Many cars too big – This site knows if you are really allowed to drive on the left in the construction site

Not only since the big boom in SUVs, cars have been getting bigger and bigger in length and, above all, in width. This can lead to problems when parking, whether at the supermarket or in your own garage.

The Research Society for Roads and Transport (FGSV) even advises in a new set of rules that parking spaces should be at least 2.65 meters wide in the future – that’s 15 centimeters more than currently.

If you would like to make a comparison of how much wider cars have become over several generations, you can use the Carsized web app (via CHIP).

This is how car-sized works

When you start Carsized, there are initially two random cars to choose from. Click on the “Change” button to specify a different vehicle.

You first select the manufacturer, then the model and type, and finally the year – it may happen, however, that the car you want is not in the database. In our test, for example, the Skoda Octavia generations before 2009 were missing.

If you have selected both cars, you will see the pictures and the corresponding dimensions in a stylish way. If the smaller car disappears behind the big one, click the “Swap” button.

Convenient functions

By the way, you can use the arrow buttons under the car images to align them differently. This is what the buttons mean from left to right:

• on the front wheel
• center axes
• on the rear wheel
• Front bumper
• center
• rear bumper

By the way, the width of your car is not only important when parking. For example, not every car is allowed to drive in the left lane at motorway construction sites. Every car that is wider than two meters, including mirrors, must stay on the right. There are exceptions if there is a different sign, for example with 2.1 or 2.2 meters.

So Carsized helps to find out the actual width, because according to ADAC, the vehicle documents only ever state the dimensions without exterior mirrors.

Table of values

The direct comparison between the current car and a new one should be particularly interesting for drivers. With the Carsized table you can find out whether the car still fits in the garage or whether parking will be tighter in the future.

A direct comparison of two generations can also be exciting, because below you will find a chic table. For example, we compared the Skoda Octavia 1Z with the Octavia 5E (sedan).

Although it takes up a little more space when parking, it also has twelve percent less maximum trunk volume. At the same time, the newer model is six percent lighter, which has a positive effect on fuel consumption.

The ground clearance can also be found in this table – if you drive along a dirt road, you should take this into account.

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