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I agree with adatto, I prefer my "previous" shape. Instantly recognisable, quirky design rear light cluster (with the red circle when you brake), nice curves over the wheelarches - I think the new one looks too Laguna-ish.
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I had one of those Astras (1993 L) with the 82 bhp 1.4 engine. It was a bad buy in so many ways - not least because I didn't really fit into it - but I always thought the engine was its best part. It was relaxed, sweet-sounding and usefully torquey at low speeds - much nicer, in fact, than the more powerful 16v 1.4 in the then-future Mrs Beest's Rover 214, off which you had to rev the pants to make any progress at all, and whose low gearing made it abominably noisy on the motorway.
I barely fitted at all in the Rover, and the Sierra wasn't much better, although I never had one; I didn't really get comfortable until I discovered Swedish cars a couple of years later. The extra height of modern cars is something I very much appreciate - that and the demise of the fatuous 1990s sunroof fad. }:---)
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So based on trends in the last 25 years, we are seeing a doubling of the weight of family saloons every 50 years or so, and the breaching of the two tonne mark for a family saloon sometime around 2032.
I understand why this bloating has happened, but it's a shame that nobody seems to publicise it in these environmentally conscious times. I consider it one of the few true failings of modern car design, and surely its only engine efficiency increases that have allowed manufacturers to get away with it for so long.
Low kerbweights automatically improve performance, handling, economy and emissions. Take a Lotus Elise S1 - A lowly 1.8 K-series engine from the early 90's, but in 550kg of car. Will leave 99% of other cars standing off the line or within semi-legal speeds, and return 45 mpg in daily use.
I would love to know what an 80's family car like a Sierra would be like with a bang up to date 150 bhp ish common rail diesel in it. What do you reckon, 0-60 in 7. something seconds and 75 mpg in real world use? 320 Nm in 1050 kg would be entertaining as well.
But we obsess about crashing.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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But we obsess about crashing. Cheers DP
With around 3000 people killed each year on the roads it's probably worth obsessing over, all the small improvements that go into making cars safer have a cumulative affect.
I don't think it's in question that cars, especially in the super-mini category, are safer now than they were 15 or 20 years ago.
Lou
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With around 3000 people killed each year on the roads it's probably worth obsessing over all the small improvements that go into making cars safer have a cumulative affect.
That's under 10 a day, out of a population of 60-odd million. That gives you a 0.005% chance of being killed on the roads.
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That's under 10 a day out of a population of 60-odd million. That gives you a 0.005% chance of being killed on the roads.
That's a very facile way of looking at it.
Lou
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That gives you >> a 0.005% chance of being killed on the roads. >>
Even less if you are a car driver. A third at least of road accident deaths are pedestrians (often drunk), cyclists and bikers.
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That's a very facile way of looking at it.
It's a very straight-forward, logical way of looking at it. That 0.005% figure is per year, so on a daily basis, you'd have to divide that by 365, meaning the chances of me being killed on the road today are one in 7.3 million. I won't be losing any sleep tonight.
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That's a very facile way of looking at it.
There are over 100,000 deaths each year caused by cancer. 4000 people die at home in accidents each year. DIY is more dangerous than roads.
Given the number of people driving, walking, cycling in our roads and the billions of motoring miles done each year, 3000 deaths is nothing more than statistical noise.
------------------------------
< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
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Bloated cars -
Car driveways and parking spaces are not growing in size, so when I come to buy another car,
I will jump down a category from mondeo size to focus size. I am pretty sure the Mk3 (00-07) mondeo has a similar width to the mk 2 Focus (05on) now anyway. The Mk 3 Focus will probably have the same boot size as the Mark 3 Mondeo when it eventually appears. This will mean that Families will turn away from these (small exec?) size cars even more so in the future.
As implied by DP in years to come, a supermini will be really a mini, a small car a family car, and a family car a large exec car etc..
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It's a very straight-forward logical way of looking at it ..... meaning the chances of me being killed on the road today are one in 7.3 million .......
Havent checked the stats though the odds are good, nevertheless it makes sense making cars ever safer, reduces injuries in non-fatals etc.
However gov road policy is not keeping pace with NCAP / manu lead initiatives, poor road surfaces, speed enforcement increasing congestion etc etc.
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However gov road policy is not keeping pace with NCAP / manu lead initiatives poor road surfaces speed enforcement increasing congestion etc etc.
No, I'll agree with that. No car can be as safe as its manufacturer intended when the moon has a flatter surface than some of the roads around here.
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Saltrampen, that's exactly what I am now thinking for the car after next in late 2011 - Mazda6 in October. The Focus Mk III class of car will be near the outgoing Mondeo Mk III in size.
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Bloated cars - ... I am pretty sure the Mk3 (00-07) mondeo has a similar width to the mk 2 Focus (05on) now anyway.
According to Parker's,
Focus Mk1-- 1702 mm
Focus Mk2 -- 1840 mm
Now that is an incredible increase in bloating. The current Astra is given as 1753, the current Golf as 1759, and the outgoing Mondeo 1812.
Can that figure of 1840 be correct? (It appears in HJ's test on this site, so I assume that it is.)
And why is the Focus so wide then?
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The new Mondeo, seeing that it was launched in June, seems as rare as hen's teeth in my area - not seen one yet...:-(
Even more puzzling is that Ford dealership adverts don't mention the new model, only that one is on view in each showroom.
Seems like a missed opportunity to me sales wise.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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and the outgoing Mondeo 1812.
Is that what you call an 1812 Overture?
;-)
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Is that what you call an 1812 Overture?
I think not, because an overture 'opens' a bigger piece/suite of music. This must be an 1812 requiem, or something. Doesn't quite hang together in the same way, does it? Pity.
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I think not because an overture 'opens' a bigger piece/suite of music. This must be an 1812 requiem or something. >>
Ah but to extrapolate the analogy perhaps the bigger piece / suite in the Mondeo IV ;-)
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