3 ms·

In addition to this article: Just today I noticed a Cadillac SUV in a Dutch parking space (multilevel parking garage). The car didn't fit (not even close) and

In addition to this article: Just today I noticed a Cadillac SUV in a Dutch parking space (multilevel parking garage). The car didn't fit (not even close) and protruded well into the driveway. 'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing.

thaumasiotes 1y ago
> 'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing. American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars. A recent car will not fit into a space in an American parking lot, and it makes it a nightmare to pass through toll booths, parking garage ticketing gates, or any other scenario where you're supposed to roll down your window and reach out to something outside the car. Going around corners is problematic too. I now park by looking for a stretch of several empty spaces in a row. I can (just barely) technically fit inside one marked space at my local grocery store, but I can't maneuver into a space if there are cars in the adjacent spaces. American cars have very recently become much, much, much, much fatter, and they use that extra interior space to... place a bunch of empty space between the seating and the side of the car. As best I can tell, this is a response to crash safety requirements. It is definitely a bad thing.
- agolsme 1y ago
  really, why do you think its crash safety that's gotten fatter rather than americans themselves? (obesity prevalence 40% and rising )
  - thaumasiotes 1y ago
    The seats haven't gotten wider. The cars have gotten wider, but the seats are the same size.
- Aeolun 1y ago
  > American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars. I don’t think this is true. Everyone was driving around in the Toyota Tacoma in Hawaii and that was fine. You couldn’t drive the thing in Tokyo. You’d just immediately get stuck at the first corner. The US is definitely built to facilitate cars, and plus sized cars by extension.
  - vel0city 1y ago
    I park in recently striped parking lots with pickup trucks that practically touch both lines. In parking garages these things can extend well into the traffic lane making traversing the garage extremely tight. It's really annoying having to share space with these monstrously sized trucks everywhere.
- dehugger 1y ago
  I am a bit confused... your car sounds miserable to drive, why don't you find a smaller one? The US certainly has a shit market for ultra-compacts, but you can still find (new) sedans or hatchbacks that comfortably fit existing infrastructure.
potato3732842 1y ago
Europe soils the US market with unworkable work vans. The US soils the European market with absurd SUVs. Seems fair to me. (joking, but also very much not joking)
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- Aeolun 1y ago
  What’s unworkable about those work vans? Clearly people like them enough to buy em.
  - jackyinger 1y ago
    Guessing it’s a joke that as many end up as campers as in working roles.
  - ranger_danger 1y ago
    I assume they're referring to the Sprinter, which is not only very unreliable but extremely difficult/expensive/annoying to work on.
    - potato3732842 1y ago
      The Promaster (Fiat Du-whatever) is just as bad as the Sprinter. The Transit is basically doing a best effort at making the same but not sucking and they go, ok, but just ok. Like don't get me wrong, they all do the "bod on wheels" thing fine but if you're not some high end airport shuttle service turning your leased fleet over on a rolling 3yr basis so you can "look sharp" they fucking crush you with maintenance and the TCO winds up being shit. And in more "serious" service they suffer a ton more downtime and cost because the little employee driver oopsies that formerly had a 1/500 conversion ratio into downtime now have like a 1/100 ratio on these lighter vehicle platforms, but the CAFE number goes and what are you gonna do, not buy? So the OEMs don't care. The American OEMS tried these family of designs in the 70s-90s and went BACK to more traditional designs because they just kinda sucked at the margin. Ironically the mini versions of these (Transit Connect, Nissan NV200 or whatever they called it) that they started importing around the same time were actually pretty cool because they were filling an otherwise unfilled market niche.

thaumasiotes 1y ago

> 'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing. American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars. A recent car will not fit into a space in an American parking lot, and it makes it a nightmare to pass through toll booths, parking garage ticketing gates, or any other scenario where you're supposed to roll down your window and reach out to something outside the car. Going around corners is problematic too. I now park by looking for a stretch of several empty spaces in a row. I can (just barely) technically fit inside one marked space at my local grocery store, but I can't maneuver into a space if there are cars in the adjacent spaces. American cars have very recently become much, much, much, much fatter, and they use that extra interior space to... place a bunch of empty space between the seating and the side of the car. As best I can tell, this is a response to crash safety requirements. It is definitely a bad thing.

agolsme 1y ago
really, why do you think its crash safety that's gotten fatter rather than americans themselves? (obesity prevalence 40% and rising )
- thaumasiotes 1y ago
  The seats haven't gotten wider. The cars have gotten wider, but the seats are the same size.
Aeolun 1y ago
> American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars. I don’t think this is true. Everyone was driving around in the Toyota Tacoma in Hawaii and that was fine. You couldn’t drive the thing in Tokyo. You’d just immediately get stuck at the first corner. The US is definitely built to facilitate cars, and plus sized cars by extension.
- vel0city 1y ago
  I park in recently striped parking lots with pickup trucks that practically touch both lines. In parking garages these things can extend well into the traffic lane making traversing the garage extremely tight. It's really annoying having to share space with these monstrously sized trucks everywhere.
dehugger 1y ago
I am a bit confused... your car sounds miserable to drive, why don't you find a smaller one? The US certainly has a shit market for ultra-compacts, but you can still find (new) sedans or hatchbacks that comfortably fit existing infrastructure.

potato3732842 1y ago

Europe soils the US market with unworkable work vans. The US soils the European market with absurd SUVs. Seems fair to me. (joking, but also very much not joking)

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
Aeolun 1y ago
What’s unworkable about those work vans? Clearly people like them enough to buy em.
- jackyinger 1y ago
  Guessing it’s a joke that as many end up as campers as in working roles.
- ranger_danger 1y ago
  I assume they're referring to the Sprinter, which is not only very unreliable but extremely difficult/expensive/annoying to work on.
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    The Promaster (Fiat Du-whatever) is just as bad as the Sprinter. The Transit is basically doing a best effort at making the same but not sucking and they go, ok, but just ok. Like don't get me wrong, they all do the "bod on wheels" thing fine but if you're not some high end airport shuttle service turning your leased fleet over on a rolling 3yr basis so you can "look sharp" they fucking crush you with maintenance and the TCO winds up being shit. And in more "serious" service they suffer a ton more downtime and cost because the little employee driver oopsies that formerly had a 1/500 conversion ratio into downtime now have like a 1/100 ratio on these lighter vehicle platforms, but the CAFE number goes and what are you gonna do, not buy? So the OEMs don't care. The American OEMS tried these family of designs in the 70s-90s and went BACK to more traditional designs because they just kinda sucked at the margin. Ironically the mini versions of these (Transit Connect, Nissan NV200 or whatever they called it) that they started importing around the same time were actually pretty cool because they were filling an otherwise unfilled market niche.