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Let’s face it all the complaining will not bring back bench seats. A center counsel adds storage, and electronics that everyone wanted, and thanks to government regulations about airbags you can forget about bench seating aka in. Vehicles are smaller than the old bench seat vehicles of the past. All the Americans wanted was the sleek European look and moved away from bench seats. Well guess what they got their wish because bench seats fell out of favor because bucket seats were the new hot sellers. So can’t blame the automakers they built what the American people wanted. They are not going to keep a few vehicles with bench seats just to please the few who like them. It’s like a sedan the American automakers are not going to just keep making them to please the handful of buyers who want them.
I wonder,...do all those extremely wide center console vehicles all have rear seat AC vents mounted in the console?
Yes, some do. However, if you notice, the console isn't all that wide in the rear, because that portion of the console has to pass between the front seats.
You know, it's kind of funny. The last car I had without some kind of center console was a Plymouth Grand Voyager. It was a great car and the two front seats were free-standing bucket seats with nothing but empty space between them. It was kind of nice: it gave us more room to put stuff and sometimes my wife's dog would lie there. Generally speaking it was pretty nice.
What I remember, though, is that back in those days you could go to an auto part store and buy what was essentially a center console, pretty much a storage box with a hinged lid, to put in your car if your car didn't have one. At the same time my sister-in-law had a van and she used to stack stuff up between the two front seats so they could put a portable video player there for the kids to watch.
I don't know if you can still buy those things, but it seemed to indicate that there was a market for them. I'm sure I don't need to be carrying around in my car everything I now have in my front console, but for the stuff that I need I don't know of a better place to put it.
Last edited by jackmccullough; 05-13-2020 at 06:29 AM..
Exhaust pipe is 2" diameter. If it hangs 1" down below the pan, and you have 1" air space to the pan, that's a 2" high hump, not a 18" high console.
Dude....seriously
Catalitic converter, exhaust hangers, resonator/s, mufflers, heat shielding. Some cars have dual exhausts so double everything under there. That’s all part of the exhaust system. And unlrss the floor pan is made of aluminum foil it needs stamping folds and thickness to not only have the strength to hold the interior and passengers but not to tear apart in case of a crash.
I like big center consoles, except in pickups. The usable passenger space freed up in a passenger car by having a small center console is negligible. I'd rather have the extra storage. With the correct configuration, a passenger can sit in the front center seat of a pickup, which is why fixed center consoles and floor shifters are spectacularly stupid in pickup trucks.
Anyone who can't fit comfortably width-wise in a normal car (not a Miati or similar) has an obesity problem, period. Not trying to be harsh, but you'd have to have a 44" or larger waist to not fit in most cars. Unless you're 7ft tall, that makes you fat.
I like big center consoles, except in pickups. The usable passenger space freed up in a passenger car by having a small center console is negligible. I'd rather have the extra storage. With the correct configuration, a passenger can sit in the front center seat of a pickup, which is why fixed center consoles and floor shifters are spectacularly stupid in pickup trucks.
Anyone who can't fit comfortably width-wise in a normal car (not a Miati or similar) has an obesity problem, period. Not trying to be harsh, but you'd have to have a 44" or larger waist to not fit in most cars. Unless you're 7ft tall, that makes you fat.
For me it isn’t about the width of the console next to my seat as it is how much the console intrudes in the footwell. Some vehicles’ console extends to right next to the gas pedal. Some vehicles have a more narrow console in the footwell allowing more leg movement for driver and passenger.
Some cars now have a dozen airbags. The airbags are all over the place. Not to difficult too place an airbag in the middle of dash to allow a 3rd person in front - and a bench seat.
Airbags is not the problem. The problem is us/we - we tolerate these big fat consoles.
And of course those who must have a bottle of water, a latte, a soft drink, and a cell phone in these massive center consoles
And what's wrong with that?
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