A heavier car feels more planted in relaxed everyday driving, less affected by NVH, more isolated from road imperfections and wind. The suspension will also be

A heavier car feels more planted in relaxed everyday driving, less affected by NVH, more isolated from road imperfections and wind. The suspension will also be designed for a larger mass, so the added mass of people and freight changes the feel of the car less, as it is a smaller percentage of the car's own mass. A heavy car is objectively worse when looking at handling, fuel economy, road wear, general pollution and crash safety, but greater mass feels safer and sturdier. If an object is very light, it subjectively feels less strong, even though it may not be. Car purchases are very emotionally driven and buyers choose what feels best to them, even if it is objectively worse on many parameters. For a non-car example, I prefer riding my relatively heavy 3-speed Dutch-style bicycle to my old aluminum-framed 8-speed sporty citybike, even though the latter is objectively faster, turns more crisply and has a better gear range. Simply because the heavier bike is less perturbed over bumps and the wider tires soak up imperfections better.