Choosing a new car to buy can be an incredibly difficult task, with today’s market being as successful as it is, you have a huge selection of different vehicles available for you to purchase! This makes it hard to choose what you want as they all have their own benefits and shortcomings but to the untrained eye these things are very hard to spot. Do you want something that prioritizes fuel efficiency over comfort, or horsepower over torque? You need one that is going to suit your family’s needs, if it doesn’t it will just serve to be an expensive thorn in the side so you need the right one, but which kind of car do you get? Well wonder no more as if you carry on reading, you’ll know about the different car types that are available and which one will suit you the most!
Table of Contents
SUVs
You’ll have heard this word bounced around a lot on car adverts and in garages, but what does it mean? SUV stands for suburban utility vehicle, meaning that it is a vehicle designed to carry heavy loads within an urban environment. This means that they often come with high torque in order to move heavy loads that you might be carrying, great for those long trips to go on holiday. SUVs are often very large inside too, meaning that you and your family have a lot of space to play with, perfect for the little ones that need plenty of room to squirm around in! This can also make your driving experience better, with more space available inside your car you can move your seat around more, altering the driving position to make it suit you. SUVs often have comfort in mind, being designed with a comfortable interior as opposed to a barebones one. However, SUVs do fall short in the fuel efficiency category which does let them down slightly, however this is balanced out by the amount of torque and horsepower that they have! Cars like the Subaru Outback fit this category perfectly, giving you the perfect balance of power, efficiency and comfort that you need if you find yourself often going on long trips with a lot of gear to take with you!
People Carriers
People carriers have been around for a very long time and have made their lasting impression upon the car world. They are large vehicles, with a big interior that can fit almost anything in you want! Similarly to the SUV, they have very large inside space, even bigger than your typical SUV will have. This makes it perfect for long drives due to how spacious it is, however there is another benefit to people carriers that a lot of the public often seem to forget. The seats in a people carrier number more than just 4! Often they have a second set of seats behind the rear ones, meaning that you can transport a lot more people, or anything else, than you would in any other normal car. This has a huge impact if you have a large family, no more splitting up in different cars to go on holiday! You can finally stick everyone in one place, saving you time and money! Companies like Volkswagen sell a huge range of people carriers, so you can check out which one you want before you buy it. However, people carriers do have 2 shortcomings. Similar to that of the SUV, people carriers suffer from poor fuel efficiency meaning that you will have to spend more money on fuel for them just because of the ratio of car weight to engine power. The engines also lack power, they are not swift things but they are not designed to be so take this into account when buying one!
Estates
This is another term that gets thrown around a lot in the car world, and it’s meaning is even more obscure to that of the SUV. Estates are simply regular cars that have a much larger storage space in the back than regular cars. This gives them their long, elegant shape and good functionality. So, as we’ve just covered, estate cars are bigger than normal ones. They have a larger amount of rear storage space which means that you can obviously fit a lot more stuff in! This makes them quite functional cars due to the increased storage space making them good for mid distance trips where you have to transport a lot of things, or even just for the shopping. Companies like Mercedes sell estate models of all of their current model cars, giving you a good range of options for you to pick from! The benefit of estates is also the downfall. Estate cars are large for their function, unexpectedly so. They also sacrifice some of the speed for the extra space, so whilst they may have to same horsepower as a regular model, they are in fact slower because of the extra weight that has to be pulled along. They are more difficult to manoeuvre and park due to their size, so if you want a small car this is not for you! However if you’re after a midsized car that will serve as a jack of all trades, then this is definitely for you.
Hatchbacks
Possibly the most common cars on the road are hatchbacks. They are small, versatile, fuel efficient and cheap to buy! They are the end word in versatility, and is perfect for anyone who is after just that. Hatchbacks have small chassis’s which mean that they also have small engines. Do not let this fool you though, they often can have powerful engines for their size like the Focus ST, so they don’t have to be weak! They also have surprisingly large interiors, and storage spaces. The playoff for this is that they aren’t too good at any one thing. They don’t excel in any specific area, they are not masters of speed or functionality. This is their advantage and their drawback, if you’re looking for a car that is relatively cheap and will tackle any problem that you throw at it then get this! However do not buy one if you’re looking for it to fill a specific purpose, you’ll be wanting something else for that!
Coupes
The stereotypical sports car, enter the coupe. These cars are designed to be fun and fast, being two door and often 2 seaters however some are 4. Cars like the Boxster are the classic coupe, and outline it’s advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, these kind of cars are not going to be functional for a family! If there is only 2 of you then they will suit, but any more than that and you’ll not have the correct amount of room for everyone to be comfortable. They have very little storage space too, meaning that they are not practical for big runs. However, this is not why you’d buy a coupe! If you’re going to buy one, you’re going to buy it for the speed. The large engine bays can accommodate large engines, which is why they tend to be quite long at the front! These big engines have a lot of power and torque in them, meaning that they can go very fast very quick. Most have performance parts too, meaning you can break and turn harder than you would be able to in a regular car. These are the most fun cars to buy and use, being more nimble and swift than any of the other classification of cars, but are also the most limited in their use so only buy one if you’re 100% sure that you want one!
So, now you know the most popular classifications of cars, their advantages and disadvantages! If you’re after a big vehicle that will be able to carry around all of your family then you should invest in a people carrier, it’ll give you the space you need to travel lots of people over long distances! If you want something that is going to get you and your family across long distances but also want it to be able to carry some quite heavy stuff too, then your safest bet is the SUV. want a car that is just bigger than a normal one, and has all the same benefits and a little bit more? Then an Estate is for you! Maybe you’re looking for something that can just do anything, something cheap and reliable that isn’t going to cause any hassle anywhere you go, have a look at hatchbacks. And finally, if you’re after something sporty and fast, there is only one kind of car you want, a coupe! SUVs tend to be the most unknown of all of the classifications talked about here, and it can be hard to know which one to go for. Very little car models have actually been mentioned in this article because it could be too overwhelming if you’re just after advice, but if you do want to find out about more cars within the SUV class, go no further than here!
