks, loved it. Wouldn't get one now, though. I have to say, Porsche seems to have been able to avoid falling into that trap as much as some others, or they're at least being pretty subtle about it. Their cars that aren't the more dedicated street-going track day models still have a wide appearance without actually being too terribly wide in reality, the Cayenne being a possible exception, but even then.

[fusionist]

Thanks for the compliments Overdrive!

That Triumph is a blast to drive! It's actually a track car built by a guy named Red LeGrand.. who made lightweight formula track car kits. So it makes about 130 horsepower, almost double what it should stock... and weighs 1500 pounds. It actually feels faster than the Boxster off the line to about 40mph or so. It's smog exempt here in California so it's wide open and loud!!! Great fun!!!

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by fusionist

Thanks for the compliments Overdrive!

That Triumph is a blast to drive! It's actually a track car built by a guy named Red LeGrand.. who made lightweight formula track car kits. So it makes about 130 horsepower, almost double what it should stock... and weighs 1500 pounds. It actually feels faster than the Boxster off the line to about 40mph or so. It's smog exempt here in California so it's wide open and loud!!! Great fun!!!

...I think I just drooled a bit there. How's it behave on the street as far as the ride? Does it have a serious dislike for bumps?

And maybe it's just the angling of the photo, but man that thing's short! Does the windshield top come to your waist or what? I'm no giant, but the roof of the Boxster's just below chest level for me.

[pothole]

I'm only 5'10" and I sit too high in my 986 with the seat in its lowest position. Must be pretty crap for the genuinely tall.

Regards the size of the Boxster, I think one major factor is the shared architecture with the 911. The front 2/3rds of the two models are basically shared, so a compromise has to be made. Porsche wanted to make the 911 in particular more capacious, so the front end has to look right attached to the larger passenger cell of the modern 911. Sticking the teeny tiny Boxster concept nose onto a largish passenger cell was never going to fly, sadly, and since the production Boxster shares the same front end it couldn't have it either.

Given those limitations, I think Porsche did a pretty good job with the 996 and 986. Not sure they went in the right direction with the 987 / 997, which are even bigger.

There's also crash regs and particularly pedestrian crash regs which is pushing car design towards bulbous front ends.

Anyway, by today's standards, the 986 definitely looks fairly petite.

[Overdrive]

All very true, pothole. I'm just over 5'7", and initially thought I'd have to have the seat up at its higest to be comfortable. I've actually got it pretty slammed down so that my knees don't hit the wheel while I'm doing my footwork...also why I wish the steering tilted along with or rather than just telescoping.