Sorry it's been a while. I was inspired to write a column that required a bit of hands on research and with my schedule these days that proved a bit time consuming.
I was driving a friends car a few weeks back and to put it mildly it was awful! In the interest of manners, I won't name names but I will tell you that the doors were so heavy they fell on me and pinned me in the door frame more than once. After freeing myself from the door frame - now balancing on one foot so that I could hold the door open with the other - I reached in to place my purse on the passenger seat which was no easy feat given the height differential between the seats and the centre console. While balancing I had to lift my purse up and over the console to drop it into the seat without having he greatest visibility. I was running late for work so packed my travel mug of coffee. My choices for cup holders included one of two very shallow cup holders under the dash that didn't look like they would keep my cup upright if I drove over a pebble or a holder in the central console. Clearly the console it was. Finally, with sore shoulder and calf (thanks to the door) I was in the car and ready to drive. I put the car into reverse and knocked my funny bone on my coffee. Not a lot of room between the gear shift and console but I could deal. As I started to drive I was aware that my right arm was struggling to find it's place. As it turned out I had two options. I could rest my arm on my coffee/console or I could pin it next to my rib cage between the console and my body. I won't even get into my mild fear when I tried to merge and realized that despite my foot taking the gas to the floor I simply wasn't going to get up to speed fast enough . . . let's just focus on the creature comforts.
Now I will admit that I am spoiled. I drive a VW Rabbit. As far a creature comforts go - my Rabbit and VW's in general are thoughtful. So I decided to pick four entry level cars - get in and out of them with purse, notebook, coffee etc., and if possible suggest the most well thought out car for a gal and her purse.
First up I tried a 2008 Toyota Yaris, formerly known as the Echo. The door is an easy weight and stayed open when I was getting in. The seats are high, they have an armchair feel so getting in and out is easy and comfortable and placing your purse or anything else over on the passenger seat is easy. There's lots of headroom in these cars so you can clearly see the interior while preparing to enter - this could also be considered a personal safety feature. Cup holders? Being a former Yaris owner I knew where they were - you may not. They are hidden in the dash and must be depressed to open. This is a nice feature, once you find them, but when open they are are one size fits all and on the bigger side, I know from personal experience that they allow your cup to be a bit floppy. No full cups of coffee here. Rather than hidden behind the steering wheel, the Yaris has a central dash display. This may be a matter of taste but I think it's great; it prevents you from looking down while driving as it is naturally in your line of sight. All the knobs on the dash are large and I was able to easily adjust heat, music etcetera with my gloves on. I mentioned that the Yaris was formerly known as the Echo to point out one relatively important difference. When the Echo came out, one of the great features was the vast amount of storage space. There were little drawers that pulled out from under the seats and it seemed wherever you turned Toyota had built a little cubby. This did not transfer to the Yaris, there is not a lot of storage space or discrete places to hide those CD's (perhaps passe but still relevant) or iPod connectors.
Next up was a 2009 Hyundai Accent. The door of the Accent is heavier than the Yaris but it did not pin me against the frame. There are two cup holders located between the seats; however, they are at a low enough height to not interfere with gear shifting or your arms natural resting position. There is almost no storage to speak of. The interior looks similar to the Yaris and purse placement is just as easy - but something t just isn't as comfortable. I wish I could offer a specific reason, but both my co-tester and I felt right away that the seats themselves and the positioning was not great. Like my friends car this one has either two really shallow cup holders or change holders under the dash. There is a little cup accessory that would be either a removable ashtray, change holder or dust collector. Whatever it is, it did not look particularly useful, especially when balanced against it's potential to create clutter and that gross car dust that can build up if you don't stay on top of your cleaning.
From the Accent we moved to a 2009 Suzuki Swift. The doors are a good weight on this one, again the seats are arm chair style with good interior visibility for purse placement or security. There are two adequately deep cup holders (no floppy mugs here). The climate control knobs are of a good size and I was able to easily adjust with my gloves on. A nice bonus feature are arm rests on both sides of the passenger and driver's seats, which are quite comfy. It was beginning to appear that a hallmark of entry level cars was a lack of storage and that continued to be true in the Swift. Another unique feature, both stylistically and practically is the clock/temperature/tripometer display which was placed centrally on the dash.
Finally, I moved on to a 2007 Honda Fit. Of note, no interior lights came on until I had the car turned on. This made it quite difficult to locate the central unlock button to allow a passenger in or to find anything, including the reading light until I got the key into the ignition. Once the lights were on the Fit has an excellent and bright display. All knobs are glove and mitten friendly and it has two decent cup holders. The seats are the lowest of the four cars but still aiming for that arm chair feel. There is lots of storage but it was all pockets so there was no discrete or closed storage beyond the glove compartment. The interior is roomy and perhaps unfairly I will mention the back seats. The Fit's back seats stood out to me because they laid completely flat when put down. In moments the Fit hatchback driver could convert their car into a mini station wagon or pick-up truck. All of this being said, there was something from preventing me from putting it at the top of the list. I can't say exactly what it was, perhaps it was my initial frustration at fumbling in the dark or the inadequate reading light but the Fit only made it to second place.
Despite having said least about it, the Suzuki Swift was my first choice pic for basic creature comfort design. Of the four the Swift and the Accent are the less expensive options and the Accent feels like it. The Swift rises above whatever price expectations one might have with a little bit of thought given to the design. Perhaps that's why I had the least to say about it, things were placed where they should be to allow an effortless and comfortable entry and drive.
In doing this research I did not take into account fuel economy or how it feels to drive but based purely on first impression response to the small details this gal gives her vote to the very affordable and thoughtful Swift.
