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I drive a Camaro. I can’t fit an infant seat behind my driver’s side seat, and I sit abnormally closer to the steering wheel than most. Never mind a larger chil

I drive a Camaro. I can’t fit an infant seat behind my driver’s side seat, and I sit abnormally closer to the steering wheel than most. Never mind a larger child seat. Ok, you’re saying - but that’s a Camaro. Well, said Camaro is in repair at the moment and they gave me a loaner. It’s a Chevy Sonic. I also can’t fit the infant seat behind the driver’s side. To be fair, it’s a subcompact. However, even in my wife’s CX-5 we can barely get our hand between the driver’s seat and the latch for the infant seat to get it out. That’s after moving the seat up further than my wife prefers. I’ll be shopping for a new vehicle soon and I can definitely see how people with families instantly jump to SUVs, vans, and to some extent trucks.

garvield 4y ago
There is another form factor: station wagons. I don't know why they have fallen so out of fashion in the US, they are such practical cars. Fit a family of four? No problem. Need material for your project? Fold the back seats and fit full sheets of plywood. Not even the full size SUVs has as much space as a regular old station wagon.
- throwaway0a5e 4y ago
  They went out of favor because vehicle body design trends (largely driven by safety requirements) make them have a lot less practical space inside for a given external size. The idiots who cooked up the CAFE footprint rule that resulted in all the OEMs cramming the axles to the far ends of the vehicle (killing a lot of trunk space in the process) are probably responsible for the biggest share but it's very much a death by a thousand cuts situation.
mrweasel 4y ago
That's actually annoying problem with modern cars, in my case it's doesn't help much moving up to bigger cars though. I'm pretty tall, so if I'm in any of the front sets, the seat behind me become unusable. So a car that fit a family of four, because effectively a three person car. For trips with four people we put our child in the front passenger seat, my wife driving and I sit in the back. That's the only way to utilize all the seats. There might be cars available that solve the problem, but not within our budget. I get why, but it is annoying that anything above 185cm is consider outside the range of car designs. Edit: just looking up the CX-5, and I assume it's the Mazda. Those are useless, I can't even drive those, there aren't enough leg room behind the wheel. On the other hand the Hyundai i10 has plenty of space... Just not for someone to sit in the back seat.
Toutouxc 4y ago
Are you and your wife just really really tall? I mean, I haven't driven any one of these particular cars, but I drive a 90 HP, 50 MPG sedan that four average adults can fit in comfortably. Some things that American aspiring tank drivers say can't be done, are an everyday occurrence in Europe.
- Auracle 4y ago
  The child seats come out way further than a human does where the person's chest would be.
benhurmarcel 4y ago
I fit a huge (rotating) baby seat behind the driver on an Opel Corsa without issue. I don't see how it's possible that it wouldn't fit just fine in those cars.
elsonrodriguez 4y ago
Hey, late to the party, but my wife and I went through this type of issue recently. You want to test drive an OutBack and a Santa Fe. The rear seat width and leg room are highly optimized compared to other vehicles in the segment. We were able to fit 2 car seats and an adult in the back seat of both of those cars without going up to a full-size SUV.

garvield 4y ago

There is another form factor: station wagons. I don't know why they have fallen so out of fashion in the US, they are such practical cars. Fit a family of four? No problem. Need material for your project? Fold the back seats and fit full sheets of plywood. Not even the full size SUVs has as much space as a regular old station wagon.

throwaway0a5e 4y ago
They went out of favor because vehicle body design trends (largely driven by safety requirements) make them have a lot less practical space inside for a given external size. The idiots who cooked up the CAFE footprint rule that resulted in all the OEMs cramming the axles to the far ends of the vehicle (killing a lot of trunk space in the process) are probably responsible for the biggest share but it's very much a death by a thousand cuts situation.

mrweasel 4y ago

That's actually annoying problem with modern cars, in my case it's doesn't help much moving up to bigger cars though. I'm pretty tall, so if I'm in any of the front sets, the seat behind me become unusable. So a car that fit a family of four, because effectively a three person car. For trips with four people we put our child in the front passenger seat, my wife driving and I sit in the back. That's the only way to utilize all the seats. There might be cars available that solve the problem, but not within our budget. I get why, but it is annoying that anything above 185cm is consider outside the range of car designs. Edit: just looking up the CX-5, and I assume it's the Mazda. Those are useless, I can't even drive those, there aren't enough leg room behind the wheel. On the other hand the Hyundai i10 has plenty of space... Just not for someone to sit in the back seat.

Toutouxc 4y ago

Are you and your wife just really really tall? I mean, I haven't driven any one of these particular cars, but I drive a 90 HP, 50 MPG sedan that four average adults can fit in comfortably. Some things that American aspiring tank drivers say can't be done, are an everyday occurrence in Europe.

Auracle 4y ago
The child seats come out way further than a human does where the person's chest would be.

benhurmarcel 4y ago

I fit a huge (rotating) baby seat behind the driver on an Opel Corsa without issue. I don't see how it's possible that it wouldn't fit just fine in those cars.

elsonrodriguez 4y ago

Hey, late to the party, but my wife and I went through this type of issue recently. You want to test drive an OutBack and a Santa Fe. The rear seat width and leg room are highly optimized compared to other vehicles in the segment. We were able to fit 2 car seats and an adult in the back seat of both of those cars without going up to a full-size SUV.