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You don't even have to mess around with Smarts and Minis... The car I [try not to] drive (a Škoda Rapid liftback) fits four 180 cm (5'10") adults and their bagg

You don't even have to mess around with Smarts and Minis... The car I [try not to] drive (a Škoda Rapid liftback) fits four 180 cm (5'10") adults and their baggage for a week, yet I could almost drive UNDERNEATH some of the crap I have to share the roads with (LR Discovery, F-150, BMW X8). I used to love cars and driving, now they disgust me, along with the whole my-car-is-my-identity culture.

Gordonjcp 4y ago
And yet your "little" Skoda is the same size as a first or second generation Landrover Discovery, and a bawhair smaller than my second-gen Range Rover...
- Toutouxc 4y ago
  > your "little" Skoda That's the thing, it's not "little" in my book, but a full sized car. It comfortably fits an average family (or a group of four adults) and their stuff for a week-long vacation. > same size as a first or second generation Landrover Discovery It's 25 % lower and 5 % narrower than the first generation, but I understand that the Discovery is an off-road car, and I also consider it a full sized car, just like mine. The evolution should've stopped (or been regulated) right around there.
itsoktocry 4y ago
[flagged]
bjt2n3904 4y ago
> my-car-is-my-identity culture Projection much?
- forgetfulness 4y ago
  For instance: https://www.reddit.com/gallery/y78psk https://www.reddit.com/gallery/y78psk
  - dahfizz 4y ago
    Its not unreasonable to point out that having your own car unlocks a lot of personal freedom and independence. That post is obvious flame bait but I find it hard to argue the underlying truth.
    - forgetfulness 4y ago
      That personal freedom and independence gets burnt away as exhaust in traffic jams for entire days of your life every month.
- amelius 4y ago
  My phone is already my identity.
MezzoDelCammin 4y ago
194cm tall 95kg (i.e. "not skinny") 2021 Skoda Fabia owner here. Last trip was 4 people for some weekend hiking, no big issues either. Yeah, Rapid is a bit on the long size ;-) But agree - I wouldn't like to drive that outside of the EU. It feels kinda weird to be (sometimes below) eye level with some car hoods...
trgn 4y ago
> I used to love cars and driving, now they disgust me, ++ I live in fly-over country, and cars, pretty much all of them, are monstrously large now. I notice the change, even to 15-20 years ago. Just as a small example; the physical experience of just being in a parking lot now, it's gotten really foul. The rooflines of cars parked on the street now block the view outside my local coffee shop. Not sure if this is real, but there seems more of that casual sociopathic driving (weaving in an out of traffic, texting, tailgating, ...). I'm not exaggerating, any given day and I likely see, with my own eyes, the aftermath of a wreck. It's absolutely insane to me. It's a true saying; "things can always get worse". I feel like we're finding that out now. The public realm is just worse. Straight up. Worse. More deadly, violent, unwelcoming. And it's cars. The only concrete thing really. Big, fast going cars. Slow them down, have them smaller. And immediately, almost from day one, life outside is better. > whole my-car-is-my-identity culture This is not projection, it's a core truth. Many americans have reified independence into an extremely specific material _thing_. Big cars. Even if not all, then still enough to hold everybody else hostage.
- yabones 4y ago
  My wife recently pointed out to me that cars from 15-25 years ago all have "happy faces" and newer cars (late 00's to current) often have "angry faces". It's silly at first, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense why driving has gotten so miserable. Our little monkey-brains see angry faces all around us, and we act more defensively. We feel the need to defend ourselves from all the scary metal boxes, leading to buying scarier looking boxes. It's an angry-headlights arms race.
  - blastro 4y ago
    Fairly profound point. The old Ford Taurus basically smiled at you.
  - jgbmlg 4y ago
    I think there have always been a few aggressive, angry-looking cars. Case in point the 1950 Buick Super Eight https://imgur.com/a/OvwFNQa https://imgur.com/a/OvwFNQa I wonder what is the oldest angry car.

Gordonjcp 4y ago

And yet your "little" Skoda is the same size as a first or second generation Landrover Discovery, and a bawhair smaller than my second-gen Range Rover...

Toutouxc 4y ago
> your "little" Skoda That's the thing, it's not "little" in my book, but a full sized car. It comfortably fits an average family (or a group of four adults) and their stuff for a week-long vacation. > same size as a first or second generation Landrover Discovery It's 25 % lower and 5 % narrower than the first generation, but I understand that the Discovery is an off-road car, and I also consider it a full sized car, just like mine. The evolution should've stopped (or been regulated) right around there.

itsoktocry 4y ago

[flagged]

bjt2n3904 4y ago

> my-car-is-my-identity culture Projection much?

forgetfulness 4y ago
For instance: https://www.reddit.com/gallery/y78psk https://www.reddit.com/gallery/y78psk
- dahfizz 4y ago
  Its not unreasonable to point out that having your own car unlocks a lot of personal freedom and independence. That post is obvious flame bait but I find it hard to argue the underlying truth.
  - forgetfulness 4y ago
    That personal freedom and independence gets burnt away as exhaust in traffic jams for entire days of your life every month.
amelius 4y ago
My phone is already my identity.

MezzoDelCammin 4y ago

194cm tall 95kg (i.e. "not skinny") 2021 Skoda Fabia owner here. Last trip was 4 people for some weekend hiking, no big issues either. Yeah, Rapid is a bit on the long size ;-) But agree - I wouldn't like to drive that outside of the EU. It feels kinda weird to be (sometimes below) eye level with some car hoods...

trgn 4y ago

> I used to love cars and driving, now they disgust me, ++ I live in fly-over country, and cars, pretty much all of them, are monstrously large now. I notice the change, even to 15-20 years ago. Just as a small example; the physical experience of just being in a parking lot now, it's gotten really foul. The rooflines of cars parked on the street now block the view outside my local coffee shop. Not sure if this is real, but there seems more of that casual sociopathic driving (weaving in an out of traffic, texting, tailgating, ...). I'm not exaggerating, any given day and I likely see, with my own eyes, the aftermath of a wreck. It's absolutely insane to me. It's a true saying; "things can always get worse". I feel like we're finding that out now. The public realm is just worse. Straight up. Worse. More deadly, violent, unwelcoming. And it's cars. The only concrete thing really. Big, fast going cars. Slow them down, have them smaller. And immediately, almost from day one, life outside is better. > whole my-car-is-my-identity culture This is not projection, it's a core truth. Many americans have reified independence into an extremely specific material _thing_. Big cars. Even if not all, then still enough to hold everybody else hostage.

yabones 4y ago
My wife recently pointed out to me that cars from 15-25 years ago all have "happy faces" and newer cars (late 00's to current) often have "angry faces". It's silly at first, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense why driving has gotten so miserable. Our little monkey-brains see angry faces all around us, and we act more defensively. We feel the need to defend ourselves from all the scary metal boxes, leading to buying scarier looking boxes. It's an angry-headlights arms race.
- blastro 4y ago
  Fairly profound point. The old Ford Taurus basically smiled at you.
- jgbmlg 4y ago
  I think there have always been a few aggressive, angry-looking cars. Case in point the 1950 Buick Super Eight https://imgur.com/a/OvwFNQa https://imgur.com/a/OvwFNQa I wonder what is the oldest angry car.