With so much talk about the ,new to America, "B" class of automobiles we thought that there is no time like the present to let our readers know what exactly this term means. Cars in general are categorized by size class. The classifications start with "A" class and usually run through "F" class. Each class historically had very specific size standards and usually certain engine sizes to correspond to each size designation. Today these lines are blurred and often one particular car can fit into different class sizes. The class "A" started as the next step up from neighborhood vehicles and golf carts. The micro cars of the '50's and '60's slotted into this smallest class. Class "B" was intended for larger vehicles that usually just looked more like a real car as opposed the fanciful microcars, "A class", that took the shape of everything from three wheeled bubble cars to the front doored Iseta.
"C" class cars usually referred to the typical compacts that up to recently were the smallest cars on our road. Now personally I have my own way of spotting a "B" class car and deciphering it from other compact cars. "B" class cars are known for making the most of interior volume. The exterior is like a pair or Lycra athletic shorts, the least amount of material to reduce weight yet still offers the support an athlete needs. Many "B" cars have exteriors that wrap around the "bones" of the car offering as little superfluous exterior sheet metal as possible. The compact, "C class" cars, although small, have a more normal shape with a designated hood area separate from the interior cabin. Compact cars have what is often called a two, or three box design. This is not a complicated concept, it just takes each part of the car and designates it as a "box". Look at any vehicle and count the number of "boxes" it has, a hatch back has an engine box and a cabin making two boxes, where a sedan has an additional trunk "box" making three. "B" class cars push the boundaries of the cabin out further making much more interior volume compared to over all length. 
To achieve this added room the engine box is minimized to its smallest possible area creating a shape that is mostly cabin, or a "one box" design. To me this attribute is a greater differentiation between the "B" class and"C" class than any other. The drawings below illustrates how pushing the out the interior of a typical compact (pictureA) creates a far larger interior volume. The extra volume is shaded in green on picture B. 
We have had small compact cars on our roads for many years, but their more familiar "2 box" shape minimized their impact and allowed them to be embraced by a country that has been raised with the mental image of a hood as a safety blanket between you and the car in front of you. The picture below of a 1987 Honda CRX illustrates how maintaining the more normal proportions that we are used to can lead to phenomenal success ,even though the car is smaller than we are accustomed to. The picture below it shows the '09 Honda Fit we just brought to you in our last feature. The Fit is the same basic size as the CRX yet has the interior room of more than two CRX's. This is achieved by switching to the one box design, or what I like to call "B'ing" it. By B'ing the Honda the interior is now as big as a Honda Accord yet maintains the super small exterior dimensions of other small Honda's such as the CRX. 
Other cars are just as small as the Fit yet maintain the two box design. Most place all these cars together in one big grab bag yet I feel distinctions need to be made. Cars with a hood like the new Scion Xd
I feel straddle the compact line if nothing else in their visual language alone. The Fit , although the same size, takes on the "B" language thus putting it in that class,while other more traditional entries fir into the "C" class, at least in my mind. Currently the automakers are placing the"B" moniker on anything smaller than 175'' in length ,whether it justifies it or not. For example the new Nissan Versa is a wonderful sedan and mini wagon that is only slightly smaller than Nissan's own compact Sentra, Toyota's four door Yaris is nearly identical in mission to the Corolla, yet both the Versa and Yaris have the "B" designation, but why? Well automakers are not truly keeping to the parameters of the class ,based on size and the number of "boxes" that make up the design ,but based on a new "spirit" that has redefined the "B" class as more than dimension deep. Automakers think of the "B" as less about size and more about the buyers who buy them. To automakers the new class of "B" cars are the first to use high tech features found on luxury cars in a compact shape that attracts new cutting edge buyers that want fuel efficiency and a compact shape but still require the features they have become accustomed to. This whole "B" thing can "B" a little confusing so lets simplify Automotivedeclassified style...... A "B" class car encompasses a wide range of compact cars that are used as personal transportation, joining high feature content with a modest price and good fuel efficiency. "B" cars are also small "one box" vehicles that maximize interior volume and place the highest importance on the interior flexibility and room over exterior design. These two groups can mix ,as in the case of the Honda Fit or a Mini Cooper ,or may take on the attributes of the first part of the definition or the second. So the last question to ask is to "B" or not to "B". Well the simple answer, at least something about this is simple, is that most "B" cars offer the safety of larger cars, (even though they may not look like it), feature content, and a reasonable price. So "B" all you can "B" just make sure that the size and features actually meet your needs and keep the price from reaching levels that make a car that is fun and economical no longer viable for you or your family.
"C" class cars usually referred to the typical compacts that up to recently were the smallest cars on our road. Now personally I have my own way of spotting a "B" class car and deciphering it from other compact cars. "B" class cars are known for making the most of interior volume. The exterior is like a pair or Lycra athletic shorts, the least amount of material to reduce weight yet still offers the support an athlete needs. Many "B" cars have exteriors that wrap around the "bones" of the car offering as little superfluous exterior sheet metal as possible. The compact, "C class" cars, although small, have a more normal shape with a designated hood area separate from the interior cabin. Compact cars have what is often called a two, or three box design. This is not a complicated concept, it just takes each part of the car and designates it as a "box". Look at any vehicle and count the number of "boxes" it has, a hatch back has an engine box and a cabin making two boxes, where a sedan has an additional trunk "box" making three. "B" class cars push the boundaries of the cabin out further making much more interior volume compared to over all length. 
To achieve this added room the engine box is minimized to its smallest possible area creating a shape that is mostly cabin, or a "one box" design. To me this attribute is a greater differentiation between the "B" class and"C" class than any other. The drawings below illustrates how pushing the out the interior of a typical compact (pictureA) creates a far larger interior volume. The extra volume is shaded in green on picture B. 
We have had small compact cars on our roads for many years, but their more familiar "2 box" shape minimized their impact and allowed them to be embraced by a country that has been raised with the mental image of a hood as a safety blanket between you and the car in front of you. The picture below of a 1987 Honda CRX illustrates how maintaining the more normal proportions that we are used to can lead to phenomenal success ,even though the car is smaller than we are accustomed to. The picture below it shows the '09 Honda Fit we just brought to you in our last feature. The Fit is the same basic size as the CRX yet has the interior room of more than two CRX's. This is achieved by switching to the one box design, or what I like to call "B'ing" it. By B'ing the Honda the interior is now as big as a Honda Accord yet maintains the super small exterior dimensions of other small Honda's such as the CRX. 
Other cars are just as small as the Fit yet maintain the two box design. Most place all these cars together in one big grab bag yet I feel distinctions need to be made. Cars with a hood like the new Scion Xd
I feel straddle the compact line if nothing else in their visual language alone. The Fit , although the same size, takes on the "B" language thus putting it in that class,while other more traditional entries fir into the "C" class, at least in my mind. Currently the automakers are placing the"B" moniker on anything smaller than 175'' in length ,whether it justifies it or not. For example the new Nissan Versa is a wonderful sedan and mini wagon that is only slightly smaller than Nissan's own compact Sentra, Toyota's four door Yaris is nearly identical in mission to the Corolla, yet both the Versa and Yaris have the "B" designation, but why? Well automakers are not truly keeping to the parameters of the class ,based on size and the number of "boxes" that make up the design ,but based on a new "spirit" that has redefined the "B" class as more than dimension deep. Automakers think of the "B" as less about size and more about the buyers who buy them. To automakers the new class of "B" cars are the first to use high tech features found on luxury cars in a compact shape that attracts new cutting edge buyers that want fuel efficiency and a compact shape but still require the features they have become accustomed to. This whole "B" thing can "B" a little confusing so lets simplify Automotivedeclassified style...... A "B" class car encompasses a wide range of compact cars that are used as personal transportation, joining high feature content with a modest price and good fuel efficiency. "B" cars are also small "one box" vehicles that maximize interior volume and place the highest importance on the interior flexibility and room over exterior design. These two groups can mix ,as in the case of the Honda Fit or a Mini Cooper ,or may take on the attributes of the first part of the definition or the second. So the last question to ask is to "B" or not to "B". Well the simple answer, at least something about this is simple, is that most "B" cars offer the safety of larger cars, (even though they may not look like it), feature content, and a reasonable price. So "B" all you can "B" just make sure that the size and features actually meet your needs and keep the price from reaching levels that make a car that is fun and economical no longer viable for you or your family. 
