melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,987
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Nov 27, 2020 23:58:24 GMT
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Back on topic, huge SUVs in car parks are one of my pet peeves. I wouldn't mind so much if these bulbous objects were actually purposeful and spacious on the inside, but as most of them are no bigger than a fiesta in the cabin, I just don't see the point in them. I don't mind them, they usually park in the designated family spaces anyway, probably because the owners can't afford condoms... |
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Last Edit: Nov 27, 2020 23:58:40 GMT by melle
www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,202
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Current Mondeo is about a foot or so wider than a Mk1 Cortina. No more space inside though. Unfortunately parking spaces tend to be the same size as in the 60s. Current Mondeo is about a foot or so wider than a Mk1 Cortina. No more space inside though. Unfortunately parking spaces tend to be the same size as in the 60s. No, they are smaller, but yes the cars are larger Yup! My 6 foot friends are pretty comfy in the back of my Mondeo. I think they'd either sit up front, or be sick of cramp/knees up in their ears in a Cortina, let alone possibly a Sierra! To me, I'm almost lost in the back of one! Let's not have those rose tinted specs too tinted now  . But back on topic. I do get why people have SUVs. Here's an extreme but valid example. A friend of mine is a die-hard petrolhead. Or rather he was. He still has a couple of tasty cars including: -TVR Chimaera 500 -Alfa Junior -(Vortex) Phanton GTR, running a Volvo T5 engine, which he has built himself. in addition to having owned loads before, and raced/tuned them. 3 years ago, something happened which changed his perspective. His sister was driving a 4 or 5 Star NCAP new-ish Hyundai i20. One day on a quiet country road, a chap in a Mk2 Focus strayed across the white line. Inevitably, both crashed. She didn't make it even to the hospital. The chap in the Focus? Got out of his old ruined car without a scratch. He did alot of research; he's built up cars from scratch after all. Basically, small cars aren't graded the same as bigger ones for the NCAP. After that, he's never let his wife drive anything smaller than a Focus/SUV based thing, and shares that recommendation with friends. I know that's an extreme example, but it does put things into perspective, even with our passion for cars. It's strange as I almost didn't film his wedding speeches for him despite him requesting me to do so. He's come to value these more than he ever thought he could. I'm exaggerating and talking about nuns and kittens I hear you say? Here's your evidence: www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/woman-dies-road-acciden-just-outside-northampton-764401After I almost had a head on with a 15 year old BINI who decided to overtake on the Fosse way around a blind bend, so a combined speed of 120MPH shall we say, I'm glad I wasn't in a retro but in the Mondeo; I still remember braking like a maniac and thinking if I could get off the road or go into the ditch to avoid the head on, but you can't control other morons on the road. I've not often come close to crapping my pants but Jesus that was one close encounter. He saw sense 10 feet in front of my bumper to pull in. |
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Last Edit: Nov 28, 2020 1:29:50 GMT by ChasR
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,612
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^ There's always going to be something bigger & more dynamically dangerous though, even when everyone's driving their armoured personal carriers they can't see out of...
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lebowski
Part of things
Hillman Avenger, Clan Clover
Posts: 479
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-TVR Chimaera 500 -Alfa Junior -(Vortex) Phanton GTR, running a Volvo T5 engine, which he has built himself. Sorry to hear about that accident, but I always fancied a Phantom Vortex. They're a great looking car but I always thought they were too expensive. They also seem incredibly rare. |
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Nov 28, 2020 13:35:16 GMT
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Back on topic, huge SUVs in car parks are one of my pet peeves. I wouldn't mind so much if these bulbous objects were actually purposeful and spacious on the inside, but as most of them are no bigger than a fiesta in the cabin, I just don't see the point in them. I don't mind them, they usually park in the designated family spaces anyway, probably because the owners can't afford condoms... Should I leave now? With my RRC and six kids?😀 |
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,546
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Nov 28, 2020 14:12:59 GMT
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I find my Mondeo mk4 Estate is about the same length as most supermarket spaces. That said i always do my shopping after 7pm so the amount of spaces free is not an issue, try to get an end one so there is only one car next to me. Parking around town is irrelevant for me as i have a special waiver allowing me to park on single yellow lines at any time (i work on Highways so it's essential....)
But i did read a comparison this week....the new MINI is 55% larger than the original Mini - madness.....
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,987
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Nov 28, 2020 19:54:19 GMT
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Should I leave now? With my RRC and six kids?😀 Not as long as you stay in a designated family space!  |
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,202
Club RR Member Number: 170
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^ There's always going to be something bigger & more dynamically dangerous though, even when everyone's driving their armoured personal carriers they can't see out of... Possibly. I think with something Focus sized and modern, you're probably alot safer than almost anything retro. There's supporting a hobby and then there's bias. Working in the industry and having a chap engineer car more than most; I think his opinion is quite valid personally. |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,202
Club RR Member Number: 170
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-TVR Chimaera 500 -Alfa Junior -(Vortex) Phanton GTR, running a Volvo T5 engine, which he has built himself. Sorry to hear about that accident, but I always fancied a Phantom Vortex. They're a great looking car but I always thought they were too expensive. They also seem incredibly rare. He's built his up alot, and it's quite a different beast. Practical Performance Car did a feature on his and it changing from a Rover powerplant to a Volvo based one. I'll see if I can find it. |
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Even older modern cars are huge compared to what I'm used to!  I remember when I had my Mk1 Capri a few years ago, a car I considered to be a big car. I parked it next to my boss's Honda Accord and it looked tiny in comparison, his Honda seemed twice as wide! Last week when I did my shopping I parked my daily at the far side of the car park where there were no other cars. As I was walking back to my car some old dear pulls in right next to me. There were like a dozen empty spaces on either side yet she parked so close to me she could not get out of her car! |
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tofufi
South West
Posts: 1,457
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My big 4 door V8 saloon next to a small french 3 door hatchback...   |
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When I worked for the Local Authority many moons ago, a standard car park space would be specified as 2m wide between the lined out bays, I have not measured any bays recently so I cannot confirm narrower bays, but from experience I would suggest that parking bays in some multi storey and popular urban sites do seem to be narrower than 2m if only by a few inches or centimetres if you prefer, presumably to maximize the operator's revenue.
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At our local shopping mall, which I frequent very infrequently  they have some longitudinal bays in the multi-storey along an outer wall. Get there at 10, when it opens, park up and nobody can get near you. There's pillars front and back so they can't get you that way either! To be fair, dinging doors is the least of your driving worries here, they're not too bad for that (just about everything else though) and I have to say Malaysia was the worst. After 12 months, your motor looked like a 5 year-old had attacked it with a ball-peen hammer! |
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When i were a lad (Yorkshire accent please) we blagged a trip to an engineering show in Paris with a uni lecturer in a uni car ( Mondeo estate)
We were in Paris for 5 days
The mondy was hit five times
And no I wasn’t driving!
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Ax GTi Turbo
they have some longitudinal bays in the multi-storey along an outer wall.