Size matters and small is beautiful
No longer considered the poorer relation, small cars have come into their own and can now offer almost as many features as their larger brethren
“Write an article about small cars” the editor said. First problem: what is ‘small’ in motoring terms? The length of the vehicle? Its engine capacity? Its frugality? Or perhaps the number of people it can carry?
Having conducted a straw poll among friends, I came to the conclusion that most people think a small car is one that can be squeezed into parking spaces in town, and one that is usually a family’s second car (invariably driven by mum).
So let’s start with those. There are many variations of ‘small’, with the Reva and smart at the tiny end, cars like the Mini and the Micra in the middle and the Clio and Fiesta nearer the top end of the category.
I drive a Clio, and wouldn’t swap it for a bigger motor. I can gleefully take advantage of the parking opportunities in town, nipping into spaces that drivers of larger vehicles can’t even contemplate. It’s manoeuvrable, comfortable enough, has sufficient boot space to accommodate all the accoutrements of a family holiday (even with four occupants) and enough ‘oomph’ to get me out of tricky situations when necessary. It also guzzles a lot less fuel than its bigger brethren.
Most drivers’ perception seems to be that small cars do not offer the same safety as their larger counterparts, but that is not necessarily the case.
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has tested over 60 cars in its ‘supermini’ category, and though there are notable models available in Cyprus missing from the list (like the Reva electric car), most acquit themselves well when it comes to both active and passive safety.
Undoubtedly, if you are unfortunate enough to have a crash, there’s a lot more of a ‘buffer’ in a large car, but modern automotive design incorporates crumple zones and rigid occupant cells, and the technology is improving all the time.
US figures show that larger cars tend to have fewer fatalities, but you also have to look at who is driving. “Pickup trucks tend to be driven by young males,” says Adrian Lund, chief operating officer of the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in Arlington, Virginia. “Smaller SUVs tend to be driven by women and that has been found to lower the totals.
“It’s simple physics: the laws of physics dictate that a larger car has more protection. In small cars, then, the optional safety equipment becomes all the more important,” says Lund.
Features like ABS are standard across the board now, and many also offer electronic stability control (ESC), which is likely to be standardised in all new vehicles by 2012.
Smaller, lighter cars are obviously going to come off worse in a crash with a much larger, heavier vehicle. As Euro NCAP puts it “There is no capability to determine what would happen if cars of widely different masses impact each other. It is not primarily the mass difference that has the effect, but the effect that mass has on the structural stiffness combined with the relative height of the structures from the ground”.
The two smallest cars (in physical size) in Cyprus are the Reva electric car and the smart. Since the Reva has a limited range, you are only going to be driving it around town, and then at quite slow speeds, so any impact is not likely to be extremely serious. The smart, which is more than capable of zipping along the motorway at the speed limit, comes stocked with safety features. At its heart is a reinforced steel safety cell, called the Tridion safety cell, which surrounds the driver and passenger. “It acts as a protective shell, if you will – sort of like a shell around a walnut,” says smart spokesman Ken Kettenbeil.
The running costs of small cars, assuming you have chosen one which gives you good mileage to the gallon (or even a diesel engine), will of course save you pounds, especially as the price of fuel looks set to maintain its upward trend. You pay less road tax, because small cars tend to have smaller engines – and that needn’t translate into a lack of power. Today’s powertrains are highly tuned to give more power per cc, as well as returning better mileage per gallon.
“Small cars tend to be fairly basic affairs,” said a friend who drives a much bigger car. Here again, there can be confusion: the Mini used to be the definitive small car back in the 1960s, but the new Mini is a far cry from the frugal Issigonis original. It’s offered with optional luxury features that are usually associated with a different class of vehicle, and indeed many manufacturers now have a complete range of trims so you can tailor-make your car to suit you. Leather seats, climate control, Mp3 players and tinted windows are some of the options available, but as Adrian Lund says, the most important features to include when ordering your small car are the safety features. These can make the difference between life and death, and you can’t put a price on that. You should get ABS and front airbags as standard, and if offered, go for ESP, side curtain airbags and adjustable head restraints (and then make sure you DO adjust them to the correct height for you and your passengers).
In Cyprus, you are unlikely to be driving thousands of motorway miles a year, and if you are doing most of your driving in low-speed urban situations then small cars win hands down. They are cheaper to run, easier to park and need not be uncomfortable. In town, speeds are kept lower and therefore any crash is likely to be less serious, so you should be well enough protected if you are unfortunate enough to have a prang. With better mileage to the gallon, you not only save money, but also get ‘green’ brownie points, so as far as I’m concerned size DOES matter… and small is beautiful.
