You might think that all Kei-cars are quirky, modern incarnations of your favorite classic small cars, but take a look at this Suzuki to see the reality of what people actually drive. They may look cool and come in crazy shapes and colors, but actually living with one is a pain for any person who really enjoys driving. Japanese VIN: PP11000580 The Honda Beat is simply one of the most fun cars on the planet.
Any sort of turn will require you to yank the wheel to next Thursday for even the smallest degree of motion.
And I mean bad to the point that you almost cannot carry anything AND seat four people. Our beloved Suzuki Alto is one of the safest ones and is actually exported to the UK where the Euro NCAP gave it a rating of three stars out of five, legs and torso being the most at risk for the driver, along with “marginal whiplash protection.” Doesn’t that sound enticing, car-shopper?
You wouldn’t have space in your refrigerator anyway. The very limited trunk also often pushes manufacturers to add more storage space up near the roof, making the whole thing even more prone to terrible body roll.
This graph shows the power and torque curves of a naturally-aspirated VetechBusa and a Mk1 Mini Cooper S. Vetech Product Design & Development Ltd The only reason they are still around is because they are less taxed by the Japanese government. There are plenty of driving enthusiasts in Japan, but when you live in a culture of practicality and efficiency, the humble kei car is a perfect embodiment of that mentality. 100% Legally Imported JDM 1992 Nissan Skyline GTR R32 with RB26DET Engine for Sale in the USA. Bonsai Rides: Canadian RHD & JDM Import Vehicles, 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Wagon GTA, 1997 Toyota Hilux double cab truck LN108 turbo diesel, 2005 Honda CR-V RD7 4WD heated leather interior. This website uses cookies to give you the best experience. If your luggage flies around, so will you in this perfect crude caricature of what a car seat is. Although designed around the Mini, the VetechBusa is compact, lightweight and powerful and as such is suitable for fitting
“Cute.” “Awesome.” “Practical.” “So tiny!” These are the things I hear regularly when people describe Kei-cars, the minicars sold almost exclusively in Japan. For example, people often mention the Honda NSX’s tiny luggage space of “only” 154 liters (about 5.4 cubic feet.) Ninety-five percent of new cars sold in Japan are now automatics (an even higher proportion than in the United States) and four-door Kei-cars with manual gearboxes barely exist anymore. Their funky designs, so different from what people outside of the country are used to, generate lots of love and envy among gearheads around the globe. All this legroom in the back comes at a very simple cost: The trunk space of a Kei is truly terrible. Or not being horribly maimed in a crash. Agree by clicking the 'Accept' button. They don’t speed, they don’t hang out in the left lane, they’ll observe every road sign to the letter, etc. It is extremely quick and nimble, takes 25L of fuel from bone dry and barly sips gas no matter how much fun you are having driving it!! They want an appliance to get them from their home to the train station, or maybe work if they’re fortunate enough to live nearby, and the kei car fills that role in spades. Outsiders will often praise the apparent ingenuity of the designers who manage to offer lots of legroom, even in the back.
It corners like a sport-bike too!
This Cappuccino is a pleasure to drive! Here’s why most of them suck so badly. Score one for safety! For me to demonstrate how awful most of these cars really are, I’ll use one of the most standard, banal, common Kei-cars you can find in Japan today: a 2013 Suzuki Alto.
Also, not only are most Kei-cars stuck with fun-sucking automatics, but they are often gifted by a very special kind of slushbox tragedy. The few car enthusiasts I met in Japan all drove kei cars during the week, and then had some special car for the weekend, often stored in a separate garage somewhere around town. Now in addition to the high quality construction, simple install, improved cooling and stylish looks, the GPP Civic Intercooler kits for the '16-'20 Sport / Si and Type-R … Terrible, actually. Post a reply. (In all fairness, the Indian version has no airbag either, which certainly did not help with the test.). Regular Kei-cars must also fit four people “comfortably.” As you will soon learn, “comfortable” is a relative state of being.
16 posts • Page 1 of 1. You completely missed the cultural aspect of kei cars though.
If you make shitty cars, people drive less, and that means less pollution. All new Kei-cars now come with a GPS from factory (it works as a TV and DVD player too, because distracted driving is perfectly fine in Japan, as long as it does not involve a cell phone) which is a fairly important accessory for a country with absolutely no logic whatsoever when it comes to addresses. The compact and lightweight unit includes Suzuki's gearbox with added reverse gear and limited slip differential, and fits Since kei car manufacturers are forced to work with inherently unstable short wheelbases, this is the kind of compromise they have to make to stay secure at speed. BuxtonDerbyshire VETECHBUSA. Make sure to fill up the whole space as tightly as possible though, or the body roll will have anything not perfectly secured fly all over the place, no matter how careful and slow you are taking corners. Moderator: Steering Group. Let this information sink in for a moment: you get 64 HP, terrible body roll with no way to hold yourself in your seat, and the nimbleness of a red fish out of his aquarium. I do strongly recommend the adjustable side mirrors though. Keep in mind, this is one of the safest Kei-cars on the market today, with Kei-trucks being the absolute worst and Kei-vans often being close second. For a family car. EXEDY (Japan) was founded in 1923 and its clutch manufacturing business and prominent brand name Daikin Clutch are known throughout the world for supplying quality powertrain products. No.
The whole logic behind that was to make the car stable at speed in spite of the very short wheelbase.
This Cappuccino is a pleasure to drive!
Luckily, the cars are light and brakes are usually decent. Some more expensive Kei-cars are better equipped, but the driving experience stays the same and prices climb very quickly. Take the bullet train, which is faster than any car anyway, Top Gear GTR race aside. The Suzuki Alto has 129 liters, or about 4.5 cubic feet. And this is by design. Getting the engine to react once you’ve stepped on the gas and start accelerating takes years, seemingly. Re: suzuki cappuccino ในไทยมีใครใช้รึเปล่าครับ « Reply #23 on: February 12, 2006, 01:04:33 pm » คันนี้แหละของพี่ติ๊ก จำ ทบ.สลับกับอีกคันอะ No restraint to hold you in place, cheap fabric to slide over it. Staden Lane Business Park
in a range of other vehicles, either front or mid-engined, for example, the Lotus Elise, MGF or component cars. 1992 Honda CRX Del Sol Si R TransTop JDM Legal Import. This 2005 Lotus Elise is for sale on eBay in Raleigh, North Carolina for $40,000 or will consider Porsche 911 trades. “Kei” comes from “Keijidosha”, the Japanese for “light automobile.” They were introduced in postwar Japan, aimed at the struggling masses that couldn’t afford a proper car.
But these are a tiny fraction of models in the Kei world; the vast majority suck, plain and simple. These vehicles have some strict limitations to be considered a Kei: the engine must be 660cc or smaller, they cannot produce more than 64 horsepower, they can only seat four people maximum, and dimensions are also limited to about 11.2 feet long, 4.85 feet wide and 6.5 feet tall. SOLD. Who in their right mind would be in the market for a family car and choose something like that? Again, it’s easy to romanticize kei cars as these idealized classic small fun cars still in production in the bizarro land of Japan, but the reality doesn’t match up.
Take, for example, the gearboxes. In 2014, its Indian rebranded version, the Maruti Alto 800, was also deemed unsafe and failed to pass pretty much any structural integrity tests at higher speeds . It is extremely quick and nimble, takes 25L of fuel from bone dry and barly sips gas no matter how much fun you are having driving it!! Suzuki Cappuccino Kei Sports ... Power windows, 3 panel hard top that stowes in custom leather cases in the trunk, rear defroster and more. And a freaking CVT transmission.
And when you keep in mind that regular cars, including hybrids and electrics, can pollute less than these little crapcans, it makes their existence absolutely useless in today’s world.
Get ready to keep a hand on that wheel at all times.
EXEDY Globalparts Corporation (USA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the EXEDY Corporation of Japan. Kei cars are perfect for the small maze-like streets around town, where they fit and can park better than any other type of car. 1992 Suzuki Cappuccino EA11-R RHD JDM TURBO Legally Imported Kei Car. Honda’s Beat and the new S660, the Suzuki Cappuccino, the Mazda AZ-1 or the Suzuki Alto RS-R and the new Alto Turbo RS Works are awesome cars to drive and own. He likes anything on four wheels, granted that it’s not a soulless econobox.