4 Reasons Why New Cars Are So Heavy (2024)

FAQs

4 Reasons Why New Cars Are So Heavy? ›

Car shapes and sizes have steadily ballooned since the late 1970s. The reasons for this increase are various and complex. The addition of safety features like lateral and frontal airbags and "crumple zones" required more space, while consumers began to seek out luxury, exotic and import vehicles.

Car shapes and sizes have steadily ballooned since the late 1970s. The reasons for this increase are various and complex. The addition of safety features like lateral and frontal airbags and "crumple zones" required more space, while consumers began to seek out luxury, exotic and import vehicles.

Heavy-Duty: Vehicles with a GVWR greater than 26,000 pounds. Includes weight classes 7 and 8.

The dimensions of a car dictate the quantity of materials required for its construction and, in turn, the vehicle's weight. Sure, some of these materials can be lightweight, but in a like-for-like situation, a larger vehicle made of the same materials as a smaller one will almost always weigh more.

Batteries, safety, and comfort features add weight.

Electrification requires heavy batteries. All-wheel drive adds weighty components. With greater safety comes greater weight. Comfort and technology features pack on the pounds.

Cars are heavier today, but not as much as you'd think. Or, compared to 1975 at least. The early 1980s did see a dip in average weights, but it's been uphill since there. Overall though, the average vehicle is only up 6%.

Why Bigger Cars Are Safer. Larger vehicles are usually safer than smaller cars because of their size and weight—two very important forces that directly relate to your risk of getting injured. Bigger vehicles tend to be more spacious and have more distance between the front of the car and its occupants.

EPA defines vehicle categories, also by GVWR, for the purposes of emissions and fuel economy certification. EPA classifies vehicles as Light Duty (GVWR < 8,500 lb) or Heavy Duty (GVWR > 8,501 lb).

Vehicles made with heavier materials, such as steel, will naturally weigh more than those constructed with lighter materials like aluminum or carbon fiber. Engine size is also a significant influencer of vehicle weight. Engines with more cylinders or larger displacements tend to be heavier than smaller ones.

They're heavy because a reciprocating internal combustion engine like you find in most cars is basically an air pump that is constantly trying to blow itself apart. The weight is the result of using materials strong enough to stand up to those forces.

How does weight affect cars? ›

The heavier the vehicle is, the more energy it needs to get moving. Heavier vehicles have greater inertia and greater rolling resistance, which both contribute to increased fuel consumption.

“In a turn or sudden swerve, an over-weighted vehicle will roll too far to the outside. This can cause the spring and shock system to rebound and push the vehicle back to the inside. This condition creates a rocking effect that can make steering so difficult that a driver may lose control of the vehicle.”

Adding extra weight to your car will slow acceleration, but won't reduce its top speed. In determining a car's top speed, its engine battles two main forces: rolling resistance and aerodynamic drag. At very high speeds, air resistance makes up the vast majority of the overall drag on your car.

Being heavier means worse handling, less effective braking, slower cornering, worse fuel/energy economy, more tyre wear and road wear. If we could cheaply, easily make vehicles much lighter we would do so. Famously a Mk1 Golf GTI is as fast as a Mk6 Golf GTI but is half the weight and only needed half the horsepower.

Because making light trucks held to lower environmental standards was more profitable than building small clean cars, automakers marketed big models, including SUVs, enthusiastically. They portrayed them as quintessentially American, embodying freedom, strength and adventurousness.

Regulations, tariffs, and other government-imposed hurdles reward American car companies for building bigger, more expensive trucks and keep out any potential competitors.

Some advantages of larger wheels include traction, better cornering and braking, and better aesthetics. Larger wheels offer better traction, and because they have more rubber on the tire, this also means a better grip on the road.

Manufacturers needed to use lighter-weight materials in their cars, so they bought lesser quality steel and put thin, fragile layers on them and much more plastic and electronics where they could. By doing this, people started to buy American cars once again.