Have you noticed that there has been a rise of overweight Filipinos?In line with that, it will only be practical to choose a vehicle that is both practical and comfortable to plus-sized drivers. What are your options?
Choices
Here are the possible cars for overweight people that you may consider.
Mitsubishi Mirage
One of the best options since it has good interior space and a lot of features. It may be a hatchback but can definitely carry you with its 1.2 L engine displacement.
Geely Emgrand
Geely Emgrand is probably the monster in the category of gas tank among subcompact cars with its 50 Liters of tank. You can definitely go places in a single full tank.
Toyota Corolla Altis
As one of the most trusted brands, the Toyota Altis CVT E variant boasts of a 1.8 L engine that can definitely carry you around. It also has a 50 L fuel tank capacity which is enough for out of town drives.
A Philstar’s report indicates that up to 27 million Filipinos are obese. This data only proves that there will be an increase in people looking for cars that will suit their sizes and weight.
Things to Consider
An overweight driver can have challenging experiences operating a car. Apart from body size, there may be difficulty with operating some parts of the car. Not only that, having equally heavy passengers can also take a toll on the vehicle’s reliability.
Gas Tank
The bigger the gas tank volume, the better. As you know, heavier loads can easily drain the car’s fuel in order to run the engine.
Engine
This is probably the most significant factor to consider. I once had a Toyota Wigo before and the engine was 1.0 L. It was enough for me since I’m usually alone when driving. I was 135 lbs back then.
If you are heavier and reach 200 lbs, then you may be considered overweight to obese depending on your height (for BMI). a 1.5 L to 2.0 L engine may be ideal for you.
Legroom
This may be a factor for passengers who are heavier than others. If you are excited about other people riding your car, consider the leg room. Make sure to first check how far the seat can be moved so that passengers are comfortable especially during long drives.
Aircon
A powerful aircon will be useful for overweight people. Most of the modern cars have auto climate control which adjusts the temperature in the cabin. But if the car has better cooling features, consider it.
Interior Space
The volume of the interior should also be considered. You may want to look at the specs of the car you are eyeing for and probably buy the most spacious for you and the riders.
Transmission
You may ask, for an overweight like me, isn’t it better to just get an automatic transmission for comfort? You see, only the driver can decide about this. I asked my friend (obese) whether he is more comfortable with an A/T but said he prefers manual.
The reason being that with manual, he gets to exercise more. He wants to at least add some movement of his body to burn more calories no matter how small it is. He has a point.
Is your preferred car on the list? Comment to share.