MKI to MKVII

[symonh2000]

People say that cars have grown because of safety reasons. I don't agree, otherwise we wouldn't have small cars.

I would like to see cars getting smaller and lighter again personally but the current trend of buying the biggest SUV that you can goes against that.

[Exonian]

I couldn’t agree more symonh2000

[SRGTD]

People say that cars have grown because of safety reasons. I don't agree, otherwise we wouldn't have small cars.

I would like to see cars getting smaller and lighter again personally but the current trend of buying the biggest SUV that you can goes against that.

I couldn’t agree more symonh2000

Me too. One of the most fun cars I owned was a 1989 Vauxhall Nova GTE. Now that was small and pretty basic with few creature comforts (it had manual wind up windows ), but it was as light as a feather and felt really fast, even though it was only around 100bhp. Pretty poor safety-wise by today’s standards though.

[ar899]

Huge electric SUVs seems to be the go to for the chattering classes. Leaving aside the EV argument, they take up alot of road and parking space adding to congestion. I've pretty much always driven small cars though potentially moving to Golf sized only because of the motorway driving I do.

[symonh2000]

One of my daughters teachers has just gone from a Mercedes CLK to a huge Landrover discovery.

It is quite entertaining watching her try to manouver it around the school car park (which is quite small)

Totally unnecessary IMO, it seems to me that larger SUV's are nothing more than a status symbol for some. They cannot be for driving pleasure as they are just too big and heavy.

[Rudedog]

Quite agree.... if I had to give up my Golf sized car I'd probably go down to an Up! GTi.... not bigger, nothing worse than getting back to your car in the supermarket carpark only to find a big SUV or wide EV's on either side.

[AGB]

@AGB; that is an interesting website. Just spent a while comparing different cars.

I have a 1980’s ‘standard’ size single garage and my 2020 current shape Polo GTI+ fits and I’m able to get in and out of the car but there’s not too much space to spare (I’ve got padding on the garage wall so I don’t damage the edge of the driver’s door). I also had a mk5 and mk6 Golf in the past, and it was a bit of a tight squeeze getting in and out of those cars in the garage.

Cars really have grown in size over the years; I remember reading that the VW up! isn’t much smaller than the mk1 Golf . My Polo GTI+ is a B segment sized car and is pretty much the same size as a mk4 Golf, which was considered to be a C segment sized car in its day.

I must confess to having spent longer on it than I expected! 

I've always thought the Polo isn't far off the size of a MKI Golf. When I've had a Polo as a loaner from the dealer, it has always felt bigger than it looks. Other cars shrink around you even though they're the same dimensions.

We're kindred spirits, I have a very small margin of error to get the cars in the garage and have a wall bumper as well as marker strip to align. It's like a roll of sticky 400 grit sandpaper in black/yellow hazard pattern. Added some to the wall for different cars because if they have parking sensors, they go wild but I've gotten used to not having them on the cars I drive. I'd recommend the hazard tape - makes it easy to see and align the cars in mirrors. Ended up cutting a little extra to give me stop marks which align to the position of the wing mirror.

Is that a GT4?

Yep.

[AGB]

One of my daughters teachers has just gone from a Mercedes CLK to a huge Landrover discovery.

It is quite entertaining watching her try to manouver it around the school car park (which is quite small)

Totally unnecessary IMO, it seems to me that larger SUV's are nothing more than a status symbol for some. They cannot be for driving pleasure as they are just too big and heavy.

I've seen the hapless owners trying to move them round tight car parks.

Encountered this wonderful demonstration of the behaviour I've come to expect of these types of vehicles only this last weekend:



Comes as no surprise that a total of 3 people alighted both vehicles.

They were so big that they couldn't turn into the bays and if they could, they would have blocked half of one of the entry/exit lanes.

[Exonian]

Quite agree.... if I had to give up my Golf sized car I'd probably go down to an Up! GTi.... not bigger, nothing worse than getting back to your car in the supermarket carpark only to find a big SUV or wide EV's on either side.

I’ve often considered trading the Golf for an up! GTI or Mini EV, probably far more fun to drive and just as well built, if not better.

I always try and park at work in an end space with my wheels on the outside line to reduce the chance of door dents from careless arses. Every bloody day I find an SUV crammed in to the neighbouring spot, nose in (because they can’t reverse their tanks into bays) with its wheels on the white line nearest to my car.

[AGB]

Quite agree.... if I had to give up my Golf sized car I'd probably go down to an Up! GTi.... not bigger, nothing worse than getting back to your car in the supermarket carpark only to find a big SUV or wide EV's on either side.

I’ve often considered trading the Golf for an up! GTI or Mini EV, probably far more fun to drive and just as well built, if not better.

I always try and park at work in an end space with my wheels on the outside line to reduce the chance of door dents from careless arses. Every bloody day I find an SUV crammed in to the neighbouring spot, nose in (because they can’t reverse their tanks into bays) with its wheels on the white line nearest to my car.

I know an increasing number of people with a little Up GTI. All of them absolutely adore them. Without exception.