Well, a lot of the new bulk and proportions are part of federal crash and Euro pedestrian safety standards.  Raised cars, raised hoods, high beltlines, big wheel gaps, chunky noses, etc.  There has to be a perfect storm of of design choices to avoid a lot of it.  Mid-engined cars and FR's w/ the engine pushed up on the firewall can escape a lot of regs.

http://www.straight-six.com/blog/?p=2436

Btw, forgot that Toyota implemented the new brake/throttle defeat to deal w/ the retards driving their cars.  Which means unless I can defeat it, I will never buy a FRS/BRZ.

This thing is a fucking monstrosity. 



I think the newer corrolas and Accord are ridiculously big too.  They're like SUV's with car styling.

Wagons don't sell here, not unless they are jacked up, hideous SUV wannabes like the Outback. It has nothing to do with crash regs. You can still make a genuine wagon if you want to, see the MB E-class wagon. Subaru styled that monster on purpose. In any case, you buy a Subaru in spite of how it looks, not because of it. That's pretty much always been the case, perhaps with the rare exception of the previous gen Legacy which was mildly attractive, at least from the front. Side profile was a disaster.

I haven't noticed the Corolla getting any bigger. Honestly that car has always been such a shit box that I rarely pay any attention to it at all. Corolla buyers are people who've given up on life. They don't care what their car looks like, how big it is, and they certainly don't care how it drives.

The outgoing Accord was indeed a monster, but not a surprise coming from Honda which has been running around in the dark lately, crashing into things. The latest Accord does seem to be at least a small step in the right direction. It's smaller and more attractive, though not stylish like the Fusion or the new Mazda6. Somebody actually had a thought in their head about center stack design, and the engines aren't 10 year old retreads mated to a hoary old 5-speed. Honda actually did some work on that car instead of just expecting people to line up for reheated leftovers just because it says "H" on the front. Hyundai won't let them get away with being lazy anymore.

Drove the Cruze while i was in Alaska. 1000 miles in 6-7 days. i liked that car. Good gas mileage too.

Hey.. I had a corolla for the last two years. I liked that car a fair bit for what it would do. Have even hauled two dirt bikes behind it and my sports bike to the track and back 200 miles away. Put 22k miles in that time not counting the 6k on the motorcycle. Its a great beat arounder. Driving down the road with two dobermans sticking their heads out on either side sure got some looks.

Agreed on the Acura styling. the new ones are crap.

The BMW 330i and 335i are worthy of consideration right now. Hesitating cause they are now a dime a dozen.