"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
12/09/2014 at 11:10 • Filed to: None
0
23|
"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
12/09/2014 at 11:10 • Filed to: None | 0
| 23 |
I'm gonna preface this by saying that I know that the Subcompact market is aimed at lower income people and that the cars are basic and simple to keep prices low. Now I'm gonna make a bold statement based on driving habits that I encounter day to day: People buy the biggest car with the biggest engine and use 1/10th of the power 98% of the time.
I've seen these nice 300 horsepower Lincolns doing 45 on a 55 mph highway where everyone else is doing 65-70. So did the owner need the 300 horsepower engine? No. They just wanted the comfortable interior. So let's look at the cheapest car on the market. The Mitsubishi Mirage.
This is a car that everybody loves to hate because it's so low powered. 79 horses is not a lot. That's about 19 more than some early Beetles had. Yet that seems to be an adequate amount for most drivers as they certainly aren't utilizing the 2-300 horsepower that their fullsized Cadillac flagship is producing. This car is roughly 12 thousand dollars and comes with bluetooth and automatic climate control. Why not add heated, power, leather seats. A heated steering wheel and a navigation system. Basically put all of the niceties of a luxury sedan into a Mirage/Cube/Versa/xB etc etc and market it as a low priced luxury yacht. It's all the power that most motorists need with all the luxury that they want for a lower price than that 60,000 dollar Volvo.
Plausible? Probably not.
Likely to happen? Never
Am I insane? Yes
Is it frustrating to be stuck behind a twin turbo S80 because the owners have no idea how much power that car can make and only bought it for the seats? Absolutely.
BrownMiataDieselWagon
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:13 |
|
Short answer, no. Size matters.
jariten1781
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:16 |
|
That's what Mini is for.
area man
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:17 |
|
You have to take into account the fact that a lot of these doddering luxury buyers also like the size because it makes them feel safer. That's actually true of all car buyers, basically, if you consider that the only thing keeping the average car size in check is fuel economy and oil prices. Historically, and at least in this country, when we can build it bigger, we do.
Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:18 |
|
Well cars like the Fiesta offer things like heated and leather seats. So they are offered, it just costs money.
Leon711
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:19 |
|
like this?
|
Leon711
> Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
12/09/2014 at 11:20 |
|
but ford is just plebeian in terms of luxury.
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:20 |
|
I can't seem to stop seeing these tiny little fuckers:
Same with the verano (cruze)
I think buick is on to you!
sm70- why not Duesenberg?
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:27 |
|
I love the idea of a compact luxury car for city life.
fiverguy
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:27 |
|
I'm with you on this one. If they offered a Focus/Fiesta that had Lincoln level comfort and luxury, I'd do it.
Yes, the Focus/Fiesta does have a lot of niceties now, but the ride quality itself still is long and far behind their bigger counterparts.
For the record, I drive a Taurus now (2014). If you give me a Focus with Taurus driving characteristics primarily being smoothness/comfort (I don't need a SHO, but hey, we can go there too) I'd consider trading.
Margin Of Error
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:32 |
|
I think they would sell better with more simplicity and proper manual transmissions only.
itschrome
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:35 |
|
more luxuries = weight
more weight = less performance from smaller more eco oriented engines
less performance from smaller more eco oriented engines = less MPG
less MPG = negating the point of a smaller car
Luc - The Acadian Oppo
> fiverguy
12/09/2014 at 11:53 |
|
I've written about that very thing.
http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/lincoln-compac…
|
Luc - The Acadian Oppo
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 11:55 |
|
I'm with you 100% but I would want the luxury badge/look not just a fancier interior ford,chevy,ect.
like the focus based lincoln compact I wrote about.
http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/lincoln-compac…
nermal
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 12:03 |
|
One of the biggest problems with nicer subcompacts are that cars in our culture are about more than just transportation. Let's face it, if all you need is transportation, a bus or a train or a bicycle as applicable are a wayyyyy better economic proposition.
Cars are status symbols. A $12k Mitsubishi is not a very strong status symbol compared to a $40k Lincoln McConaughey LTMXZ. American culture in particular is rooted in "I'm better than you"-ness. People buy nicer, larger, more expensive cars because of the way they make them feel. This includes feeling comfortable, feeling powerful, feeling in control, and feeling more important than the stupid pleibeian in the Mitsubishi Mirage stuck in traffic next to them.
Just because you don't NEED something, doesn't mean you don't WANT it, and it doesn't mean you aren't willing to pay for it.
Axial
> Leon711
12/09/2014 at 13:27 |
|
That car doesn't even remotely qualify as luxury unless luxury is defined by the badge. You're better off buying a Golf R and getting an interior that is equally well appointed but drive train and suspension that are superior for about the same kind of money.
|
Frosted
> nermal
12/09/2014 at 14:10 |
|
I guess I hadn't considered that before. You're right though, 100%, some people def do buy the higher priced Merc just to say they have an expensive Merc. And there is the whole Bigger cars = safer even though that's not always true, I guess it's just a way of thinking that's been engrained into our minds.
|
Frosted
> Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
12/09/2014 at 14:11 |
|
We need MORE cars offered with these things man. I'm no fan of the Fiesta at all but if the Sonic were offered with those features, I'd be all over it.
Now I have to double check to see if it is though...
|
Frosted
> Leon711
12/09/2014 at 14:14 |
|
Yea but then you also have to factor in reliability. I dunno how reliable that particular Audi is but, as with most euro cars, when something breaks it probably won't be cheap. Whereas a Yaris would have an engine that'll run forever as long as there is oil in it.
|
Frosted
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
12/09/2014 at 14:16 |
|
I wish Buick would make their own model of the Sonic. I don't see the Cruze as a subcompact since there are 2 models smaller than it. It's more of a compact sedan with the Corolla and Civic.
|
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 14:48 |
|
OK that's fair. That tiny CUV thing is crazy small tho.
|
Leon711
> Axial
12/09/2014 at 17:50 |
|
this is way way cheaper than a golf, it's slightly more expensive than a polo but cheaper than a golf the range topping S1 which has 4wd and the GTI motor starts at £25k where the golf starts at £30k. compared to a fiesta it is luxurious.
|
Leon711
> Frosted
12/09/2014 at 17:58 |
|
according to JD Power, Audi is comparable with nowadays in terms of reliability. Most of the bad rep for "German Reliability" is electrics, whilst there have been some horrible engines every german car I've had has soldiered on when they really shouldn't have been able to. My 1988 polo was driven for 8 months with a blown headgasket and still trudged on regardless.
|
Axial
> Leon711
12/09/2014 at 19:27 |
|
GBP 25,000 is about USD 39,000 and that is exactly what a Golf R starts at in the USA (where the OP is likely located if he's talking about Lincolns, feel free to correct me OP). Even in the UK, I'd still rather save for another year or two to be able to afford the extra GBP 5000 for the R because the R is a much nicer car for what is, at the end of the day and on the monthly payment, not a whole lot more.
As for it being more luxurious than a Fiesta ST, by only the slimmest of margins. The interior on the S1 is majority hard plastic and its open, barren look lends an air of cheapness to it. The seats are also awful.
At the end of the day, the S1 is little more than a badge-engineered Polo. To think that the A1 and S1 are luxury cars misses the entire point of their existence: to get people who want the luxury brand to buy the luxury brand to fund the company's more opulent offerings that actually keep the brand notable as luxury brands.