How Long Is A Car: The Average Car Length Across All Vehicle Classes

Whether you’re shopping around for a brand new car or just looking to improve your car knowledge here at garagechief.com we got you covered. In this article, we are going to discuss the average car length as we know that it definitely pays to know more about the key dimension figures of your favorite ride.

Maybe you’re worried about that tight garage space, parking space, and budget or maybe it’s just all about your personal preference, getting the car that you are most comfortable with is important.

After all, you are going to be riding this set of hot wheels almost every day and sometimes it pays to be extra conscious about the details.

Cars come in all shapes and sizes as we already know, so let’s go ahead and dive right into the details and know more about the average car length.

Average Can Length – How Long is an Average Car?

Answering the question of what’s the average car length isn’t that easy without knowing what type of car do you have in mind, but assuming that the average car is a mid-sized car, then the average length of such car would be around 15-16 feet, which is 4.2 – 4.9 meters.

For example, the Toyota Corolla measures 15 feet 3 inches, the Camry model is about 16 feet. Another popular model, Handa Accord, is about the same size.

Let’s now take a look on the car length by each of the car classes.

Typical Car Length Per Vehicle Class

In the below table, you’ll find the average car length per vehicle size class.

One thing to keep in mind is that the vehicle classes themselves are not identical in different parts of the world. The reason for that is that there’s not one global classification adopted and used by all countries. Instead, government agencies have their own classifications.

In the US, that would be the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also has its own vehicle classification system that is used by most vehicle insurance companies in the U.S.

Here’s the typical car length per vehicle class:

Size Class	Model examples	Length (Feet)	Length (mm)
Mini Cars	Suzuki Alto	10.5	3195
Small Car	Kia Rio	13.8	4215
Mid-Sized	Audi A4	14.8	4520
Full-Sized	Audi A6	15.7	4800
Small SUV	Ford Escape	14.4	4400
Large SUV	Cadillac Escalade	16.7	5110
Small Pickup	Nissan Navara	16.3	4981
Large Pickup	Chevrolet Silverado	18.4	5614

Having said that, let’s discuss all types of cars in detail. We’re going to discuss classic sedans, SUVs, pickups and trucks.

The Average Sedan Length in Feet

A Sedan is what we generally know as a passenger car. It normally has three separate compartments for engine, passenger and cargo. With all of its varieties, the usual car you’ll see on the streets is most likely a sedan.

In length, a sedan is on average about 14.8 feet. Let’s break it down further.

Full-sized sedan would be about 15.7 feet, mid-sized about 14.8 feet, while a small car is about 13.8 feet, and what is considered a mini car is about 10.5 feet in length.

And of course, we have samples for you:

Sedan Size Class	Model examples	Length (Feet)	Length (mm)
Subcompact Sedan	Ford Fiesta Toyota Vios	12.87 14.46	3924 mm 4410 mm
Compact Sedan	Ford Focus Toyota Corolla Altis	14.36 15.15	4378 mm 4620 mm
Mid-sized Sedans	Toyota Camry Honda Accord	16.02 16.18	4885 mm 4933mm
Full-sized Sedans	Toyota Avalon Ford Crown	16.32 17.66	4975 mm 5385 mm
Executive Sedans	BMW 5-series Audi A6	16.21 16.18	4943 mm 4933 mm
Full-sized Luxury Grand Sedans	BMW 7 series Lexus LS	17.18 16.60	5238 mm 5060 mm

Then you also have the Club sedan, the Notchback sedan, Fastback sedan, Hardtop sedan, Hatchback sedan, and the Chauffeured sedan.

The Average SUV Length

The SUV or the Sport Utility Vehicle is a combination of a passenger car with features from off-road vehicles such as a four-wheeled drive. Where sedan is too small and lightweight and trucks can be a bit unstylish and too large, SUVs come in.

There’s a total need for this type of vehicle as it’s large enough to handle some cargo and a number of family members during trips and at the same time go can still take it out on formal occasions.

The average length of a mid-sized SUV is about 16.13 feet with dimensions of 6.31 feet width and 56.83 feet height.

A Full-sized SUV is 17.40 feet in length, width of 6.68 feet and height of 6.28 feet.

Sample brand and models are as follows:

Ford Explorer Limited (Length: 198.7 inches, Width: 78.9 inches, Height: 70 inches)
Toyota Highlander XLE AWD (Length: 192.5 inches, Width: 75.8 inches, Height: 68.1 inches)
GMC Acadia SLT-1 AWD (Length: 193.6 inches, Width: 75.4 inches, Height: 66 inches)
Ford Expedition Limited 4×4 full-sized (Length: 210 inches, Width: 79.9 inches, Height: 76.4 inches)

The Average Pickup Truck Length

Let’s jump right in at the back of our next topic, the pickup truck.

A Pickup truck or most commonly known as pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cab and open cargo area at the back. It’s the first choice for rough roads and for outdoor trips, for its size, durability, convenience, and efficiency. Whether you need heavy lifting for your business, you are an outdoorsy kind of person or you live in an area that’s just tough for your standard SUV or sedan to come up to.

It accounts for about 18% of the vehicles sold in the US and for a good reason. Once used purely for work now it’s designed for comfort as well so that you and your family can enjoy that ride.

A standard pickup truck on average is about 17 feet in length according to one of the largest pickup truck manufacturer: GMC.

Here are some examples of pickup truck brands:

Ford

Being a top brand not just in pickups but cars overall we will go in-depth for Ford just to showcase the average length for pickups.
The Ford F-100 (1956) model has an overall length of 15’9” (4.8 m), width of 6’3” (1.92 m) and height of 6’3” (1.92 m). It is a second generation model of Ford’s classic F-Series line.
The Ford F-100 (1976) model has an overall length of 16′ (4.88 m), width of 6’5” (1.95 m) and height of 5’11” (1.8 m). It is a sixth generation model of Ford’s classic F-Series line.
The Ford F-150 (2015) model has an overall length of 19’4” (5.89 m), width of 6’8” (2.03 m) and height of 6’3” (1.92 m). It is a thirteenth generation model of Ford’s classic F-Series line.

Some other Brands and Models out there:

Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD 2020 Regular Cab length: 249.95 in. (6349 mm)
Dodge Ram 1500 Classic length: 19.25 feet (5867.4 mm)
Dodge Ram 2500 length: 224.2 in (5,695 mm)
Nissan Titan length: 244.3 in (6,205 mm)
Ford F-250 length: 250.0 in (6350 mm)
Toyota Tundra Length: Regular Cab 209.8 in (5,329 mm)
GMC Sierra 1500 length: 231.8 in (5887.72 mm)
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 length: 241.2 in (6126.48 mm)

The Average Truck Length

A truck is a vehicle that’s generally used to transport cargo. These cargoes differ not just in weight but in composition so trucks should be versatile, that’s why it too comes in all shapes and sizes, and varies in power and configuration.

Trucks are also mounted with all sorts of specialized equipment depending on what it is used for. It’s a hardworking beast for sure. Knowing that it comes on different types of configurations let’s try to discuss the average truck length.

A standard truck with a capacity of up to 24.000 kg / 90 cbm is about 44.61 feet (13.60 meters) in length and to give an idea of the rest of its dimensions it is about 8.07 feet (2.46 m) in width and 8.694226 – 9.18 feet (2.65 – 2.80 m) tall.

A mega truck would have the same dimensions except that it should be taller at about 10.00 feet (3.05 m) and a capacity of up to 24.00 kg / 100 cbm.

A trailer truck is about 21.32 – 24.60 feet (6.50 m – 7.5 m) in length, 8.07 feet (2.46 m) width and 8.69 – 9.18 feet (2.65 m – 2.80 m) in height with a capacity of up to 24.00 kg / 90 cbm. Now a tandem would augment about 6.50 m + 7.5 m in length + 7.5 – 8 m with a capacity of up to 24.00 kg / 120 cbm.

And last but not least a small truck would go for about 6.20 m in length, 2.45 m width and 2.65 m – 2.80 m tall with 22.00 – 23.00 kg / 85cbm capacity.

But if you would a van can also be included in this category with a standard one going at an average of about 4.00 m in length, 1.80 m – 2.0 m in width and 1.8 m – 1.9 m tall.

Definitions:

What is cbm? CBM is cubic metre and it is the volume of a cube with edges one metre in length.

How Long Is Your Car? Here’s How To Find It

If you’d like to figure out how long, or how wide, your car is, here’s what you can do to find it out:

Measure yourself

If you have a long metal tape, all you need to do is to extend it from front to back of the vehicle. Do it by placing the tape on the even surface, making sure the end of the tape is as even as possible with the end of each bumper (the outer edge of it). Then, use these reference points to determine all measurements. For a detailed guide, use this resource.
Check out your vehicle spec

This is pretty self-explanatory. Every car comes with a manual where all dimensions of your vehicle should be listed. If you don’t have the manual, Google your car’s spec. When doing this, make sure you google your the exact model year, as dimensions of the earlier (or later) iterations of your car might differ from the one you own.
Use VIN Decoder

Another way to get your car information, including its length, is to retrieve it using your VIN (Vehicle’s Identification Number). To do this, you’re going to need a VIN Decoder. There are many of them available in the net and some, like the AutoZone VIN Decoder, are free to use. Get your VIN, paste it there and voila, you’re going to get your car’s length data, amongst other information.

This video may also be helpful:

Average Car Length – Conclusion

There you have it, your in-depth guide to the average length of cars. You need not go anywhere to make a sound decision or to invigorate your mind with additional, useful car knowledge, once again garagechief.com has got you covered!