Car size categories across the world!

[Skid Mark 33]

I am pretty sure car size catergories across the world are different. Like for example, over here in England, a VW Golf is a small family car and a Mini is a supermini, or compact as they call them in the USA. Now in America, I am almost certain that a VW Golf is a compact car, which is in a smaller size catorgorie than over here in the UK. Why is this?

 

[daan]

[straight forward answer]
On the whole, American cars are bigger than ours.
[/straight forward answer]

 

[Alex.]

basically he's right. American cars are generally larger than European cars. (Ask Mr Clarkson for an offending answer)

 

[Famine]

I am pretty sure car size catergories across the world are different. Like for example, over here in England, a VW Golf is a small family car and a Mini is a supermini, or compact as they call them in the USA. Now in America, I am almost certain that a VW Golf is a compact car, which is in a smaller size catorgorie than over here in the UK. Why is this?

The Golf (and Focus, Mazda3, BINI) is a Compact in the US, but it's still the same category of car. It just has a different name.

 

[Philly]

Over here we don't have the Polo/Fox/whatever. You have classes that are much smaller than ours. You also have very few Land Cruisers, Suburbans and HUMMERS/Explorer sized cars over there.

Could you say that our cars are two steps bigger?

 

[Famine]

Over here we don't have the Polo/Fox/whatever.

You get the Honda Fit, which is in the same class.

You have classes that are much smaller than ours. You also have very few Land Cruisers, Suburbans and HUMMERS/Explorer sized cars over there.

Really? This morning I couldn't move in my work car park for Range Rovers, BMW X5s, Audi Q7s and the occasional Grand Espace and Grand Voyager.

 

[1X83Z]

You get the Honda Fit, which is in the same class.

And very few others.

Really? This morning I couldn't move in my work car park for Range Rovers, BMW X5s, Audi Q7s and the occasional Grand Espace and Grand Voyager.

Those things aren't larger than the stuff we have. Suburbans are bigger than anything mentioned - but most importantly, large pickups, which still account for the best-selling vehicles in America, are MUCH bigger. An extended cab Chevrolet Silverado (one of the most popular configurations) is 246.6 inches (6270mm) in length - for reference a Grand Voyager is "just" 200.5 inches (5092mm).

 

[Joey D]

[shameless plug]

[/shameless plug]

As you can see we have some massive vehicles here in America when compared to a small car. There is no real reason to have them, I bet the guy (gal) that owned that F-350 barley used it...especially since it was parked a a Saks 5th Avenue.

I would consider my Mini, the Fit, the Aveo, and the Yaris to all be super minis over here while the Rabbit, Cobalt, Caliber, and the Civic to be compacts. Car classification is weird though.

 

[Famine]

And very few others.

And? They're still sold in the USA, right? So the Polo/Fox/whatever category mentioned does, in fact exist...

Those things aren't larger than the stuff we have.

Who said they were larger? I was drawing a comparative list. Land Cruiser, as mentioned, is in the same band as the vehicles I mentioned.

Suburbans are bigger than anything mentioned - but most importantly, large pickups, which still account for the best-selling vehicles in America, are MUCH bigger. An extended cab Chevrolet Silverado (one of the most popular configurations) is 246.6 inches (6270mm) in length - for reference a Grand Voyager is "just" 200.5 inches (5092mm).

Funnily I've seen a 4-door Dodge Ram pickup, a Ford F250 pickup and, amusingly, a Silverado (parked in McDonald's) in the last 5 days.


The point was that we ALL have the same car classes, just with different names. We consider the Focus/Golf/Mazda3 to be medium sized cars and refer to them as "Small Family Cars". You consider them to be small and refer to them as "Compacts". But we still all get them, and they're still all grouped together. It's just the groupings have different descriptors.

 

[Philly]

And? They're still sold in the USA, right? So the Polo/Fox/whatever category mentioned does, in fact exist...

So the Polo category is quite rare, not nonexistent. And for the record I have seen and taken note of 2 Smarts on the road here. So the smallest cars are rare enough to not have to be considered.

Who said they were larger? I was drawing a comparative list. Land Cruiser, as mentioned, is in the same band as the vehicles I mentioned.

Does the Land Cruiser fit into the full size SUV category?

Funnily I've seen a 4-door Dodge Ram pickup, a Ford F250 pickup and, amusingly, a Silverado (parked in McDonald's) in the last 5 days.

I see those daily. 5 times a day even.

The point was that we ALL have the same car classes, just with different names. We consider the Focus/Golf/Mazda3 to be medium sized cars and refer to them as "Small Family Cars". You consider them to be small and refer to them as "Compacts". But we still all get them, and they're still all grouped together. It's just the groupings have different descriptors.

Not to mention that the bigger classes are far rarer over there and the small ones get fewer and farther between the smaller you get over here.

 

[Wolfe]

The point was that we ALL have the same car classes, just with different names. We consider the Focus/Golf/Mazda3 to be medium sized cars and refer to them as "Small Family Cars". You consider them to be small and refer to them as "Compacts". But we still all get them, and they're still all grouped together. It's just the groupings have different descriptors.

I believe the underlined portion is the whole point of this thread, Famine.

 

[Famine]

As I said in post 4.

The OP is operating under the assumption that US Compact is a "smaller size category" than a UK Small Family Car. This isn't the case.

Does the Land Cruiser fit into the full size SUV category?

It was your example...

Over here we don't have the Polo/Fox/whatever. You have classes that are much smaller than ours. You also have very few Land Cruisers, Suburbans and HUMMERS/Explorer sized cars over there.

Seriously, Land Cruisers, Explorers and their equivalent cars are not rare in the UK.

 

[Philly]

It was your example...

Yeah... But it fits in better with the Suburban and co. and the German ones are more midsize. Do you really see that many of the biggest of the big?

Seriously, Land Cruisers, Explorers and their equivalent cars are not rare in the UK.

But they are far less common there than the US, I would assume. My experiences over there were a little shocking at the lack of road going behemoths and so I may have over exaggerated a little.

 

[Joey D]

Seriously, Land Cruisers, Explorers and their equivalent cars are not rare in the UK.

I can actually vouch for that, especially in the areas I was in. London had giant SUV's roaming all over it as well as Maidenhead. However, they are more common here in the states I believe.

 

[Famine]

But they are far less common there than the US, I would assume. My experiences over there were a little shocking at the lack of road going behemoths and so I may have over exaggerated a little.

I'd agree with Joey - less common, but not far less common.

Seriously, find any school you can and hang around it at going in and chucking out times. If you're not swamped by tiny women driving gargantuan heavy plant machinery - and the SWAT nonce squad - I'd be surprised.

 

[Philly]

I'd agree with Joey - less common, but not far less common.

Seriously, find any school you can and hang around it at going in and chucking out times. If you're not swamped by tiny women driving gargantuan heavy plant machinery - and the SWAT nonce squad - I'd be surprised.

I guess I'll believe that, considering I haven't been there in two years. And your school description sounds strangely familiar.

 

[YSSMAN]

I thought it was laid out as such here in the US:

- Subcompact: Honda Fit/Jazz, Nissan Versa/Tiida, Kia Rio, etc
- Compact: Mazda3, Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit/Jetta, Focus, etc
- Mid-Size: Chevrolet Malibu (read Vectra), Mazda 6, VW Passat
- Full-Size: Buick Lucerne, Toyota Avalon, Nissan Maxima

...and then there are the obvious truck inclusions as well...

 

[Philly]

I thought it was laid out as such here in the US:

- Subcompact: Honda Fit/Jazz, Nissan Versa/Tiida, Kia Rio, etc
- Compact: Mazda3, Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit/Jetta, Focus, etc
- Mid-Size: Chevrolet Malibu (read Vectra), Mazda 6, VW Passat
- Full-Size: Buick Lucerne, Toyota Avalon, Nissan Maxima

...and then there are the obvious truck inclusions as well...

I think you may have missed one or two. BMW makes a 3, 5, and a 7. There is room for two of those on your list.... Unless the 7/S/A8/XJ belong in their own world....

 

[1X83Z]

Who said they were larger? I was drawing a comparative list. Land Cruiser, as mentioned, is in the same band as the vehicles I mentioned.

No it isn't - the Land Cruiser is NOT a large SUV. It's only 192.5 inches, which is shorter than the Ford Explorer and Nissan Pathfinder and less than an inch longer than the Chevrolet Trailblazer, placing it into the heart of the midsize SUV class (albeit the premium one).

Anyone who mentions 'Land Cruiser' and 'Suburban' in the same comparison is flat-out wrong.

 

[Famine]

No it isn't - the Land Cruiser is NOT a large SUV.

It was mentioned, by philly_cheese, as an example. The cars I mentioned were in its class.

If you have an issue with his classification:

Anyone who mentions 'Land Cruiser' and 'Suburban' in the same comparison is flat-out wrong.

And you do, please take it up with him.

 

[Turbo Lag]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_classification
Wikipedia has everything these days.

 

[Jay.]

I can actually vouch for that, especially in the areas I was in. London had giant SUV's roaming all over it as well as Maidenhead.

Yay! My old home town.

The Landcruiser may not be the biggest SUV, but the UK still has it's fair share of imported vehicles.
There are a couple of Tahoes in my area, several Silverados & F150/F250s, including a couple of Suburbans I've seen over the last year.
Then you've got the Dodge Ram, Range Rovers, Troopers, etc on sale in this country, that you can see every day.

Give or take a few inches here and there, the difference in size isn't that big a deal.
Unless you take the long wheelbase/extended cab versions of each.

 

[1X83Z]

It was mentioned, by philly_cheese, as an example. The cars I mentioned were in its class.

Glad we're in agreement.

 

[Philly]

I was wrong. Sorry. Maybe you guys know what I meant by the full size category.

Sequoia sound a little better?

 

[1X83Z]

I was wrong. Sorry. Maybe you guys know what I meant by the full size category.

Sequoia sound a little better?

I wouldn't use the term 'full-size' to describe SUVs, but if I was to, yes - the Sequoia would be in the class.

My personal classes:

SMALL CAR: small non-sedans. Example: Honda Fit.
SMALL SEDAN: small sedans. Example: Chevrolet Cobalt.
MIDSIZE SEDAN: midsize sedans. Example: Toyota Camry.
LARGE SEDAN: large sedans. Example: Chrysler 300.

PREMIUM SMALL CAR: small non-sedans, premium: Example: Audi A3.
PREMIUM SMALL SEDAN: small sedan, premium. Example: Audi A4.
PREMIUM MIDSIZE SEDAN: midsize sedan, premium. Example: BMW 5-series.
PREMIUM LARGE SEDAN: large sedan, premium. Example: Mercedes S-class.

SMALL COUPE / CONVERTIBLE: small coupe/convertible. Example: Mazda MX-5.
PREMIUM SMALL COUPE / CONVERTIBLE: small coupe/convertible, premium. Example: Audi TT.
COUPE / CONVERTIBLE: midsize or large coupe/convertible. Example: Chrysler Sebring.
PREMIUM COUPE / CONVERTIBLE: midsize or large coupe/convertible, premium. Example: Mercedes CLK.

WAGON: station wagon. Example: Subaru Outback.
PREMIUM WAGON: station wagon, premium. Example: Audi A6 Avant.

MINIVAN: minivans. Example: Honda Odyssey.

SMALL SUV: small SUV. Example: Ford Escape.
PREMIUM SMALL SUV: small SUV, premium. Example: Acura RDX.
MIDSIZE SUV: midsize SUV. Example: Honda Pilot.
PREMIUM MIDSIZE SUV: midsize SUV, premium. Example: BMW X5.
LARGE SUV: large SUV. Example: Chevrolet Suburban.
PREMIUM LARGE SUV: large SUV, premium. Example: Infiniti QX56.

MIDSIZE TRUCK: small/midsize pickup. Example: Chevrolet Colorado.
LARGE TRUCK: large pickup. Example: Ford F-series.

SPORTS CAR: fast. Example: Porsche 911.
SUPERCAR: very fast. Example: Lamborghini Gallardo.
ULTRACAR: incredibly fast. Example: Maserati MC12.
BUGATTI VEYRON: the be all and end all. Example: Bugatti Veyron.

Just for the record.

 

[Philly]

I wouldn't use the term 'full-size' to describe SUVs, but if I was to, yes - the Sequoia would be in the class.

Glad to clear that up:tup:

My personal classes:

....

I think you are missing one. A Rabbit cannot be clumped in with a Fit. Maybe a "microcar" is needed where the Fit would be so the Rabbit ect. can fit in the small car class. And maybe more will be added once even smaller things start coming?

Other than that, I would agree.

BUGATTI VEYRON: ... Example: Bugatti Veyron.

👍 That car kinda is all on it's own.

 

[Skid Mark 33]

Over here we don't have the Polo/Fox/whatever. You have classes that are much smaller than ours. You also have very few Land Cruisers, Suburbans and HUMMERS/Explorer sized cars over there.

Could you say that our cars are two steps bigger?

You do have the Golf over in America. Thing is, in Europe it is called the VW Golf, and in America it's called the VW Rabbit. Look at the two pictures below:

VW Golf (See the badge on the back)

VW Rabbit (Which for some weird reason has no badge what so ever)

See, the same car! 👍

 

[YSSMAN]

Its has a badge. Its there on the bottom right next to the engine size marker. It looks like this up close:

I personally think the badge is worth the name change alone... It just looks cool. Plus, I've seen some pretty kick-ass sticker/stripe kits that use the badge on newer Rabbits.

 

[Philly]

You do have the Golf over in America. Thing is, in Europe it is called the VW Golf, and in America it's called the VW Rabbit.

I miss your point. I know the Rabbit is the Golf. And it is bigger than the Polo. I may have been wrong (again....) about the Fox being smaller than the Polo though.

 

[Freddie]

I wouldn't use the term 'full-size' to describe SUVs, but if I was to, yes - the Sequoia would be in the class.

(Big list)

Just for the record.

The European classes look very different from this. First of all I don't think there's any official template that defines any classes (like you have in USA, no?), so it's a bit loose. But here's how I would define different size classes, just to get a general overview:

Niche: Smart ForTwo, other specialised cars
Supermini: Citroën C1, Toyota Aygo, VW Lupo, Peugeot 107, Fiat 500
Compact: VW Polo, Peugeot 207, Ford Fiesta, Fiat Panda, Skoda Fabia, Mini Cooper, Nissan Micra
Family: Ford Focus, VW Golf/Jetta, Skoda Octavia, Volvo S40/V50, BMW 3-series, Peugeot 307, Audi A4
Large: VW Passat, Volvo V70, BMW 5-series, Ford Mondeo, Mercedes Benz E-Class, Chrysler 300C, Peugeot 407, Audi A6

Then, there are innumerable variations to every car on this list, which would shuffle and move around the cars across every known category; i.e. many cars are available as convertibles and/or estates, which usually sport longer wheelbases, that move them up a half/one size. Some cars are available as off-roaders, like the Panda, the Octavia and V70 that are the Panda 4x4, the Scout and XC70 respectively.

Basing on what Joey said about his Mini being a supermini, I would say we Europeans classify cars at least one size larger relative to how it's done in USA.