Small Cars "Almost Cheaper Than Walking"

Well you know it would just make too much sense to do this. And how would the big car companies and oil companies make money? Sarcasm aside, I have wondered for quite sometime why the first car I ever drove got 42 mpg, we took long road trips in it with 4 people and never had an issue. (Ford Fiesta) and now I can't even find a car by a major manufacturer that gets that kind of mileage.

we need a slow car movement

We already have one, albeit unintentionally. It's called congestion.

Americans have a completely different concept of personal space. I'm sure many people would feel like they were violated if they had to share one of those things.

Freud would have gone beserk if he could see the Hummer. For too long, we've just been obsessed with making our stuff bigger. We've never been a country for humilty. Well, it's time that changed. If we could put laws restricting wasteful vehichles, I would support it in a second. I'm sure some people will say, "I'm American! I have the freedom to drive whatever I want!" Hey, buddy, I'm not sure that's what Jefferson and Washington had in mind.

"Slow car movement" - I love it!

The microcars were a result of post-war poverty as much as anything else. While in the 1950s the US was building giant highways and giant cars, middle-class people in Europe were broke. They rode in small cars, they rode their bicycles to work, and now they have a bike culture and still drive smaller cars than here in the States.

I would so drive one to work!

We actually have a slow car program in DC called the pace car program - people sign up to go the speed limit (25 on most roads, 30 on some of the larger roads) and get a sign to put in their window. I've also seen a lot of "slow down save gas" stickers around.

Smartcars will be available for purchase in the US for 2008 - google smart car.

The real mini was like half the car the 'current' one is - uber minimalist and still cooler to look at than the 'current' one . Those cars look like the Smart cars of today. The thing is with the whole safety idea. I am certain a car could be made with a carbon fiber body just strong enough to keep the elements out and get over 100 mpg. But the minute someone gets killed in one- foggettaboutit!
I remember seeing a 1970 or 72 Honda Civic in that medium blue metallic. It had an air coold Honda 750cc motorcycle engine in it. Really cool. I wonder what mileage it got. My 91 Honda Nighthawk 750 gives me about 45 - 50 mpg.

Good Luck!

vsk

I'd definitely buy one to supplement my motor scooter. The biggest problem I have isn't keeping up with traffic, since my commute is under 6 miles on surface streets, it's finding parking when I go home. An electric car wouldn't work for me, since I can't be guaranteed of a parking spot near my house, but one of these would be great.

I can't tell you how many times I've down my street only to find a parking spot too small for a regular car but so big that it eliminates a full-size parking spot. Having one of these and being able to pull in perpendicular to the sidewalk would be phenomenal

Hate to say this, but if ya "dig" those microcars, then your going to love to Smart Car when it debuts in the states.

Check out http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tourindex.html

Messerschmitt made some cool looking micro cars.

Very very cool!!!

I love it! I don't know that I could fit my family into one of those (2 adults, 2 carseat age kids), but for my husband at work I can absolutely see it!

What I can't understand is why we went backwards from this? Here we found an uber-efficient vehicle and somehow in the past 50 years we have steered toward enormous, wasteful SUV's? The smart cars, hybrids, electric cars and other green cars have only started gaining popularity in the past few years! Hopefully now that we are seeing the effects of global warming this time, these cars will stick around.

On a side note, this is the type of car Steve Erkel drove in Family Matters.

If there were smaller, slower cars in Los Angeles, I'd actually ride my bike to work! It would be much less intimidating to be on the road with micro cars and actual compacts than with Denalis, Hummers, Escalades and all the other hunks of steel that could render me non-existent in a split second. A run-in with a microcar would hurt and probably do some damage, but they also wouldn't be hogging up the entire lane, leaving breathing room (both literally and figuratively) for all!

Wonder why you can't buy an Isetta now? Just imagine the results of the federally mandated frontal crash test.

You've heard this before, but microcars, known as kei jidosha, currently account for over 30% of the Japanese domestic market thanks to government regulation and incentives. They aren't marketed outside of Japan much except with larger engines, and they're all right-hand drive.

Frustratingly for those in North America, the Honda Fit is offered in the rest of the world with a 1.3L iDSI engine that gets the same mileage as most kei jidosha (and about the same as a prius), but here we get a muscle version with a 1.5L VTEC and merely typical fuel efficiency. This was, apparently, the result of local marketing research.

You've heard this before, but microcars, known as kei jidosha, currently account for over 30% of the Japanese domestic market thanks to government regulation and incentives. They aren't marketed outside of Japan much except with larger engines, and they're all right-hand drive.

Frustratingly for those in North America, the Honda Fit is offered in the rest of the world with a 1.3L iDSI engine that gets the same mileage as most kei jidosha (and about the same as a prius), but here we get a muscle version with a 1.5L VTEC and merely typical fuel efficiency. This was, apparently, the result of local marketing research.

The winds are shifting quickly.

The majority of people I know wouldn't be caught dead in an American Megacar sales lot.

Even my muscle-car loving brother says he'll never go back to gas guzzlers; he's still a gear-head, but he's all about mileage improvment modifications now.

But what's speed got to do with it? Small cars don't handle worse (better, if anything) and it's a myth that they can't keep up in traffic. Have you seen the crash tests for the Smart cars? Road speeds have not increased significantly since the 60's but handling and braking mechanics sure have!

Trying to make it sound like we would need to slow down to make small, efficient cars parctical is doing a dis-service to the breed.

It's the slow-moving, poor-handling tanks like the Hummer that we need off the roads, not efficient, zippy little cars! My freinds Yaris commutes at 120kph just fine; a Hummer at that speed is a hazzard!

PS. If you meant to talk about pedestrian and bicycle zones, I agree - we need more restricted speed and traffic districts!

Maybe part of the problem is our attitude to risk, in that car makers have improved safety so much that these cars seem a step back. Back in the 50's they hadn't experienced airbags, ABS, crumple zones etc. and many europeans had just been through a war, so the risk of driving a small car would seem minimal.

There's no real upper limit to how big a car we can drive - if they can make it manouverable and accelerate quickly it will feel normal. The latest Land Rover Discovery is nearly 3 tons, I wonder if they could make a 5 ton car that was an acceptable daily driver?

The biggest reason for the "backwards" jump in fuel economy has less to do with the size and weight of the current vehicles, and way way more to do with federally and state mandated emissions standards.

The more smog equipment you put on the engine to make the exhaust "cleaner", the less power you get out of the engine (up to 40% less in some designs).

If you took one of those old microcar's 40hp engines and bolted on all the smog equipment to make it legal in a state like California, the engine would probably no longer have enough power to even propel the vehicle with a passenger in it.

So that's a neat little environmental catch-22. To make the exhaust "Cleaner", you need a more powerful engine to burn more gas.

Cleaner skies, more gas consumed though.

Light motorcycles with 1/8 liter engines have 80mpg, top off at 90mph, and look good, still, there's not so much on the roads. (in France, the CBR 125 R costs 3K€, must be less in the US.

"Maybe part of the problem is our attitude to risk, in that car makers have improved safety so much that these cars seem a step back. Back in the 50's they hadn't experienced airbags, ABS, crumple zones etc. and many europeans had just been through a war, so the risk of driving a small car would seem minimal."

This is so true. We have it so good now that we need to make up new things to blame our issues on. We worry about what others will think of our choices and how they make us feel, and they were concerned about eating and sleeping indoors.
I must stop typing now as my fingers are feeling the stress and I must lay down for a while. ;-D

You do realize that SUV's etc are actually less safe than your standard big car? Both for others on the road, and for those who are driving them.

That was a very interesting post about how the Honda Fit in Japan has a prius-like fuel efficiency and the same Honda Fit marketed in the U.S. has a really sucky standard fuel efficiency -- a different engine! A story should be done, letters to the editor at least, if it were front page then more people would get upset enough to write their elected officials here in the U.S.

At any rate, you CAN buy the rough equivalent of the "Isetta" which was described in the story which this blog is attached to, without spending over 20,000 for a "SmartCar." Take a good hard look at the eVillager and eCommuter at http://www.evwholesalers.com/i-ec5.html -- The EV Wholesalers people are selling these for approximately (U.S.) $8000. I recently e-mailed their management, and they are about to come out with a new version that will go 45 mph instead of 40 mph which is what their current product is designed to do (most similar vehicles that are rated for 45, can be made to go 50 to 52 without any engine modifications). These things go between 60 and 80 miles without a charge, depending on what model you buy. For many people this is a workable solution.

The body shape of the eVillager and eCommuter is similar in certain respects to the "Isetta" of yesteryear. If you know someone that works in a bodyshop, or if you understand how to work fiberglass, you could probably create a shell for an eVillager that would replicate the look of an "Isetta."

scientifically true speed of mind is in conjunction with the speed (dangerous and therefor viod) of autos -hence true mind speed is connected with only safer slower vehciles.
Praise God Almighty

There is an vehicle that may well be perceived as a next-generation Isetta. It was showcased at the Detroit Auto Show. This three-seater is expected to be safer, more fuel-efficient, more practical as well as more comfortable than that little Smart ForTwo car. Arguably, better looking too.

If we had a slow car movement, we would also need an understanding employer movement. Because at 30mph a 30minute commute turns into an hour and then some commute and as my boss starts firing people after they are 5 minutes late.

LARRY SAID: "If we had a slow car movement, we would also need an understanding employer movement. Because at 30mph a 30minute commute turns into an hour and then some commute and as my boss starts firing people after they are 5 minutes late."

Hate to point out the obvious but it would be YOUR responsibility to leave your house 30 minutes earlier... then you would be on time!

If you are 5 minutes late for work, then you are 10 minutes late. You should b to work, at your desk and WORKING at the prescribed time, not hanging in the parking lot talking to your buddies. What is it about Americans that makes them think it is OK to get paid for time they are nt working???

Whatever we do let's not make this a gov't mandated set of changes. I remember as a kid living in fear of a cop behind every bush. What started as a way to save gas developed (at least around here) a form of gov't taxation - troopers looking for another person exceeding 55 mph. Let the high price of fuel change people's habits. It's doing a great job and we might have higher prices in the near future to speed the process along.

I hate paying the price of fuel but I like the side effects (fewer cars, slower speeds, lower acceleration away from lights).

What needs to be addressed in many communities (and won't around here due to gov't budget constraints caused by high fuel prices and the "Wal-mart effect") are safe places to ride bicycles. I can ride on the sidewalks in town but the are not smooth - the trip turns into a series of lumps and curbs. Better to have a bike lane or better yet - a bike lane that cuts right down the center of town (sort of a bicycle bypass) allowing people to connect easier with neighborhoods and shopping areas.

If your boss fires you for being 5 minutes late he is not very bright. I ran the tech department at a software firm. We had a job to do and I pushed for performance, but I never would have been such a jack a**.
Get a SLOW JOB!

If any of you can remember back to the '70's, Honda' first entry into the U.S. market was with their AN600 2+2 passenger car. While it "only" had a 600cc air cooled twin cylinder engine, and "only" got great gas mileage, it was a bit of an animal in that it had great acceleration and had no problem doing 70+ on the freeway. Unfortunately, Honda let it grow up to be the Civic.....

There are plenty of them (600cc cars) out there, with air conditioning, turbochargers, great sound systems, and performance ranging from good to spectacular - but they won't pass Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards nor marketing research studies. So, they stay in Japan.

So much for the X-Prize Automotive challenge - it isn't about being able to build the car that achives the performance goals - could do that with the next shipment from Japan - it's about passing Federal Regs....