ADDICTIVE.The Colonel's secret recipe and Ronald McDonald's sauce are very addictive. I'm a recovering fastfood-aholic. Sometimes the addiction comes surging back, and I sucumb to the urge for a Big Mac Combo supersized. It's tough to cut down on fast food. At first, I felt ill just eating health foods. But now, I'm quite used to it. I had no choice because the doctor said my colesterol is way to high for a young person I am and at that rate I will probably have a heart attack before I'm 50. I take responsibility for my lack of discipline and self control, but fast food manufacturers is also blame worthy. They set up their joints around every corner, and advertise relectlessly to kids, like during cartoon time. They make sure you are always mindful of their tasty food. It is any wonder we are so fat as a nation. Interestingly enough, on the other side of the globe in Japan, where people are famous for eating healthy fish and rice, the young generation of Japanese are getting a lot fatter than their anchesters, much to the concern of officials. Is it just a coincidence that fast food restaurants are getting popular in Japan and that kids there are eating a lot more fast food than previous generations? I think not.
The Mazda Miata is a perfect example that cars getting bigger is directly due to our asses getting bigger. Mazda decided during the middle of 2nd gen Miata's production run, for the American markets the Miata would get wider seats with more cushioning. However, just making the seat bigger was not enough; for the 3rd gen Mazda also made the body wider.
I don't agree that cars are bigger for safety and noise reducing reasons. People buy Corollas because they are economical and are willing to compromise. If people are so worried about safety, they would get the bigger model, like the Camry. Also, I personally don't do much commuting and considers myself a very safe driver; therefore, I see no real need for a big bad SUV to protect my bones. I calculate my odds of getting into serious accident to be very small, and I have been in only one very minor incident. I don't want a bigger Corolla. On the other hand, if I was a serious commuter, a bad driver, and don't take driving seriously (some people don't think much about driving), I would must definitely get the biggest SUV with as many airbags as possible that I can afford.
As a whole, American's are getting bigger. Fast food is only part of that problem though. I could argue that people have to work longer hours and are stuck at a desk, and in the car longer and not having enough time for any exorcise. Or that kids in Japan play even more video games then kids in America. They have the biggest pop culture of video games. It's absolutely insane.
Sub compact cars have still been on the market this whole time. They are making a small come back. The Honda fit and before that was the Del Sol and the CRX. The Toyota Yaris, and before that, the Echo and the paseo. GM has had a history of small crap boxes and now the Evao or whatever it is called. I had a CRX a few years ago and it was the most expensive car to insure out of all our cars. That included our 05 Corolla and our turbo AWD car. When we asked our insurance company why it cost more to insure, they told us because that car had a high bodily harm rate to it. Health cost is a major PITA compared to automotive repair cost. I actually sold the car because of that. It just wasn't worth it to me. The thing barely weighted over 2000 lbs and I probably would have been hurt pretty badly or worse if I had been in anything over a finder binder in that.
Newer cars are safer then older cars. Check out how much space you have between the bumper and the engine block on a new Corolla and then compare that to a older one. Also, even if you are a smaller person, a older Corolla doesn't really fit 3 people in the back very well. Sure, you can make it, but that's about it. I think I was size 31 the last time I was crammed in the back of a older box Corolla. It was still a tight fit.
I know a few big people and they just don't buy small cars. Before fuel economy was really a issue, American's drove the biggest cars. This was before a fat issue. I don't know if it is because of advertising, or the American dream or what, but many American's enjoy driving something bigger. Why do you think the whole SUV is so popular. I've seen really tiny women driving H2s and the big GMs n stuff. They don't buy them so they can fit a large arse in a large seat.
I really enjoy the size of the 9th Gen Corolla and the newer Camery. I haven't been in the brand new one, but my folks have a 02-03 and it's a nice size.
In some cases, bigger isn't always better. The H2 hardly fits on the road and the some how legal H1 barely fits in a HWY lane. I can't stand the size of the new Mustang. As nice as it looks, they made it too big IMO. Ford doesn't even give a curb weight for that car on their web page, but I do know that if a fox body had 300HP and 300 ' lb of torque, that it would run low or flat 13s. I think the new GTs can run a 13.8 with a good driver. The whole HP to weight ratio does make a huge difference, but the current gen Corolla is only about 100lbs more then the last gen. The current gen has a little more power and a better city fuel economy rating. I don't know if it's slower or not, but I think the VVTi takes care of any weight it might have picked up.