Classics dwarfed by moderns

[CDP]

RichB said:

gary71 said:

911 v 991



You can trace the DNA, but only just

Crikey, in that picture for a moment I thought the one on the left was a Panamera

Yet the 991 isn't a bloated car by any means which just goes to show how dinky the original 911 was. Which is why the 2 litre 130bhp engine would have been more impressive then than it is now.

[LotusOmega375D]

300bhp/ton said:

eh?

I think the comparison here is that current "Cavalier" mid range model is larger in all dimensions than the next size up "Carlton" model of 20 years ago. It's getting so silly that you'd struggle to get some modern saloons into a garage.

[LewG]

Funny what is considered a 'small' car now

[VinceFox]

The small, compact, lightweight gt86 with the pisstake back seats...



Next to my e36.

[nalaeroom]

My 1983 Janspeed Turbo 2.8 injection Capri and my 2011 Mondeo Titanium X Sport Estate having a snog !!!!!!

What strikes me the most is the wheels 13" on Capri and 19" on Mondeo.....

Alan M

[VinceFox]

nalaeroom said:

My 1983 Janspeed Turbo 2.8 injection Capri and my 2011 Mondeo Titanium X Sport Estate having a snog !!!!!!

What strikes me the most is the wheels 13" on Capri and 19" on Mondeo.....

Alan M

Love it. Years ago when i was till building my capri i spent ages looking for brookies because they were massive. I'm looking at them right now and they look like castors on a shopping trolley.

[daemonoid]

VinceFox said:

daemonoid said:

Mine was small to begin with, it's even dwarfed by smart cars...

Are you lupin the third?

I saw a clip from that for the first time earlier this week. I was incredibly impressed with the detail on the 500 - even the ridiculous pop out engine looked like it could be based on the standard one. I heard the lead animator has a 500.

[RikZR]

TVdinneR said:

Someone definately likes Team Dynamic wheels! suit the cars nicely though!

[RichB]

VinceFox said:

...Years ago when i was till building my capri i spent ages looking for brookies because they were massive. I'm looking at them right now and they look like castors on a shopping trolley.

Yet the Capri went well. Make you realise how much of this fashion for humugeous wheel is driven by fashion and nothing else.

[na]

RichB said:

Yet the Capri went well. Make you realise how much of this fashion for humugeous wheel is driven by fashion and nothing else.

here, here

and wheel and tyre width, so much so sometimes that rain and snow beats even the multitude of electronic aids on the car

and of course road noise, so much so that we now have to have labels to tell us how noisy they are

[charlie926J]

When I had my first car (Triumph 1500 fwd) I remember saying I could never drive a Mini because it just seemed too small to be safe in traffic. Now, having driven the Herald alongside modern traffic, that argument's out the window and I'm thinking I could probably shoehorn a mini in, sideways on, in the garage behind the herald!

[RichB]

na said:

RichB said:

Yet the Capri went well. Make you realise how much of this fashion for humugeous wheel is driven by fashion and nothing else.

here, here - and wheel and tyre width, so much so sometimes that rain and snow beats even the multitude of electronic aids on the car - and of course road noise, so much so that we now have to have labels to tell us how noisy they are

Of course because cars have got bigger they've increased in weight meaning they need ever bigger and more powerful brakes and these typically dictate bigger rims to accommodate the discs - and so it goes on...

[na]

RichB said:

f course because cars have got bigger they've increased in weight meaning they need ever bigger and more powerful brakes and these typically dictate bigger rims to accommodate the discs - and so it goes on...

yes partly but it's also about fashion, tyre tread patterns are fashionable for crying out loud

also the bigger wheels for the brakes case falls down when the car is offered offered with say 14" wheels with the option of 15" wheels with even lower profile tyres, the brakes are the same size for both wheel sizes and on a lot of small cars with big wheel options you can just make out on the rear wheels, behind the centre hub cuddly little drum covers, arhhhh, sweet little things they are

just my personal taste but a lot of these very big wheels on some cars remind me of (the old) pram wheels

brakes are a sexy cool thing, well to show them off is, look at my painted calipers, my cars so fast it needs these huge brakes and wheels

of course I'd sooner the brakes were over sized than undersized but just hope the rest of the braking system is in good order and maintained regularly, same with these large wide tyres I hope the replacement costs don't discourage change well before they wear down to the legal limit yet alone beyond that

each to there own and it would be a boring world if we were all the same

[Travis Mcgee]

Might just be me, but I am convinced the latest BMW 3 series saloon is the same size as a 90's 5 series.

[Lowtimer]

Travis Mcgee said:

Might just be me, but I am convinced the latest BMW 3 series saloon is the same size as a 90's 5 series.

The new 3 is definitely the size of an E34 or E39 5-series, inside and out. The last 1-series 2-door coupe was basically the same size as an E30 3-series.

[TheInternet]

CDP said:

gary71 said:

911 v 991

...the 991 isn't a bloated car by any means...

The evidence is right there. It is. They all are.

[mph1977]

300bhp/ton said:

NotNormal said:

Lotus was quite big in its day..... not any more when up against a 4 door family hatchback!!!

eh?

all that demonstrates is that cars now are a 'size bigger' than they were 20 summat years ago, compare modern Astra with the Vectra A and the current Corsa with a Mk2or 3 Astra...

[RichB]

mph1977 said:

300bhp/ton said:

NotNormal said:

Lotus was quite big in its day..... not any more when up against a 4 door family hatchback!!!

eh?

all that demonstrates is that cars now are a 'size bigger' than they were 20 summat years ago, compare modern Astra with the Vectra A and the current Corsa with a Mk2or 3 Astra...

And thus proves the point.

[CDP]

TheInternet said:

CDP said:

gary71 said:

911 v 991

...the 991 isn't a bloated car by any means...

The evidence is right there. It is. They all are.

Compared with it's grandad yes but compared with other supercars definitely not. Then again I'm quite a bit bigger than my grandad was too.

[na]

mph1977 said:

all that demonstrates is that cars now are a 'size bigger' than they were 20 summat years ago, compare modern Astra with the Vectra A and the current Corsa with a Mk2or 3 Astra...

probably some are two sizes bigger, the MK1 Golf compared to the latest version, I'd guess the Mk1 Golf might be smaller than the smallest VW (I've no idea what that is now, was there a Fox a few years ago?)

all the cars need to be bigger because of all the extra items on them, for pedestrian safety, because adults and children are generally much bigger now, perhaps more padding inside - I'm sure a lot of modern cars have less room for the driver and passengers than the older smaller versions or models