4 Door Coupe Vs Sedan: What's The Big Difference?

The terminology of a coupe versus a sedan is definitive. Though they both are built as a three-box design and come with compartments designated for the engine bay, passengers, and trunk, and the roof is fixed unlike a convertible, both car categories are in a classification all their own. A coupe typically has two doors and is considered the sportier version of a car. Think of the BMW M2 or the Mercedes-Benz CLE Coupe. Meanwhile, a sedan has four doors and is more family-friendly, like a four-door Honda Civic, which can hold up to five people comfortably.

However, as new cars are constantly being made and upgraded, the line between the coupe and the sedan has started to blur due to coupes coming with a four-door vehicle option. There are still a few characteristics that make them stand apart from each other, but in all, there's one key component that makes the four-door coupe and the sedan wildly different.

The biggest difference between a four-door coupe and a sedan is the size of the vehicle. A coupe has less than 33 cubic feet of space while a sedan has more. In other words, it has nothing to do with the number of doors on the vehicle. Additionally, because of the limited space in the coupe, the fixed roof tends to be sloped all the way back to the trunk whereas a sedan has more headroom for its backseat passengers.

Although, there are some similarities between the four-door coupe and the sedan. Because of the former's two extra doors, naturally, the size of the entire vehicle had to grow, so you can find some that do resemble the same size as a sedan. Remember, the metric for a coupe versus a sedan is based on interior space, not the overall size of the car. Additionally, unlike the traditional two-door coupe which either wouldn't come with a backseat or with very limited room, the four-door coupe is made for there to be passengers, much like a sedan. In the end, though, it's about the style of a four-door vehicle and how much interior room you're looking for.