4 ms·
Fascinating how they've expanded in size and engine displacement over the years. That seems common for any category of item meant to be minimal: people think,
by JasonFruit 5y ago
Fascinating how they've expanded in size and engine displacement over the years. That seems common for any category of item meant to be minimal: people think, "If we could only add a little more x..." and then in a few years it's time for a new minimal.
- tomcam 5y agoScope creep happens everywhere...
- amyjess 5y agoKeep in mind that modern safety features add both size and weight. Increasing the maximum engine displacement (last done in 1990) and size (last done in 1998) is necessary in order to keep speed and interior volume consistent with new safety features. In fact, I'd argue they haven't increased enough—safety tech has improved by leaps and bounds since 1998, and anyone who's been in a modern car compared to a 1998 car can testify that there's much less usable interior space now in a car of the same external dimensions as one from 1998, and you can thank all the extra airbags, crumple zones, etc. that have been introduced since then.
- ehnto 5y agoAlso why you can't see a damn thing past the A pillars. They must hold the weight of the vehicle if turned over and they often contain airbags increasing their size more as well.
- taneq 5y agoJust like what happened to netbooks. The original “minimalist laptop just powerful enough to run a browser” went through so many rounds of “but this one’s a bit bigger/faster/nicer so we’ll buy this one” that they turned into budget laptops.