Shape Matters More Than Cubic Feet
Cargo capacity figures tell you how much space a car has, but not how useful that space actually is. A trunk can look generous on paper and still struggle to fit a stroller through a narrow opening. A high cargo floor makes loading heavy groceries harder, while an awkward shape leaves space you can't easily use. Some cars make loading and unloading almost effortless, while others turn a simple grocery run into a packing puzzle. Here are 10 cars that get cargo space right and 10 that make it harder than it needs to be.
1. Honda Fit
A full-size bike goes in upright with its front wheel still attached. The Magic Seat manages that by folding the rear bench flat into the floor with no cushion removal, leaving a subcompact with a load floor as level as a van's. Honda stopped selling the Fit here, so the trick lives on the used market now.
2. Honda Odyssey
The floor behind the Odyssey's rearmost seats drops into a deep well rather than stopping at a seat back. A week of luggage fits down there with all eight seats occupied.
3. Chrysler Pacifica
Stow 'n Go folds the second-row seats down into compartments beneath them. What you get is a flat cargo bay with nothing hauled out to the garage, and what you give up is some cushion thickness next to an Odyssey. Anybody moving furniture twice a year takes that deal.
4. Subaru Outback
Load a long box through the Outback's tailgate and the shape registers before the size does. The tailgate frames a wide rectangle with almost no wheel arch pushing into it. Crossbars come built into the rails, and the liftover sits low enough that a dog gets in unassisted.
5. Honda CR-V
The Honda CR-V makes loading groceries easy with a flat cargo floor and a wide rear opening. Bags sit upright without much fuss, and a lever in the cargo area folds the rear seats down for larger loads. The resulting space is nearly flat, making it easier to slide bulky items in without having to lift them over a raised edge.
6. Kia Telluride
The Kia Telluride has a third row that folds flat into the cargo floor, leaving plenty of room for larger loads. Even with all three rows in use, there's still enough space behind the rear seats for groceries or a few bags. The tall, square tailgate opening also makes it easier to load bulky items that might struggle to fit into other three-row SUVs.
7. Honda Ridgeline
The Honda Ridgeline's tailgate can swing open sideways or fold down like a conventional pickup tailgate, making it easier to reach cargo in the bed. Beneath the bed floor is a lockable, drainable storage compartment large enough to hold a cooler's worth of drinks and ice.
8. Rivian R1T
The Rivian R1T has a front trunk under the hood and a separate storage tunnel between the cab and the bed. The tunnel opens from either side of the truck and is long enough to hold golf clubs or camping gear. Both compartments provide extra storage without taking up any room in the pickup bed, so smaller items can stay secure while the bed handles larger loads.
9. Subaru Forester
Rectangles load better than volume figures suggest, and the Forester's opening is close to a perfect one. Boxy glass lets you see the corners while backing toward a loading dock. The load floor is low and flush to the sill.
10. Volvo V90
Wagons carry what crossovers carry while sitting low enough to load from a standing position. The V90's floor is long and the sides are vertical, and a grocery divider folds up out of the floor. Used prices stay reasonable because most buyers skip the body style.
Now, here's 10 that fight back.
1. Chevrolet Camaro
The Camaro's trunk opening is a mail slot, tall enough to take a laptop bag and not much more. Volume exists behind that aperture, though moving anything bulky through it means turning the object sideways and hoping. Rear visibility while parking compounds the whole business.
2. Jaguar F-Type
The Jaguar F-Type convertible has barely enough trunk space for a carry-on suitcase, and the coupe offers only a modest improvement. Packing for a weekend trip means choosing what to leave behind, since even a second bag can be difficult to fit.
3. Toyota C-HR
The Toyota C-HR sacrifices cargo space for its coupe-like styling, leaving it with a smaller trunk than many sedans. The sloping roof and steeply angled rear glass limit how much bulky luggage will fit, even when there's room on the floor. R
4. BMW X6
The BMW X6 trades much of the X5's cargo space for a sloping roofline. Tall items have to lie flat because the rear glass cuts into the upper part of the cargo area. Folding the rear seats creates plenty of room for longer loads, but anything bulky or upright becomes harder to fit.
5. Jeep Wrangler Two-Door
Loading a two-door Wrangler means swinging a gate with the spare tire bolted to it, then lifting over a high sill. The space behind the seats is short and square. Parking garages make that gate swing a problem, and the rear seat has to drop for anything past two duffel bags.
6. Nissan Z
The Nissan Z carries over the 370Z's cramped hatchback layout, including a structural brace that cuts across the cargo area. The bar makes it difficult to fit larger items, leaving the space better suited to a couple of small bags. Even golf clubs need to be positioned diagonally to fit.
7. Mazda MX-5
The Mazda MX-5 Miata has a tiny trunk with room for little more than a soft weekend bag. There's no pass-through to the cabin for longer items, and the small interior offers almost nowhere to put anything that doesn't fit in the back. A weekend trip for two is manageable, but only if both people pack light.
8. Mercedes G-Class
The G-Wagen's rear door hinges at the side, so clearance behind the truck has to exist before anything gets loaded. Inside, the room runs tall and narrow, shaped by a body design that predates most cargo thinking. Very little in there folds flat.
9. Toyota Prius Prime
Earlier Toyota Prius Prime models sacrificed cargo space to make room for the larger plug-in hybrid battery. The raised cargo floor left less room for luggage than in a standard Prius, even though the hatch opening stayed the same size. Suitcases that fit easily in the regular hybrid became harder to stack in the Prime, a difference that was especially noticeable when packing for a trip.
10. Volkswagen Tiguan
With the third row up, a compact three-row crossover leaves a space about as deep as a shopping bag. The Tiguan offered that row for years, and it explains why the class sells the thing as occasional seating. Folding it down returns a good cargo area.
Spurzem - Lothar Spurzem on Wikimedia
