Increasingly, all I want is a tally of how many pieces of luggage of a certain size will fit behind each row of seats. After going through a couple vehicle hunts by now, I’m used to the standard of cubic feet as the universal cargo space measurement units. But frankly they’re useless. One vehicle’s 38 cubic feet might be a lot easier to maximize than is another vehicle’s 41 cubic feet.
No, what I want is Bjorn’s “banana box” test result. Or, if quirky isn’t your style, then let’s go with 24" roller bag suitcases. It’s what we all want to know anyway: “how many of [bulky item] can we fit in here?”
Great, the side case has a volume of 36 liters. Tells me nothing about whether it can hold an adult size helmet (no, in one case). Meanwhile a 21 liter case of another brand will, because the volume is distributed differently.
Alex on Autos is the only guy I watch if I’m seriously considering a car to buy. I’m a middle aged man now. The kind of shit he covers is important to me now. The fuck do I care if the car can take corners or do 0-60 in 1 second less. I need to know about car seats and golf bags and hip room. Those are the dad specs we need to know lol.
Also autoblog has the luggage test which I appreciate.
I think we could get away with leaning on another agency’s work toward defining bag sizes to help us out here: the TSA has a maximum size for carry on bags set at 22" x 14" x 9", including handles and wheels. That’s a relatively small bag size, but I don’t think there is a standard maximum in each direction like that for checked bags. Those bags can be bigger, but the restriction is in 62 linear inches (i.e. the total sum you get from adding together the width, length, and height of your bag has to be less than 62")–not a maximum in each dimension.
People tend to be familiar with checked bag sizes. There is a max in each direction already established by a well known industry/agency. And since it’s a smaller bag, you can more efficiently cram the nooks and crannies of a vehicle’s cargo area with them (the same can’t be said for the larger, 24", bags that Alex on Autos uses–I like his general method here but there is no true standard for a 24" bag like there is for a “checked” / 22" bag).
Increasingly, all I want is a tally of how many pieces of luggage of a certain size will fit behind each row of seats. After going through a couple vehicle hunts by now, I’m used to the standard of cubic feet as the universal cargo space measurement units. But frankly they’re useless. One vehicle’s 38 cubic feet might be a lot easier to maximize than is another vehicle’s 41 cubic feet.
No, what I want is Bjorn’s “banana box” test result. Or, if quirky isn’t your style, then let’s go with 24" roller bag suitcases. It’s what we all want to know anyway: “how many of [bulky item] can we fit in here?”
It’s similar with motorcycle luggage.
Great, the side case has a volume of 36 liters. Tells me nothing about whether it can hold an adult size helmet (no, in one case). Meanwhile a 21 liter case of another brand will, because the volume is distributed differently.
Alex on Autos is the only guy I watch if I’m seriously considering a car to buy. I’m a middle aged man now. The kind of shit he covers is important to me now. The fuck do I care if the car can take corners or do 0-60 in 1 second less. I need to know about car seats and golf bags and hip room. Those are the dad specs we need to know lol.
Also autoblog has the luggage test which I appreciate.
Hello fellow AoA fan. I always love how he reviews cheaper cars in detail while other reviewers just skip them
the problem is luggage size varies so widely it’s just impossible to standardize that sort of thing in any meaningful way.
I think we could get away with leaning on another agency’s work toward defining bag sizes to help us out here: the TSA has a maximum size for carry on bags set at 22" x 14" x 9", including handles and wheels. That’s a relatively small bag size, but I don’t think there is a standard maximum in each direction like that for checked bags. Those bags can be bigger, but the restriction is in 62 linear inches (i.e. the total sum you get from adding together the width, length, and height of your bag has to be less than 62")–not a maximum in each dimension.
People tend to be familiar with checked bag sizes. There is a max in each direction already established by a well known industry/agency. And since it’s a smaller bag, you can more efficiently cram the nooks and crannies of a vehicle’s cargo area with them (the same can’t be said for the larger, 24", bags that Alex on Autos uses–I like his general method here but there is no true standard for a 24" bag like there is for a “checked” / 22" bag).
Just use the max size for luggages you can bring with you on flights. It’s standardized and readily available in any luggage store.