You must have noticed: for several years, manufacturers have been adding centimetres to the length and width of ours cars. At this point, SUVs have become the new standard, with the "small" city cars of today as big as some sedans of the past...
Even the Fiat 500, the emblematic "soap box" from the 50s, now exists in an SUV version (mamma mia...)
The website L'Argus.fr has produced a chart measuring the evolution of the average over the last 65 years in France. The measurements speak for themselves:
A very enlightening chart as it also shows how vehicles have increased in weight and power as well. But while we can rejoice that the engines have become more efficient, we can't really say that this general "chunkiness" is particularly (eco)logical at a time when reason would see us going the other direction by slimming down.
So what about tires. Are we going to talk about the tires?
It seems the rims are following this "growing" trend and have also become oversized. The evolution of the Renault Scénic is emblematic of this process: since 1997, it has gone from 14-inch rims to 20-inch rims! Larger than those of some buses!
Of course, this growth responds to a demand that is both aesthetic and logical (given the expansion of vehicles, small rims would be inappropriate).
Alas, this is neither particularly ecological (the tires emit fine particles as well as playing a decisive role in the vehicle's fuel consumption), economical (say hello the big bill at the first tire change), or comfortable (the famous seesawing effect brought on by big wheels).
In short, this fashion is may be attractive, but we are decidedly of the opinion that aesthetics alone do not fair well in terms of quality.
