I think it's almost exclusively a style thing for most cars. Big wheels look nicer on the clay styling bucks and concept cars. Most cars in the US come with standard 16 or 17 inch tires anymore, even smaller (for us) cars like the Civic or Focus.
Aside from ride quality, one bad side effect that large wheels/tires have on performance is mud or snow traction. I've lived my entire life in snowy places, and the narrower tires found on cars from the 80s/90s do a much better job of cutting through snow and gripping whereas the fatter rubber you see today is more likely to spin uselessly.
Glad you're OK. That car is definitely a mess. You and I are on the same car wavelength - I hope to own an Elise or M3 at some point, with the major difference being I'm years away from affording either. How did you like your Lotus?P.S. Didn't you write off a Jag a few years ago? So far I've only totaled one car myself, but I've plenty of time to increase that tally...
When lucky enough to be driving next to a hill, tall bank or in a heavily forested area (and in warm weather), I like to open all the windows and drop a gear sometimes to amplify the engine noise. My Subie is pretty buzzy though, you really need 6 or more cylinders in most cases to get a nice note.
I've done a few 2500-mile drives in my Forester, and countless 500-800 one-day trips. After a few hours the hum of that big 4-cylinder does get a bit incessant (the Forester is not a quiet car when cruising at 75mph on a highway crossing the Great Plains). On my last long trip I listened to a 20-some hour audio book version of Crime and Punishment. It wasn't much better than the engine.
Very possible, though I'll bet internal combustion engines will cling on in certain niche market for a very long time to come. But in a couple hundred years, people will look upon the gasoline auto engine the same way we look at early Boulton & Watt steam engines today.
