So is it bad enough for an experienced driver to avoid this?
well it's certainly not a make or break feature .. I don't think so, but for me, as i said, given my height and my general dislike for swoopy windshields that come too close to my head coupled with low rooflines.. it would be a significant put off.
It depends on peoples tastes and also of course on their driving style and experience/skill level. For me, I currently drive a 2000 Honda City Type II, a low car, but with excellent ergonomics, handling, refinement and of course, a sweet sweet hydraulic power steering that still gives you the all important feel of the road! beautifully weighted. So what i also love about the car is that the design, albeit old school, was still sleek .. so the glass area and the visibility is simply awesome without being extremely raked as todays design language follows. I also tend to drive a lot on the "feel" which means i rely a lot more on my judgement and peripheral alertness than actual visual confirmation of clearances. Given my height, while my knees tend to bend, the space is enough with the seat taken a couple of notches back but not all the way and still the A-pillar does not intrude or cause any issues, nor does the 2-half finger space to the roof when seated.
Yet when i step into my other family car which is the Honda ZX, i practically hate the swoop coming right across my head approx 45 degress from center swooping down across my line of sight. Why? Because the ZX has the cab-forward design. One can easily tell this by the amount the firewall and steering bay comes into the cabin below the lower sill of the windshield. The swoop and A pillar comes quite annoyingly past my head and POV at the 45 deg angle
So how does all this relate to driving style and skill? Well people have different driving styles... some rely on judgement and peripheral confidence much more while some prefer to drive a much more pragmatic field all clear method. Ironically, an intruding thick A-pillar is an issue for both these styles, simply because the blind spot obstructs or causes a judgement inclined driver to "Second guess" "Double check" much more than he would otherwise. Similarly for those who are more visually all clear pragmatic drivers will also take a couple of seconds longer working around the obstructive area of the pillar and calculating turns etc accordingly.
At slow speeds usually this isn't a problem, but as speeds increase the reaction times required to respond to sudden changes drastically reduces, this is where it becomes a much greater concern to have a thick A pillar obstructing your need for a quick glance to verify you're not being blindsided by someone approaching or overtaking
you
I just think that things that directly affect what you'll be doing most in a car -- that is driving it! -- should be given much more thought and weightage than for other lesser important criteria. I've known people who've bought cars thinking they'd adapt to it... but some eventually never get around to doing it and have sold their cars later. So these things are best thought out in a test drive --- and preferably not one where the sales guy accompanies you and constantly blabbers to you about features and schemes etc making the sales pitch while you drive -- because that takes your mind away from building a comprehensive "experience" snapshot in your head. Ask him to shut up politely and just drive .. if possible in a mix of conditions... low speed gear to gear traffic... and a short medium/high speed run. In fact... DEFINITELY a High speed run... why this too??? Because all electronic power steering these days are notorious for their vague feedback at higher speeds if not a deadpan feel even at low/medium speeds. Since they are often dynamically weighted/tuned to respond to speed levels... you might find that what feels great in the city at low and medium speeds... feels downright scary at high speeds. Either because the steering is mushy and vague with too much cutout... or because it stiffens up to an extent that it over enhances driver input resulting in a cat-on-hot-tin-roof reactions!
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buying it is one thing, are you willing to sell your kidneys and liver to maintain a ford? I gave up after my experiences with an ikon, beautiful car to drive, was cheaper buying another car against maintaining this old lady.
the ikon's 1.6 was one frizzy engine. what it made up for in driving fun and off the marks performance, it lost in fuel efficiency for sure. Mechanically though i don't recall it being heavy to maintain? Ford's early days for parts were expensive though, as were their crappy after market availability and half hearted service quality. Though i still believe NOTHING beats Honda's insane part prices aftermarket thanks to their vice like grip on the market.