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-   -   Dimensions of cars in India (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/93664-dimensions-cars-india.html)

Guys, after being in the US for several years I recently returned to India. I noticed something strange about certain cars in India that are sold here as well as in the US market. I may very well be wrong. These cars look bigger in India than they looked in US. Take Honda Civic for example. It is a compact sedan and I owned one some time back in US. One of my colleagues has a 2009 Civic over there. When I saw Civics in India plying on roads, it somehow looks bigger to me. Do cars like Civic really have bigger dimensions in India as compared to their north american counterparts or is it just due to the fact that they appear bigger due to presence among other smaller cars on the road?

Even I have noticed this after my stay in Canada for a year, but then I think its due to the fact that these cars like the Corolla or Civic are common and they are seen with a lot of Huge and Bigger cars (read as SUVs) and so they seem smaller there.

But in India where the Hatches rule the market and most of the entry sedans being an exaggeration of a hatch are smaller compared to a Corolla or a Civic and hence these cars look bigger.

This is my personal opinion, I am not sure if the actual dimensions differ cos as far as my understanding goes cars are made for a global use nowadays and I dont think they make same models in different sizes for different regions of the world.

This issue is a very well known human behaviour trait (if that is the right term, I am sure it is not).
We humans tend to judge the size (big/small) in relation to everything else around it.
A Civic in USA looks compact because everything else - and that includes everything like other vehicles, roads, buildings, etc etc - are larger than what we have in India.

I felt the same in the beginning!!. Agree with the replies above. In US dont see 800, nano, Zen, spark, WR around Civic so the different.

Civic is OK check Hyundai Accent there, you will be surprised :-)

Indian versions of the luxury cars are longer than other version with better rear leg room cause most of the luxury cars are chauffeur driven here.

True in China, not true in India. Go check out the specs for Chevy Cruze, Honda Civic/Accord, Toyota Corolla/Camry, Skoda Laura (EU Octavia) ... All the same wheelbase.

The current VW Jetta in USA is a longer wheelbase than the EU Jetta, and in this case, we are getting the US spec Jetta next year (I think)?

Same feelings always...
I could not believe that Indian Jazz and US Fit are the same car with same dimensions. Matched the 2 websites side by side to finally digest that!
Jazz is really big among hatches in India whereas Fit feels just like a small hatch in US.
Wonder what Mercury Grand Marquis / Ford Crown Victoria / Lincoln Town car would look on Indian roads.

No i am talking about BMW's and Merc's all are stretch versions

Kiloalpha is so very right, once I saw a swift in Australia and it looked like a toy car, its basically all relative, when you see bigger cars around and suddenly you see a swift you find it totally out of place. Also the fact that cars like cruze and swift are categorised as a compact sedans elsewhere but here they are considered to be more of luxury cars in a segment which is higher then the normal sedans.

Not all, just the S Class and 7 Series.
We get the long-wheelbase version in India. I thinks it's roughly 6 inches more than the standard version.
Not sure about the Audi A8.

And to answer the original question, its all relative. Park a Civic next to a S Class and you'll see how compact the civic is :D.