The Size Of Life » Blog Archive » Big Rides: 2009 North American International Auto Show

Part 1: Introduction / Cars

Show Floor

The 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit was, as always, a fantastic time. It was my second visit to the Detroit Auto Show and, despite the down economy, was still impressive… though not as much as last year.

When I began researching for this article, I felt that I couldn’t write a “Top 10″ style post. I was convinced (and still am) that my personal bias towards a certain type of vehicle or certain lifestyle would sneak in. I do my best to not allow that to happen when doing any kind of review, but keeping a clear mind when testing something made by a company that has left you with bad experiences in the past is hard to do.

Full disclosure: I had a terrible run with some American vehicles during their bad era, but I see them doing great things these days, so I’m very open to what they’ve put on the market in the last few years. Also, I tend to be an active and outdoorsy type person, so vehicles with higher functionality for those types of activities will always be at the top of my list. I also like sporty vehicles with more power than any one person usually needs, so that tends to create higher fuel costs. All that being said, I think I kept bias (mostly) away from these recommendations and hope that big guys will find them helpful.

The criteria with which I judged vehicles pretty much stems from my experience of owning and driving vehicles of all shapes and sizes… So take it that I am not an expert, I’m just very picky. Some very specific things that I look at when judging vehicles are the following: ease of entry/exit, does the emergency brake handle location interfere with comfort, will the car’s upper windshield line be high enough to view stoplights and overhead highway signs, is my shoulder and hip room limited due to plastics in the vehicle, etc. I could go on with these, but I think you get the idea.

So, in part 1, we’ll go ahead and take a look at the cars that I felt would best accommodate big & tall men. Please keep in mind that I wasn’t able to review EVERY car at the show… there were many with long lines that we didn’t have time to wait through or that just don’t really fit in with the target audience of big guys. Also, we avoided cars over a certain price point or anything that just didn’t fit the mold. Some manufacturers we’d like to have spent more time with were Hyundai, Jaguar and Nissan/Infinity. The cars we were most interested in with Hyundai (Genesis coupe and sedan) had long lines and we ran out of time trying to get a seat on one, as was the case with Jaguar. Nissan North American (which includes Infinity) did not have a booth at the auto show this year.

2009 Chevy Malibu
If we were doing a top ten, the Malibu would definitely be in contention for the top spot. Great interior build quality, seats and rear seat accommodations make this a value leader for the big and tall man. The rear seats have special molded plastic cut-ins that allow for more legroom for rear seat passengers while still allowing the big guy in the front to have enough room to be comfortable.

2010 Buick LaCrosse (speculative edition!)
We haven’t sat in it yet, but the new Buick LaCrosse is based on an evolution of the same chassis as the current Malibu. A GM rep on the show floor confirmed that the LaCrosse is just as spacious, if not more, than the current Malibu. The reason we speculate and go ahead and add it to the list is that I feel like it looks phenomonal and will be offered with all wheel drive in a configuration that will cost less than $45,000 MSRP. This is where I want my bailout money being spent.

Volkswagen Passat Komfort
This mid-sized car offers big room and comfort. Thinking about a Cadillac just on size? Don’t bother… the Passat Komfort has more room for the driver than the Cadillac STS and is significantly cheaper.

2009 Volkswagen Rabbit 4 door
This little car was a huge surprise! I fit in it well enough to drive it to work everyday and then some. Very little room left for rear-seat passenger, but definitely worth a closer look. This car was even more comfortable than the Mazda3, which made our list below.

2009 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Good enough, not great, but a good compromise for fuel mileage and cargo.

2009 Audi A8L
This car is huge… and hugely expensive. It has all the right equipment, of course, but the price point for this vehicle is outrageous. Starting at just over $74,000, the price is insane. Stand up and take note, Cadillac: You can build a car this good for $45,000. In fact, you already do… It’s called the STS. But the interior is laid out poorly. Borrow the engineers who designed the interior of the Chevy Malibu for a few minutes and get that sorted out.

2009 Mazda 3
It’s just big enough. Adequate, efficient. I wouldn’t want to be a rear seat passenger behind me in this car… but lots of cargo room in a small package and a great daily driver. I had one of these as a rental car on vacation in Colorado this past summer and the interior of the 2009 model is largely unchanged from the one I drove. You couldn’t put a large passenger behind the driver’s seat with a big guy at the wheel, but it can carry 4 in relative comfort including a few big guys up front without too much trouble. I spent 6 hours per day in this car a few times while we were out and about in Rocky Mountain National Park and while it’s not perfect, it certainly does a fantastic job for the money. Fuel mileage is good and the starting price is even better.

Subaru Forester XT Turbo
We’ve never been very impressed with the Subuaru lineup, they’ve always been more cramped than they should be. Tribeca and forester just OK, but not great. There are just always always a few minor things keeping a subaru from being good for the big guy. The Forester XT Turbo, however, takes it to the next level and should be considered. It has adequate room and a few more amenities for big and tall men (such as a telescopic steering wheel, better seats) that other models lack. According to a Subaru rep on the show floor that I spoke with, Subaru has heard these cries and is increasing the size of the new Legacy… it has rear seat cut ins like malibu and BMW X5 for added room for rear seat passengers as well as more room up front for the driver.

A note about Honda…
In recent years, Honda’s cars have gotten bigger and heavier while the interior volume for a big guy has shrank. I haven’t found a current model yet that I fit properly (except one, as I explain in just a moment). If you can find a Honda you fit in comfortably for the long haul, buy it. The legendary reliability is no myth, I’ve owned 3 Honda Civics and they are excellent values…. but until their designers realize that not everyone is under six feet tall and weighs less than 200lbs, they only vehicle they will sell me is a Honda Element… which we discuss in Part 2 of this series!