Car maker gender: which cars are more masculine or feminine?

[[email protected]]

Irrational? I've always liked a manual transmission because it makes the driver a more integral part of the driving experience. I admit it is possible that I am irrational, ask my wife, .

I am also leery of the multiple automatic features being added to cars: lane minders, attention alerts, automatic braking, etc. I want to drive the car, not have the car drive me. I understand the safety aspects, but I'm enough of a Luddite to wonder what will happen if/when the 'minders' break or go bonkers.

 

[Angela]

Irrational? I've always liked a manual transmission because it makes the driver a more integral part of the driving experience. I admit it is possible that I am irrational, ask my wife, .

I am also leery of the multiple automatic features being added to cars: lane minders, attention alerts, automatic braking, etc. I want to drive the car, not have the car drive me. I understand the safety aspects, but I'm enough of a Luddite to wonder what will happen if/when the 'minders' break or go bonkers.

A lot of the 2020 models are offering these features; some more, some less.

I'm not sure I trust them either.

Traveling to Italy so often, and automatic transmission cars still being less available, I've had to keep up my manual transmission skills, but I have to admit I like being a bit more on "auto-pilot" with the automatic transmission.

Learning to drive manual was one of the worst experiences of my dating period with my husband. His first car was an ancient, used VW bug with manual transmission. He thought it was a good idea to do our first lesson on a busy street with red lights every couple of blocks. I predictably stalled the car, he predictably yelled, and I predictably put the car in park, got out and walked away. The next lesson was on a country road that looked like it was going up Everest. Needless to say he had no future as an instructor. It was a month before we went on another date. I got my father to teach me, on a manual transmission car he borrowed from a friend.

That damn car was a death trap in more ways than one. We regularly would get one to two feet of snow where we lived. It would regularly get stuck in a rut or snow bank. The good news was that it was so light the two of us could just lift it out of ruts. It was so small I have no idea how old people drove them. My husband, then boyfriend was six feet tall and a football player. He had to practically scrunch up into a ball.

The good old days.

 

[Yetos]

The French burned a lot of bridges (is that the right metaphor?) with the truly awful cars they exported to the US during the early VW Bug craze. The Renault Dauphine is a prime example. Those kind of cars did not survive contact with American highways. The French automakers have never really tried to come back.

I think it has to do with taxation and factories in continent more, than with car abilities,

 

[Yetos]

How about my favorite DS7

or

what is it?



BTW

I tend to believe that all modern cars are feminine,
Automatic gears,
electric,
hydraulics,
turn here turn there,
camera for Parking,
sounds for Parking,
auto-locks
15 inch polyurethan,
auto-cruiser
anti-freeze
warm 'bucket' for .....
ABS
ESP
.....
auto-P%T^
anti-@#8!
para-P&y6
etc
etc,
THEY ARE ALL DESIGNED TO BE DRIVEN BY WOMEN.

I think today the only thing that makes a car mesculine is the mechanical gear box, and the (today is considered old fashion) handbrake
hey I don't even keep in my hands the keys, the power of owning a car

the last things in car, that made a man feel the power of the engine of HIS car
1. the sound or rpm every time HE change the gear (manual mechanic gear box)
2. and start of trip / end of trip (manual handbreak)

 

[[email protected]]

I think it has to do with taxation and factories in continent more, than with car abilities,

Yet other European car companies have made it here (in Southern California it seems every other car is a BMW or Mercedes). I think it's interesting that so many car companies have managed to sell a lot of cars in the US; Japan, Korea, Germany, England, and Italy, though the last two are not strong players here anymore. Why did the French only make that one attempt circa 1960? I may be wrong, but I don't know of any other attempt to create a French presence in the US car market.

I wonder too when Chinese and Indian cars will make their attempt?

 

[Farstar]

Irrational? I've always liked a manual transmission because it makes the driver a more integral part of the driving experience. I admit it is possible that I am irrational, ask my wife, .

I am also leery of the multiple automatic features being added to cars: lane minders, attention alerts, automatic braking, etc. I want to drive the car, not have the car drive me. I understand the safety aspects, but I'm enough of a Luddite to wonder what will happen if/when the 'minders' break or go bonkers.

The best cars to buy now are good cars of the era in which still we had manual transmission everywhere, etc. These cars have still most of the necessary amenities, e.g. air conditioning etc and they are fun to drive. Instead, current cars are unavoidably bland, including supposed supercars.

The only drawback is pollution restrictions. In my case, I am lucky because my car is still in the pollution limits, but it was produced without all these robocontrols which take out the pleasure to drive. But maybe in 5 years, they will ban my car.

 

[Dagne]

And I want a car which will drive by itself (absolutely no need for being in control for me, not to say anything about having a transmission)

 

[Maciamo]

BTW

I tend to believe that all modern cars are feminine,
Automatic gears,
electric,
hydraulics,
turn here turn there,
camera for Parking,
sounds for Parking,
auto-locks
15 inch polyurethan,
auto-cruiser
anti-freeze
warm 'bucket' for .....
ABS
ESP
.....
auto-P%T^
anti-@#8!
para-P&y6
etc
etc,
THEY ARE ALL DESIGNED TO BE DRIVEN BY WOMEN.

I think today the only thing that makes a car mesculine is the mechanical gear box, and the (today is considered old fashion) handbrake
hey I don't even keep in my hands the keys, the power of owning a car

the last things in car, that made a man feel the power of the engine of HIS car
1. the sound or rpm every time HE change the gear (manual mechanic gear box)
2. and start of trip / end of trip (manual handbreak)

I was talking about looks, not options. Then I disagree that safety features are designed for women. Statistically men get into more fatal accidents than women because they drive more aggressively. That being said, I know more women who have had minor accidents or scratches while manoeuvring... (less good 3D skills in average)

 

[Maciamo]

Not a brand, but a manly characteristic in a car: manual transmission. Of course, many men drive automatic transmissions. Maybe myself, one day I will be forced to drive one. But a manual transmission is one of those irrational things that connect men to a car.

I always thought that manual transmissions were better until I tried the new automatic models two years ago. The new automatic gears are so smooth and well designed that they accelerate just as fast as a manual one and we can't feel the change of gear. German cars like BMW, Mercedes and VW (among those I have tried) have different modes for automatic gear (eco, normal, sport), with different gear ratios. BMW has 8 gears on its automatic box. It's also possible to shift gears manually on these new automatic models, but with the added benefit of not having to push the clutch. Driving in a city without clutch does really avoid leg cramps, especially in traffic jams. So there is really no benefit to a manual car anymore. That being said, not all car makers have good automatic gear boxes, especially among cheaper cars.

 

[Yetos]

I was talking about looks, not options. Then I disagree that safety features are designed for women. Statistically men get into more fatal accidents than women because they drive more aggressively. That being said, I know more women who have had minor accidents or scratches while manoeuvring... (less good 3D skills in average)

Indeed.
but as a man I like to feel and have control of my 'motor-girl'.

 

[Carlos]

I had one for 1 or 2 years I think I met my goals in the short distances: Speed, ease of parking, go unnoticed and have no concerns about theft, scratches, broken glass to be in the street.


For me there is no car, my goal is the destination and where I want to go If I get it and I have been invisible along the way I don't need more.

 

[[email protected]]

I think I get where you're coming from. I have two cars, my wife's car, a BMW M3 for when I want to DRIVE!!, and my car, a Toyota RAV4, when I just want to get from here to there, and haul and few things. There's nothing wrong with either pick and, to be honest, we spend most of the time in the RAV4.

But, if we go back to the original point of Maciamo's post, what gender is your vehicle (and why)?

For my vehicles, each is, I think, a combination. The M3 performance is very much a bad-boy vibe (Top Gear said the only people who drive them are D**ks, which my wife embraces), but the body is very feminine in its curves. The RAV4 (a 2011, so not the current iteration) is, as an SUV, somewhat male, but its 'face' is on the cute scale, so a little on the 'baby' scale.

And no, I don't any of this seriously.

 

[Duarte]

[h=1]Smaller than a RAV4, simpler than the brother sedan: what to expect from the Corolla Cross SUV[/h][h=5]Toyota's new SUV uses recipe to please in markets like Brazil, but it should sell horrors nonetheless[/h]

[FONT=&quot]There was a time that to [/FONT][FONT=&quot]discover a future launch in Brazil it was enough to look at Europe. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Today, however, the "future" is further away and in countries with which we have little cultural relationship, such as India, China and Thailand. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Despite this, we Brazilians are seen by most automakers as the same customer as the Indian, Mexican, Romanian or Thai and reason is not the most pleasant.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Although anyone in their right mind wants to have a Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi in the garage, the fact is that Brazil's economic reality unites us with these nations. For this audience, brands have to offer little by much in order to make a profit. Translation of this reasoning? Corolla Cross .[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Due to the symbolism of creating an SUV version of the best-selling sedan in the world, it was expected that the unprecedented model would appear in Japan or even in the USA, but Thailand was chosen as the stage for the global launch of the model. Not that it means you will not end up crossing a Corolla Cross in some developed market, but they are not priorities after all they consume another type of product, more sophisticated and expensive like the RAV4 .[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But why couldn't it be like that in Brazil? The rival CR-V, for example, once became a popular model and Toyota could also occupy that position above compact SUVs (which the Japanese brand does not yet have a representative, by the way). But the reality is different from this hypothetical scenario and one of the reasons is that the RAV4 has grown and become more sophisticated, making room for a new model.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Would the Corolla Cross be a direct rival to HR-V, then? Neither. The SUV is slightly larger and heavier, not by chance finding more similarities with the Jeep Compass , a "medium" more in price than in size.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Japanese strategy, as we commented here on Autoo , is well thought out. It avoids the problem that Honda went through when it launched the HR-V. The compact SUV costs the same as a Civic despite the much simpler and cheaper platform. On the one hand, the brand won by selling a car with a higher profit margin, but paid the price to cannibalize sales of the sedan that since then has been unable to fight with the Corolla.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Toyota, in turn, devised the Corolla Cross precisely to be a more expensive brother to the sedan. Roughly speaking, there are no major mechanical differences between them: 1.8 engine with 140 hp (compared to the American Corolla), TNGA platform, CVT gearbox and simpler hybrid option. In other words, it is the same cake recipe, but in a taller car and with the characteristic look of an SUV.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But only that "last item" is capable of allowing Toyota to charge more for the Corolla Cross. If the XEi version of the sedan cost R $ 120 thousand in July 2020, certainly an equivalent Corolla Cross could cost R $ 140 thousand or up to R $ 150 thousand, price range of the intermediate versions of the Jeep Compass 2.0 flex. Hence it is understood why Toyota can make the cat jump over Honda. An HR-V with a 1.5 engine only cost R $ 116,000 in the EXL version, slightly less than the equivalent Civic.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tête-à-tête[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Rather than elucidating reasons for Toyota's balcony with the Corolla Cross is to compare it to the RAV4 and the Corolla, the sedan. And so understand why the new SUV is expected to have a major impact on the market in 2021.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- The Corolla Cross is smaller and lighter than the Corolla Sedan: the SUV only gains in width and height, which was expected. But it loses in the distance between wheels, which is also 5 cm smaller than the RAV4 .[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- Corolla's SUV is lighter: see here one of the miracles of simplification, the Corolla Cross manages to weigh less than the sedan is more than 300 kg lighter than the RAV4 .[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- Lower weight / power ratio, but don't count on more performance: by using the same mechanical assembly as the sedan, the SUV has a better weight / power ratio, but because it is a taller and wider vehicle this advantage can be minimal. The ideal would be to have an index closer to the RAV4, which has only 7.7 kg per hp, but then a more powerful, worn and heavy engine would be needed .[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- Simpler suspension: the Corolla took decades to gain Multilink rear suspension, but in the Corolla Cross Toyota returned to the old and worse recipe .[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]- Front - wheel drive and zero off-road characteristics: as a good "crossover", the Corolla Cross has no aptitude for off-road, not even all-wheel drive like the brother RAV4 .

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Opera summary[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Corolla Cross is a reinterpretation of the Corolla platform to prevent Toyota from losing customers to other brands full of SUVs in its portfolios. Its style is even more timid and conventional compared to the current RAV4 and even sedan, revealing that the brand does not want to take risks. That is, it is a great idea for the Japanese automaker's pocket because it is a lower cost product and a higher profit margin.[/FONT]
[TABLE="class: table, width: 449"]
[TR]
[TH="align: inherit"]Technical Data[/TH]
[TH="align: inherit"]Corolla Sedan[/TH]
[TH="align: inherit"]Corolla Cross[/TH]
[TH="align: inherit"]RAV4[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Version[/TD]
[TD]Altis Hybrid 2.0[/TD]
[TD]Hybrid Smart 1.8[/TD]
[TD]S Connect Hybrid 2.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Length (m)[/TD]
[TD]4.63[/TD]
[TD]4.46[/TD]
[TD]4.6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Width (m)[/TD]
[TD]1.78[/TD]
[TD]1.825[/TD]
[TD]1,855[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Height (m)[/TD]
[TD]1,455[/TD]
[TD]1.62[/TD]
[TD]1,685[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Inter-axis (m)[/TD]
[TD]2.7[/TD]
[TD]2.64[/TD]
[TD]2.69[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Weight in running order (kg)[/TD]
[TD]1440[/TD]
[TD]1385[/TD]
[TD]1703[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Power (hp)[/TD]
[TD]122[/TD]
[TD]122[/TD]
[TD]222[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Torque (kgfm)[/TD]
[TD]14.5 + 16.6[/TD]
[TD]14.5 + 16.6[/TD]
[TD]22.5 + 20.6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Weight / power ratio (kg / hp)[/TD]
[TD]11.8[/TD]
[TD]11.4[/TD]
[TD]7.7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Trunk (liters)[/TD]
[TD]470[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]580[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Streaming[/TD]
[TD]CVT[/TD]
[TD]CVT[/TD]
[TD]CVT[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Suspension[/TD]
[TD]MacPherson + Multilink[/TD]
[TD]MacPherson + Torsion shaft[/TD]
[TD]MacPherson + Multilink[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brakes[/TD]
[TD]Ventilated discs + solid discs[/TD]
[TD]Ventilated discs + solid discs[/TD]
[TD]Ventilated discs + solid discs[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Traction[/TD]
[TD]Forward[/TD]
[TD]Forward[/TD]
[TD]Integral[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Price[/TD]
[TD]R $ 137,890.00[/TD]
[TD]?[/TD]
[TD]R $ 217,990.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[FONT=&quot]* Source: Toyota Brasil and Thailand.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Source: https://www.autoo.com.br/menor-rav4-mais-simples-sedan-o-que-esperar-do-suv-corolla-cross/[/FONT]