Comment by wkjagt
4 hours ago
I did lots of highway driving in my 2010 Yaris (weighs about a tonne) this weekend and I was perfectly comfortable. Though I guess the more used you get to larger, heavier cars the more you would find such a small car uncomfortable.
The noise floor of economy cars is something you could possibly not notice until you actually experience a long highway trip in a luxury brand. That lower amount of road noise is a subtle but noticeable impact on fatigue.
Like a nice pair of expensive headphones, you don’t understannd difference until you experience it. Like a nice pair of headphones, it’s not a necessity, either.
That said, I don’t think that has a whole lot to do with weight. NVH reduction techniques like insulating material and structural adhesives are not a major weight consideration, it’s more of a cost issue.
It doesn't even have to be a "luxury brand"; any full-sized mid-century car is going to feel much more comfortable at speed than a compact one today. Most of the latter seem to emphasise "sportiness" instead of comfort.
You can't meaningfully compare cars that are in entirely different price brackets. Of course a $150K top of the line luxury vehicle is going to drive nicer than a $15K economy one. But one person is highly unlikely to be shopping between the two and wondering which one to choose.
Expensive headphones and expensive cars are in that sense completely different things.
That definitely isn’t the kind of price comparison I was intending. I’m talking like “Lexus RX vs. Toyota RAV4,” which is the sort of thing where the right lease deal, certified pre-owned, or loaner vehicle discount could lead to a cross-shop.
And of course in the subcompact ultra-cheap segment like the Yaris was in you’d see a difference just from going up segment within the same brand without touching their luxury marquee.
Going further down this tangent I have always felt like the budget segments have really struggled in the US because paying cash or getting unsubsidized new car financing is so rare. Financing is easy to come by that the purchase of a penalty box economy car starts making a lot less sense when you think of the idea of “$50 more per month gets me into a higher segment.” Over 5-7 years that cost difference is significant, large even, but at some point you stretch out that cost difference enough and it’s hard to argue with the consumerist impulse.
Then you’ve got the “everything is a hybrid” setup with brands like Toyota where you’re not really saving any gas money by buying a smaller car anymore. This is also a significant reason why everything is an SUV these days. (And it’s not like you can get a cheap one, see the Chevy Trax or Kia Niro)