Geez, how much compensating do they need?!? Is it that bad? Like, button-mushroom size?
I’m pretty sure the scales are different. Look at the door handles: regardless of the size of the vehicle, anything that interact with human beings should be roughly the same scale and the door handles just aren’t.
Not to say that American trucks aren’t ridiculously oversized of course, but that photo looks doctored to me.
Nope, most of these trucks hoods are taller than my Velosters roof. Driving is fkn scarry these days.
The whole point of that site is to compare sizes of cars. Plug in whatever you want to compare: https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/mazda-mx-5-1989-roadster-vs-ford-f-250-2023-4-door-pickup-crew-cab/
Can’t believe I had to scroll to the bottom to find a link, and it’s not even a top level comment…
Thank you for this. Gonna compare my 350Z Roadster to a NA Miata. (edit: Never mind lol, it’s not even on the website. They have the 370Z, though…)
You can check it yourself here
And compared to my current car
Size seems accurate.
Based on measuring the images, they seem about right. The F-250 is the full width of the image (1,002 px). The MX-5 is 605 px, so just over 60% of the length of the F-250. If we do the same maths with the lengths provided in the image (6.35 m and 3.95 m) we get 62%. If the scale is wrong it’s by a pretty negligible amount
Regarding the door handles, the MX-5’s door handles aren’t made for hands. Their hinge is parallel to the actual door hinge and they’re made to be used with one finger instead of a whole hand, so while you were right to notice the difference it’s actually because the MX-5’s door handles really are very unusually small
Miata door handles are built for a finger or fingers and not a whole hand. The scale is correct.
Well, I’m an avid cyclist and left the US 25 years ago, and if that’s really the kind of behemoth that roams the streets in the US today, I’m glad I did.
people have been posting photos of such vehicles in europe and other places where nothing is designed to accomodate such a large truck and its a miserable look that they were allowed in at all
I also miss tiny cars that feel like I’ve strapped on a super suit
I’d much rather drive the Miata. There’s a reason that when I was forced to purchase a car after almost 20 years without one, I opted for a Miini Cooper. Sure, they’re cute, but I was ecstatic to look it up and find it was only about an inch larger than my first car, a 1983 Renault Alliance MT.
Small cars rule.
I miss my mini. With the rear seats folded down, it had a surprising amount of cargo capacity.
Smart car here :-D
i just want a 97 Tacoma again
Fuck you, Ford!!
The Miata sold well because it was cheaper than an Alpha Romero. Unfortunately, everyone came to realize it would be in the shop exactly as often, practically negating any benefit.
In what world? The Miata is ridiculously reliable until you start ignorantly modifying it.
Well, I live on earth. I can’t speak to whatever planet you’re from.
Says the guy comparing one of the most reliable sports cars with one of the worst.
🎵 12 yards long, 2 lanes wide 🎵
65 tonnes of American pride!
Top of the line in utility sports
But I need my insanely large blacked out, lifted, with black rims, f-250. I have to get 3 bags of groceries.
Of course off-road capabilities are required. How else would I drive on nicely paved suburban roads?
Just always gotta be prepared for the one day a year snow stays on the ground. Even in June.
Guess what destroys offroad performance though?
An insanely long wheelbase coupled with a top heavy design…
Well, it’s marketed to the same people who think that a Cybertruck is an offroad vehicle.
The shift to these ridiculously large trucks is partially consequent of the poorly-implemented Obama fuel economy regulations. The regulations were determined by wheelbase and tread width, which disincentivized manufacturers from making mid- or small-sized trucks. The bigger they made them, the less restricted they were by fuel economy. Larger vehicles also ease constraints on engineers; they don’t have to struggle fitting a lot into a small body. Once large trucks became the default offering, they morphed into the annoying cultural “status” symbol we know today.
Anyway I have a Miata MX-5 and I love my tiny car.
Long before that though, back when SUVs became popular because they were trucks and didn’t have to obey sedan fuel economy. This was back in the late 90s
I also love your tiny car, even when I see one from behind the wheel of my slightly less tiny Civic, which I adore.
The CAFE act caused most of these changes and was signed by Clinton in the early '90s. Obama may have made things worse, but the roots of the problem go back much further
CAFE standards date to 1975
Ahh, didn’t realize that. I guess Clinton expanded them?
I was in Rome last week and pleasantly surprised to see how many tiny cars they use.
There were plenty of Smart cars, but also many other ultra minis like Citroën AMI, XEV Yo-Yo and Renault Twizy.
They’re not just concept cars or used as gimmicks like elsewhere. People actually use them for their daily business.
The traffic in Rome is insane though. The reason they use tiny cars isn’t that the roads are small, but due to congestion and parking. It makes very little sense to own a car there at all.
i live in malta and got an xev yoyo amonths ago today. It’s my daily driver.
It makes sense for Rome though, these cars are expensive and appeal to the fashion sensibilities of the population there, rather than just using the good public transport there. It’s a signal of wealth, rather than an actual functional commodity.
I found this out the hard way the last time I expressed my love of the AMI
Yep my uncle’s work van in the UK was as small as my Honda Fit. Just two barebones front seats and an empty cargo space.
For those that haven’t seen a Citroën AMI:
https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/citroen-ami-2020-2-door-coupe-vs-mazda-mx-5-1989-roadster/
I mean why would that not be so? I no longer own a car but when I did, it was usually oversized for what I needed to transport (me and my backpack).
I have a small 3-door Corsa and it is oversized for my cargo :D (me and you guessed it, my backpack lol)
The big one should not be legal.
The big one is a work truck and should not be driven as a commuter. It really shouldn’t be allowed on roads where cargo trucks aren’t allowed.
Even as a work truck it’s comically large. You can get the same amount of cargo space in a far smaller vehicle, this one’s only advantage would be the sheer horsepower which you only need for very specific work.
It is made for towing massive trailers.
It’s made for carrying tiny penisses. Cars that are actually made to tow massive weights look like this
or this
Those are impractically large or not highway ready for horse trailers and other comparably sized trailers that are used for working. The F250 and 350 sized trucks are for in between light loads and those loads.
Not everything needs to be at the extremes of tiny or semi trailer.
I thought you were talking about massive trailers and not horse trailers. Noone needs a clown car to tow a horse trailer or something comparably sized. Your average station wagon is totally capable of that.
In case you aren’t trolling, I’m talking about horse trailers that anyone familiar with horses would understand.
Also comparable trailers.
None of these should be driven around in a city regularly. These trucks are not made for commuters or small spaces. They are for large farm, construction, and other work that requires more than a light truck but not a semi or tractor. They are comparable to delivery trucks and vans. In fact, large vans are just enclosed versions of the trucks. This was the van version of the F350 of its day.
One of the most common and reliable pickups was the 1970 Chevrolet C10 Long Bed:
Height: 65.8 inches Length: 207.75 inches Width without Mirrors: 65.8 inches Ground Clearance (Front): ~8.1 inches Ground Clearance (Rear): ~8.1 inches
This is a 2025 Regular Cab Long Bed Chevrolet Silverado 1500:
Height: 75.6 inches Length: 229.7 inches Width without Mirrors: 81.1 inches Ground Clearance (Front): 8.1 inches Ground Clearance (Rear): 8.1 inches
The “farm truck” excuse is nonsense.
This is a weird argument to put here. You’re actually advocating against the smaller option.
I advocate for using the right tool for the right purpose. I’d rather have one real truck on the road that is able to transport a decent amount of stuff, driven by a professional truck driver with a professional drivers license than three of these wannabe trucks that are driven by wannabe truck drivers.
It should require a CDL
Agreed.
I mean these are also two different types of cars. But it is actually so weird to see even two cars of the same type made in different times next to each other. It’s like somebody messed with the scale slider in the level editor. It’s uncanny.
in australia, i make sure to kick and dent every yank tank i see parked. its not often - we have more of the smaller pickups (though we call them utes)
I don’t want to defend the overly supersized truck too much, but I do want to point out that even these are two different class of vehicles. Sure, you can cram 4 smallish people into that old Ford Ranger, but nobody is going to be comfortable or happy about it. Also, that small ranger has far less cargo and towing capacity.
Of course, a good chunk of truck owners do not need that much capacity and big trucks are just a toy/status symbol to them. Which is stupid. But there are use cases where those trucks are actually needed, and a small Ford Ranger won’t cut it.
That said, I do wish we could get more small pickup trucks again. The maverick is a good start.
I tried to compare to a '90s F-150, but that site doesn’t have one.
Also FWIW, anecdotally around here small trucks seem more likely to be used as work trucks than [now greater than] full-size ones. My '90s single-cab Ranger was pretty clearly a former work truck (given how beat up the bed was and the fact that it came with a toolbox), for example, and I use it mainly for hauling and towing. Small trucks can, in fact, “cut it” in a lot more situations than people give them credit for.
For these kinds of comparisons people have to cherry pick and cannot compare similar class trucks because similar class trucks haven’t really changed in 30 years
If you compare the size of a base 1990 F150 https://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-150/1990/features-specs/
To a base 2025 F150 https://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-150/2025/features-specs/
The 2025 is 6 inches shorter, barely an inch taller, and barely an inch wider. Or in terms of percentages: -3.1%, +1.1%, +1.2% respectively
What has changed in 30 years is it was common back then for an average consumer to buy a “regular” cab two door truck with a 6 foot box, four door behemoths were rare. If you wanted a 4 door truck you had to get the F350
Today it’s the other way around, it’s rare to see a single cab F150 and now you can get a 4 door F150
Yeah, the problem isn’t that the big trucks exist. There is a place for them, always will be. But they shouldn’t be a commuter vehicle, the majority of owners never use them for their intended purpose, and even those that do need a truck rarely need one of the size they get.
Most definitely. The fact that the four door 5 foot box exists is hilarious to me in a sad kind of way.
I occasionally get made fun of for owning a 22 two door Ranger, that I bought a “tiny” truck. Honestly I hate how big it is, but I wanted a truck that would be my single vehicle, something I can use for DIY house projects, commute in, go camping/off roading, and take on cross country road trips. Custom ordered it with the specific features I wanted all for ~40k, meanwhile the guys giving me shit for it are paying just as much for a truck with less features, it never leaves the city, and waaaaay more expensive at the pump.
Morons
I’ll just leave this here. Took this shot of my car a few years ago.
I like your car
Thanks!
It literally looks like you could just drive under that fucking monstrosity lmao
just wait for the cars to get even bigger and you can just cut through traffic by driving under them
It’s a temptation every Miata owner faces.
the upsetting part is that the body would fit under and the windscreen and above - the fragile parts - would get hit by the bulk of the truck… cars are made to crumple on their noses etc - nasty gore scenes ensue
I’ll add to this too, taken a while ago of my old car in an Australian shopping mall, and Nissan Patrols aren’t even the most egregious here.
Before I read your comment, my stoned, dumb ass was wondering what the arrow was supposed to be pointing at.
Ugh, that reminds me - just a few weeks ago, I ended up next to this monstrosity:
With it being that high up off the ground, using the truck bed for any actual purpose is going to be difficult, unless you have an actual semitruck loading bay in your back yard.
That truck has not, and will not, experience a single second of actual work.
Nor will it ever leave pavement.
perfect working height for unscrewing part of the diff
Why does it remind me of this two
these*
