The General Car Thread.

[NeoOasis]

I have a super mushy spot in my heart for the Mirage. It just looks cute to me. Plus, you can get it in PINK! That's the ambition we've been missing in the monochrome sea of rush hour!

West is super boring for car color choices. I'm quite proud of my pink Suzuki, and Japan does have have more than a few alternate choices. I never realized it, but green is less common than I remembered.

[Petrolheadia]

If you exclude used, and want to know the lowest tier new cars, it would be the Mitsubishi Mirage or the Nissan Versa, because they are so cheap (the cheapest new cars in the US market) and plus super easy financing. Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Chrysler dealers practically give away cars.

I have a super mushy spot in my heart for the Mirage. It just looks cute to me. Plus, you can get it in PINK! That's the ambition we've been missing in the monochrome sea of rush hour!

Small, basic cars are the only things pink looks decent on.

Maybe because they are so mundane that you don't look at them long enough to contemplate the color.
The Mirage certainly is - it looks like some sort of generic vector graphic that would denote the "economy" section in a rental's booklet or the "small cars" section in a car buyer's guide.

Though the biggest problem with the Mirage is that it's likely the worst-handling car sold in developed countries - according to reviews, the steering doesn't even center itself.

[Aillyria]

I have a super mushy spot in my heart for the Mirage. It just looks cute to me. Plus, you can get it in PINK! That's the ambition we've been missing in the monochrome sea of rush hour!

Small, basic cars are the only things pink looks decent on.

Maybe because they are so mundane that you don't look at them long enough to contemplate the color.
The Mirage certainly is - it looks like some sort of generic vector graphic that would denote the "economy" section in a rental's booklet or the "small cars" section in a car buyer's guide)

Nothing is cuter than a kei car!!!


So wish I could nab a Cappuccino.......

[Cannot think of a name]

I have a super mushy spot in my heart for the Mirage. It just looks cute to me. Plus, you can get it in PINK! That's the ambition we've been missing in the monochrome sea of rush hour!

Small, basic cars are the only things pink looks decent on.

Maybe because they are so mundane that you don't look at them long enough to contemplate the color.

I don't know, a pink cadillac got it's own song.

[Petrolheadia]

Small, basic cars are the only things pink looks decent on.

Maybe because they are so mundane that you don't look at them long enough to contemplate the color.
The Mirage certainly is - it looks like some sort of generic vector graphic that would denote the "economy" section in a rental's booklet or the "small cars" section in a car buyer's guide)

Nothing is cuter more overrated than a kei car!!!

Fixed it for ya.

[Petrolheadia]

When a simply well-maintained classic does not cut it...

[Elwher]

When a simply well-maintained classic does not cut it...

One major error in the description - head turner should have read stomach turner.

[Aillyria]

Nothing is cuter more overrated than a kei car!!!

Fixed it for ya.

I don't see how they're overrated, I mean....they are what they are, little affordable cars. I just find them interesting. I think they're cute, especially the sporty ones like the Cappuccino, AZ-1, Beat...and I'd like to own one. I like the way 3 cyl engines sound too!

[Petrolheadia]

Fixed it for ya.

I don't see how they're overrated, I mean....they are what they are, little affordable cars. I just find them interesting. I think they're cute, especially the sporty ones like the Cappuccino, AZ-1, Beat...and I'd like to own one. I like the way 3 cyl engines sound too!

Underpowered, limited in space, a car isn't meant to look, but to work.

[Auzkhia]

When a simply well-maintained classic does not cut it...

That's a Donk. At least it's not stanced. But that tends to happen to BMWs not Olds or Caddys.

I don't see how they're overrated, I mean....they are what they are, little affordable cars. I just find them interesting. I think they're cute, especially the sporty ones like the Cappuccino, AZ-1, Beat...and I'd like to own one. I like the way 3 cyl engines sound too!

Underpowered, limited in space, a car isn't meant to look, but to work.

Works just fine in the densely packed cities of Japan, but Japanophiles/weebs certainly hyped them up, but a lot of people like what they don't or can't have.

[Petrolheadia]

Imagine it's 1982. You are a 35-year-old fertilizer factory worker from Tennessee with 4 kids, and your beater truck for hauling some assorted stuff, a '61 Falcon Ranchero, is pretty much dead. You're looking for another cheap truck that would be cheap to run and good for transporting DIY stuff. The options in your budget are:
- 1967 250 ci manual Chevrolet El Camino,
- 1964 292 ci manual Ford F-100,
- 1966 241 ci manual International Harvester C-900,

Which one would you choose?

I'd say the El Camino is the best choice - bigger than the Falcon, but still decently cheap to run, and parts from other GM cars can be easily found in a junkyard.

[NeoOasis]

Underpowered, limited in space, a car isn't meant to look, but to work.

Works just fine in the densely packed cities of Japan, but Japanophiles/weebs certainly hyped them up, but a lot of people like what they don't or can't have.

I would hardly say they are underpowered or limited in space.

While they do have sizing restrictions, kei cars are actually fairly efficient in space use. Even my Cervo which falls on the smaller end of the spectrum has enough to fit 4 foreigners without much issue other than a notable hit on performance. The size has been a huge boon on smaller side streets where anything larger would be up crap creek.

As for underpowered... do you really need more than 60 horsepower in a car that only weights 800 kilos? My car has no issue getting up to the nation speed limit of 100 kph, and could probably do 130 easily enough. The power is most certainly adequate, and honestly I wouldn't be too worried about taking it on US highways... sure you won't be able to do much more than the speed limit, but I'd say 75 mph is plenty for most use cases. (Also gotta love that 3 cylinder growl at full throttle.)

By and large, I've found the kei-sized car/truck to be the ultimate answer to car ownership in Japan. Price of ownership is radically lower than a larger car. Fuel economy is pretty great, toll roads get a discount, inspections get a discount, car tax gets a discount, and recycle tax is much lower as well.

[Costa Fierro]

Works just fine in the densely packed cities of Japan, but Japanophiles/weebs certainly hyped them up, but a lot of people like what they don't or can't have.

It's probably why the R32 Skyline seems to be the halo car of the American tuner scene.

[Auzkhia]

Works just fine in the densely packed cities of Japan, but Japanophiles/weebs certainly hyped them up, but a lot of people like what they don't or can't have.

It's probably why the R32 Skyline seems to be the halo car of the American tuner scene.

That and playing Gran Turismo and watching The Fast and The Furious helped as well. Next year the R33 will be legal in the states, and many Infiniti G37 bros will tell you it's basically Skyline GT-R, but do they know that regular Skylines exist, it's not just the GT-R.

[Petrolheadia]

Works just fine in the densely packed cities of Japan, but Japanophiles/weebs certainly hyped them up, but a lot of people like what they don't or can't have.

I would hardly say they are underpowered or limited in space.

While they do have sizing restrictions, kei cars are actually fairly efficient in space use. Even my Cervo which falls on the smaller end of the spectrum has enough to fit 4 foreigners without much issue other than a notable hit on performance. The size has been a huge boon on smaller side streets where anything larger would be up crap creek.

As for underpowered... do you really need more than 60 horsepower in a car that only weights 800 kilos? My car has no issue getting up to the nation speed limit of 100 kph, and could probably do 130 easily enough. The power is most certainly adequate, and honestly I wouldn't be too worried about taking it on US highways... sure you won't be able to do much more than the speed limit, but I'd say 75 mph is plenty for most use cases. (Also gotta love that 3 cylinder growl at full throttle.)

By and large, I've found the kei-sized car/truck to be the ultimate answer to car ownership in Japan. Price of ownership is radically lower than a larger car. Fuel economy is pretty great, toll roads get a discount, inspections get a discount, car tax gets a discount, and recycle tax is much lower as well.

1. We are debating the kei car's own merits,,not the financial benefits given by the Japanese government.

2. Yes, I feel like I do need more than 60 HP in an 800 kg car, considering a 90 HP 1500 kg car feels a bit inadequate to me.

3. 75 mph is laughing matter. Remember, an average European car,,like a VW Golf or Opel Astra, still has some 50 mph after that in its sleeve, and an average American car (Camry, Accord) has even more.

Plus, the actual highway speed in the US is often 80-90 MPH.

[NeoOasis]

We are debating the kei car's own merits,,not the financial benefits given by the Japanese government.

2. Yes, I feel like I do need more than 60 HP in an 800 kg car, considering a 90 HP 1500 kg car feels a bit inadequate to me.

3. 75 mph is laughing matter. Remember, an average European car,,like a VW Golf or Opel Astra, still has some 50 mph after that in its sleeve, and an average American car (Camry, Accord) has even more.

Plus, the actual highway speed in the US is often 80-90 MPH.

1. One of the merits of a kei car IS the financial benefits given by the Japanese government. That is the specific reason kei cars exist.

2. Matter of opinion. I'd recommend taking it easy. 60 horsepower in my car is perfectly adequate to get me to extra legal speeds in a fairly quick manner. Still, underpowered or not, my car has no issues keeping up with big city traffic.

3. Actual US highway speeds are 75 mph at the most. Anything over is flat out illegal unless you live in a lucky place where it's 80. I know, I lived there. Highways in Alabama were 70mph at most, New Mexico tapped out at 75. Cops with speed cameras are a thing, and practically speaking no one really drives that dramatically over the speed limit.

Let's not forget that anything over 120 kph in Japan is laughable and pointless. Speed limits on the toll roads are max 100 from what I've seen, and while people do enjoy running over that, they hardly achieve autobahn speeds.

[Cannot think of a name]

Watching Mindhunter on Netflix and thinking what it must of been like to be the picture car coordinator on that, trying to find all those fleet cars from 1977 in like new condition.

[Petrolheadia]

We are debating the kei car's own merits,,not the financial benefits given by the Japanese government.

2. Yes, I feel like I do need more than 60 HP in an 800 kg car, considering a 90 HP 1500 kg car feels a bit inadequate to me.

3. 75 mph is laughing matter. Remember, an average European car,,like a VW Golf or Opel Astra, still has some 50 mph after that in its sleeve, and an average American car (Camry, Accord) has even more.

Plus, the actual highway speed in the US is often 80-90 MPH.

1. One of the merits of a kei car IS the financial benefits given by the Japanese government. That is the specific reason kei cars exist.

2. Matter of opinion. I'd recommend taking it easy. 60 horsepower in my car is perfectly adequate to get me to extra legal speeds in a fairly quick manner. Still, underpowered or not, my car has no issues keeping up with big city traffic.

3. Actual US highway speeds are 75 mph at the most. Anything over is flat out illegal unless you live in a lucky place where it's 80. I know, I lived there. Highways in Alabama were 70mph at most, New Mexico tapped out at 75. Cops with speed cameras are a thing, and practically speaking no one really drives that dramatically over the speed limit.

Let's not forget that anything over 120 kph in Japan is laughable and pointless. Speed limits on the toll roads are max 100 from what I've seen, and while people do enjoy running over that, they hardly achieve autobahn speeds.

1. and 2nd paragraph of 3. are useless to me. Not in Japan, not going there.

2. and 3. Both in the US (e.g. Florida has some quick highways) and in Europe you're going 70-90 MPH.
Recently was on a trip in a 90 HP Corolla on a 140 KPH (87 MPH) highway, and it had not enough power.

Plus, I don't care about Japan's laws - this is an argument about kei cars in the typical country with a free car market, not one with low highway speeds and a dirigiste approach to cars.

[Auzkhia]

Anything can be a daily driver.... if you're brave enough.

[East Fredonia]

I have a super mushy spot in my heart for the Mirage. It just looks cute to me. Plus, you can get it in PINK! That's the ambition we've been missing in the monochrome sea of rush hour!

Small, basic cars are the only things pink looks decent on.

u wot m8

[Petrolheadia]

Small, basic cars are the only things pink looks decent on.

u wot m8

My eyes...

[Auzkhia]

Small, basic cars are the only things pink looks decent on.

u wot m8

WINGA DINGA DINGA DINGA

[Vassenor]

u wot m8

WINGA DINGA DINGA DINGA

>The uploader has not made this video available in your country.

[Auzkhia]

WINGA DINGA DINGA DINGA

>The uploader has not made this video available in your country.

That happened to me when I was in Germany.

It's some rockabilly song called "Rock this town", which is the anthem of American Boomer Classic Car Culture.

[Petrolheadia]

>The uploader has not made this video available in your country.

That happened to me when I was in Germany.

It's some rockabilly song called "Rock this town", which is the anthem of American Boomer Classic Car Culture.

I'm more into guitar-driven rock (Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, Joe Walsh, Black Sabbath, Billy Squier, Jimi Hendrix) and 70s coupes (Z-Cars, F-Bodies, Monte Carlo, Eldorado, XJS, Corvette).