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In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
That’s vehicles classified as “light duty” — pickup trucks.
All other vehicle classes are down in curb weight over that same period.
Yeah, show us the average numbers for all vehicles used for private personal transport then.
Another issue is that more people are buying "light duty" vehicles...
square metres
US-americans will get a stroke
I guess that will lessen the number of insanely sized cars and drivers then…
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American pride!
Can you name the truck with four wheel drive?
Smells like a steak and seats thirty-five.
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide,
65 tons of American Pride!
She blinds everybody with her super high beams,
She's a squirrel crushing, deer smacking, driving machine!
The 5 square meters are no accurate display of the pavement covered by those cars, because they're much longer than just their wheelbase.
Has the average ratio changed over time?
I would've expected the ratio to actually shift the other way, where the wheelbase represents a larger percentage of the overall length/width of the vehicle, because American fuel economy regulations actually rewarded vehicles for having larger wheelbases. This killed small cars like the Honda Fit and small trucks like the Ford Ranger.
Also, it seems to be much easier to park vehicles whose front wheels are as far forward as possible. The greater the ratio of wheelbase to overall dimensions, the easier it is to maneuver, and anecdotally it seems easier to maneuver modern cars than cars from 25 years ago.
About double. American cars tend to be bigger so 5m long and 2m wide is probably a fair approximation. Hell, even in Europe the average car is probably something like 4,5m by 1,7m
Just the empty cars and not with an average American inside, right?
I'm not sure it's reasonable to directly complain about fast 0-60 times. Slower acceleration removes options and makes merging more difficult; not all high speed roads have onramps of adequate length.
Definitely agreed on weight.
The Y scale on the third graph is a joke; that's like a 4% change over 20 years. Wheelbase is not the same as vehicle length.
I’m not sure it’s reasonable to directly complain about fast 0-60 times
It is certainly cause for concern when heavier and larger moving objects that are able to reach high speeds quicker are being controlled by increasingly more irresponsible people.
This is why there is an increase in SUVs crashing through shops when grandpa hits the wrong pedal.
Something that’s twice the weight with twice the horsepower only accelerates the same speed. Double the weight and keep the horsepower and you’ll go half as fast.
The graphs aren’t entirely 100% related to each other. The twice as fast acceleration average isn’t because of the double horsepower, that only works if the weight also isn’t doubles.
EVs have massive torque from zero speed. Horsepower is just a fake number derived from torque. A Model Y is both heavy and makes 500ftlbs torque immediately.
The acceleration of Teslas is one reason they have the highest crash rate of any brand. Fucking stupid to give the public more horsepower than a 70s formula one car.
The Y scale on the third graph is a joke; that’s like a 4% change over 20 years. Wheelbase is not the same as vehicle length.
I want to see that chart (a) starting at 0 sq. ft., and (b) going all the way back to the '50s.
There are a few different stories going on here.
One story is engineering success. The engineers squeeze out so much more performance per amount of gasoline burned, that the cost of extra weight from a fuel economy standard is significantly less than 25 or 50 years ago. If you chart the fuel efficiency over the same time period, the fleet average fuel economy went from 20 to 34 mpg, even as vehicles were getting more powerful and heavier. A 2026 Camry Hybrid has a 232 hp drivetrain (184 hp from the gasoline engine) that manages to push 3700 lbs 0-60 in 6.8 seconds. Those are sports car stats from the 80's, and yet the modern Camry manages to get 44 miles per gallon in fuel economy. Charting emissions shows an even more pronounced improvement.
Similarly, the rise of electric vehicles has increased the average vehicle weight. Batteries are heavy, and the whole chassis needs to accommodate that.
Another story is unintended consequences from dumb regulations. The fuel economy standards were updated for the 2011 model year to allow a sliding scale where vehicles with larger footprints were allowed to be less fuel efficient. Naturally, smaller vehicles were disincentivized, and compact trucks and compact cars all but disappeared. These regs need to be updated, and we'll see the return of smaller vehicles for those of us who prefer them.
And another story is shifting consumer preferences. For a whole bunch of reasons, Americans have expressed a preference for taller and taller vehicles, where crossover SUVs are much more common than the old wagons, the relative balance of sedans versus SUVs has shifted entirely in favor of SUVs.
Is there a metric version?
It's 'Merica, so...no
'Merica is more metric than even USians are ready to admit.
I can convert it to bananas for you if that helps
America needs to make its own KEI car standard. at least they wouldnt be as dangerous for pedestrians, or as disastrous for the environment as the fucking rolling city blocks we have now.
Especially since we're never gonna get a functional public transit system.
I'd settle for at least legalizing Kei trucks across the country
It's beyond frustrating that I can't even drive my own Kei truck on public roads where I live
legalizing Kei
No can do. That would be one letter away from legalizing DEI.
One of the sad bits of this is that the move to EVs, while a positive in many ways, also makes our cars even heavier for the battery.
It's an arms race. I prefer a bicycle, but am I really insane enough to ride it in between these tanks? My wife is afraid in traffic, she would never want to get a small car, just because of her safety concerns.
The only thing stopping this madness is regulations.
My wife and I purchased a new Japanese car last year. Nobody makes small cars anymore, except maybe Suzuki with the Swift? Our small cheap car is bigger than we had anticipated. Good car though.
When I get in some of the newer SUVs it feels like driving a boat.
some people must have really tiny weiners, so much over-compensation...
Chart has clearly labeled x and y axis in addition to writing the numbers directly on the line.
Trogs: this is misleading as fuck!
Citation link needed
Right-sizing cars is the cheapest, most rational option for space and public money. There is no reason not to do it other than wasting precious public and private resources into building more parking spots and repairing road infrastructures more often.
I had a Fiesta, was a smaller commuter car compared to the rest of the USA. Save for a few technical issues, it was great. The only reason I would see a need for a larger one is if it's moving a large family but that's not the case with SUVs and trucks I see around me. There might be another passenger but it's one person in a massive vehicle and often times they drive them like crap.
Definitely notice a difference since buying the car I currently drive back in 2012. In my state around 70% of vehicles on the road are trucks or SUVs, while I'm out here driving a car that only weighs around 2500lbs.
Kinda worried about what would happen if I ever got in an accident, don't know if I would fare very well against the majority of vehicles sharing the road with me. Luckily I only live a couple miles from my work, so I'm not in my car very often.
Sedans have stricter crash safety standards than big trucks. The whole reason why Detroit pushes large trucks is the safety loopholes and the myth that a heavier, taller vehicle is somehow safer.
We definitely need weight limits in public roads and special licences for truck drivers. Fucking idiots don't understand braking distances increase with weight.
yeah. I actually notice most when in a parking lot and they can't keep these boats in the lines.
