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January 30, 2006

How is it that cars still fit on the road?

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I ask because for the past I don't know how many years, every review of a new car mentions something like the following from the Washington Post's Warren Brown, in a review in yesterday's paper of the 2007 Toyota Camry (above): "The new Camry's wheelbase, the center–line distance between its front and rear wheels, is longer than that of its predecessor. Its track, the horizontal distance from the center tread of one tire to the center tread of the tire on the opposite side, is wider."

OK, then: if a car gets an inch longer and an inch wider every year, than in 24 years (that's how long the Camry has been in existence in the U.S.) it should be two feet larger in both dimensions.

Today's Camry does not seem to dwarf the original by nearly that much, as best I can recall.

What gives?

January 30, 2006 at 10:01 AM | Permalink


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Comments

There are many revisions that shrink a wheelbase. You just don't see that fact featured in the press releases: "New Camry offers less legroom, stability for the money!"

Of course, there are many years when the wheelbase does not change at all. Cars are seldom redesigned wholesale, and even major revisions usually use the same frame (and therefore same wheelbase) under the new sheetmetal. Thus, to the extent the cars grow (and many certainly do), it is at a MUCH slower rate than 1" a year.

Carmakers sometimes grow their designs in part because they know that bigger cars feel safer, more luxurious, and hold more people. This is ideal, since the 1990 Camry purchaser may have more money and more family members by the time he or she is ready to trade it in. Carmakers want to push that purchaser up in the market (from a Civic to an Accord, for example) or at least keep them in the same model. Slight growth is one way to convice the customer they are getting value for their money. This type of growth only needs to happen every decade or so. When models get bigger, there is usually a new smaller model introduced to take its place for entry level buyers.

Posted by: strunkl | Jan 30, 2006 2:10:23 PM

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