What the future of car size means for enthusiasts
A deep dive into the past, present, and future of car size
One of the first things you notice about an older car is how small it is compared to modern cars around it. It’s been bugging me, the feeling that cars have just been growing bigger and bigger — as if they were balloons inflating over time. My suspicions were confirmed when I parked my ‘03 Lexus IS300 for detailing in a garage spot where the family SUV, a ‘22 Audi Q5 had been. The once cramped area suddenly felt like an aircraft hangar. So what’s the deal? Read along as we explore everything from the oil crisis to lane-keeping assist to discover the causes of this trend, how it could be reversed in the future, and what it means for us enthusiasts.
Trends in car size
Ok, maybe comparing a compact sedan to an SUV is not so fair. But we see the same trend when zooming out to look at the overall market. In the past decade, the average American car has grown a foot in width and almost two feet in length (FINN). Sure, it could be partly accounted for by a market shift to SUVs. However, that doesn’t mean our beloved enthusiast cars are safe either — check out this scaled comparison graphic I made of the EK and FL5 Civic Type R’s:
As great of a job Honda did with this latest generation of the Type R, it makes the EK look like it was miniaturized (it was not). Indeed, the Type R has grown from a two-door hatch with 15-inch wheels into a four-door liftback with 19-inch wheels. It has also gained 16.3 inches of length, 7.7 inches of width, and a whopping 822 pounds of weight. The Type R is still not a large car by any means, but look around the enthusiast market and you’ll see this phenomenon everywhere.
Why are cars growing?
Now we’ve established that cars — enthusiast cars included — are growing, let’s dive into the factors causing it.
Fuel-efficiency regulations
In 1975, Congress enacted Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in response to the 1973 Oil Crisis. CAFE standards required automakers to meet a minimum fuel efficiency requirement based on the car model’s classification. The majority of cars would fall under the categories of passenger cars and light trucks.
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As the graph above shows, light trucks are subject to less strict fuel efficiency requirements. Automakers realized that by making SUVs, which fall under the light trucks category, they could save costs on developing more fuel-efficient vehicles. Turns out buyers also liked the extra practicality, luxury of space, and perception of safety (buy big car to protect against others with big cars). We could discuss all day whether consumer perceptions are accurate and if the passenger safety benefits outweigh the danger to pedestrians and other drivers, but the reality is that the shift to SUVs and crossovers is happening. With the higher profits and the gap in CAFE requirements growing larger than ever, automakers have shifted to mostly selling SUVs — Ford only makes one passenger car (the Mustang).
Features/technology
The shift to SUVs explains why the new cars you see on the road today are so big. However, it doesn’t explain why passenger cars such as the Civic Type R, BMW M3, and Subaru WRX are growing. That’s where features, the other part of the equation, comes in. Technologically speaking, cars are way more advanced than they were 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. As a result, they are also safer. Part of this is due to increasing regulations. Here’s a list of safety feature requirements introduced after the EK Civic came out, and the year they were mandated:
Backup camera (2018)
ABS (2012)
Auto emergency braking (2022)
Electronic stability control (2011)
Those are just the ones that are required. Many of these next few have become standard:
Blind spot detection (2000)
Lane-keeping assist (2004)
Intelligent Parking Assist (2003)
Improved crumple zones and other structural advancements are also common now. Now don’t get me wrong, these features are literally lifesavers. However, they require sensors, wiring, and additional hardware, which adds weight and requires real estate. There are also a host of non-safety features such as adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, automatic high beams, and touchscreens that take up even more space. With little reason to worry about this bloating, automakers have continued to add features and space to market towards customers. All of these features have made the average economy car model larger over time.
One thing to note is that the Type R, M3, and WRX are all performance variants built on an economy car platform — the base Civic, 3-series, and Impreza. Specialty-built enthusiast cars have a slightly different story (more on that later).
History of car size
History tends to repeat itself. To understand the future of car size, and if cars will ever become smaller again, we must look to the past. Remember that 1973 Oil Crisis from earlier? While it created the SUV, it also led to passenger cars becoming smaller. Gas was cheap before the crisis, so many Americans drove long land yachts with V8s. With the Oil Crisis came a shift to smaller cars, and the birth of some legendary models like the Civic, 240z, Golf GTI, and (BMW) 2002. These cars were small, inexpensive, and fuel-efficient, the right traits to have when gas is expensive. The desire to own large cars has always been present in America’s collective mindset. Yet gas prices caused Americans to act otherwise.
The future of car size
So will cars ever stop getting bigger? The short answer is not anytime soon. Stricter safety and emissions restrictions coupled with a market shift towards SUVs are just unfavorable factors. Add advancing technology and features, and it becomes even more clearly so. The long answer is that there is a chance, under external circumstances, where automakers begin making and customers begin buying smaller cars again. It would require a major disruption in the economy or in the public’s paradigm on car size, but it could happen just as suddenly as it did in the 70s.
Is it the end of the world if cars keep growing?
Say that never happens, which is what’s most likely. Is the size of today’s cars really that big of a deal to us enthusiasts? Well first off, it’s 2024, and you can walk into a Honda dealer and buy a brand new Type R. Nissan came out with a sweet new Z, and Toyota makes the GR86, GR Corolla, and a new (manual, at last) Supra. Ford still makes the Mustang and now a new Bronco. The BMW M catalog is thriving. If what we had to give up was a bit of size and weight gain, I would say that it was worth it.
Adaptation
If we take a closer look at these cars, what we see is a myriad of changes other than size and weight. Due to advancements in engine fuel efficiency, the modern-day Type R has a 2 liter turbo four versus the naturally aspirated 1.6 liter found in the EK. The result is 315hp, much more than the EK’s 182hp. You’d think that the weight gain cancels out the added power, but that isn’t necessarily true. In terms of horsepower per pound of weight, the EK has roughly 0.077, while the FL5 has about 0.099. Sure, that’s not much, but it’s still more. There’s also been handling upgrades, such as the Dual Axis Strut Suspension introduced in 2015 that allowed the FK8 to set a Nürburgring lap record for FWD cars. So while new cars are bigger and heavier, they have also advanced in other ways. Whether or not it makes them better is for you, the driver, to decide.
Hope in purpose-built enthusiast cars
There is one (positive) caveat in all of this: enter the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
The Miata has always been an equally good anti-image of the Civic. The Civic is practical and front-wheel drive, whereas the Miata is impractical and rear-wheel drive. And unlike the Civic and other previous enthusiast cars mentioned, the Mazda Miata has not grown much bigger over the years. In some ways, it’s actually smaller. The ND Miata is 154.1 inches long, whereas the NA is 155.4 inches long. The ND also weighs 172 pounds more, but that’s not nearly as big of a difference as the Type R generations discussed previously. The Miata is as pure as it gets with driving experience. Its formula has always been light weight and good handling as opposed to power. If any car were to withstand the size changes of recent times, the Miata would be an unsurprising candidate. Other purpose-built enthusiast cars (not based on an economy model) tell the same story. The Toyota Supra and the new Nissan Z are both examples. Admittedly, other purpose-built enthusiast cars like the Ford Mustang have grown in size (+8 inches length), but have grown less than cars in other categories on average.
Conclusion: an argument for smaller and lighter cars
Due to current efficiency regulations, economy, and technological advancements, cars have been growing in size and weight. This is apparent in both the market as a whole and in most categories. Much of this is understandable when it comes to the minds of the average consumer, which cares about going from point A to point B comfortably, safely, and practically. But as an enthusiast, my views differ. As grateful I am to have current versions of legacy enthusiast cars, I must say that I miss the smallness and lightness of older cars. Sure, modern cars have more power and better suspension, but those can be achieved through mods more easily than reducing weight or size. And there’s just something about carving through a windy road in a light and small car that’s hard for one with more inertia to replicate.
Ok, enough with the reminiscing. My purpose here is to suggest how we can look to the past to further improve future cars. Thus, here is my proposition: why not spend even more effort researching how to better integrate new technology? I believe that there is plenty of room to downsize while retaining new features. Surely there are ways to make sensors, cameras, and their systems smaller and more seamlessly placed to reduce space. Improvements could also come in the form of relying on a 3-cylinder turbo engine like the GR Corolla does. There could be a future where enthusiast cars are just as small and light as they were in the past, but more fuel-efficient and carefully packed with new technology. Alternatively, it may be adopting the philosophy of these past cars by retaining only the most important features. Heck, make more stripped-down variants for the pure enthusiast. The EK Civic Type R didn’t even come with AC, but still remains a fan favorite. Not saying automakers have to go that far, but you get the idea.
While the overall trend in car size points towards bigger and heavier, enthusiasts have less to worry about with purpose-built performance cars. Those cars are not growing in size nearly as much, but have still gained some weight. Even if nothing changes, I think us enthusiasts still have much to be happy about already. It’s just fun to dream about what could be possible.
Thanks for Reading!
What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear about your opinions and experiences, along with any suggestions for improvements/future posts. Please let me know if I missed anything.
If you’re a car enthusiast who sees the potential of looking the past for future improvement, consider sharing this with a friend or subscribing — there’s more to come!
- Andy Yang
Resources and further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_Type_R
https://fastestlaps.com/models/honda-civic-type-r-ek9
https://global.honda/en/tech/Dual_Axis_Strut_Suspension/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_MX-5
https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/corporate-average-fuel-economy