Kei cars: Did you ever like them?

[C-ZETA]

Did you lot ever like kei cars, and do you think that there should be more? And what do you think the next kei car should be?

Personally, I really enjoy these little compacts. All I need now...is for a European company to produce one. I've seen many great kei cars throughout, the Autozam AZ-1, Daihatsu Copen and Mira/Cuore, the Honda Today, the Pajero Mini and the i...the list goes on.

Also, just for kicks: I think the next kei car that Suzuki should produce should be called the Espresso, in reference to the Cappuccino, and have a 'Double' Espresso version!

 

[homeforsummer]

I'm a huge fan of Kei cars, especially the sports car variants that many of the manufacturers produced a while back - such as the Beat, AZ-1 and Cappuccino you mentioned. It's unfortunate that only the Copen exists to fill that market now, though it's certainly a car I like a lot. The AZ-1 has to be my favourite though, ever since it appeared in GT. Did you know much of the development on the AZ-1 was done by an engineering team in Essex?

At the moment, Daihatsu seems to have the best lineup of Kei cars - Honda are certainly lacking with only about five models (that's a lot for cars of one size I guess, but Daihatsu have at least 15 Keis in the range). Some of my favourites are those below:

(L to R - Copen, Esse, Mira Gino, Mira Custom, Move Latte)

I would like to see European manufacturers trying the concept - though at the same time, there's really no need as we already have our own types of small cars, that are small enough to get around the most crowded of streets, yet don't need to conform to the length, width and engine restrictions that Keis do. For this reason, we get cars like the Citroen C1, Smart, Fiat Panda and so on - all of which are more than small enough.

As for Kei cars they should make, I'd like to see some of the sports cars appearing again, and maybe some tiny coupes. So much cooler than a Toyota iQ or a Smart. If Honda made a Kei-sized 2-seat coupe, with a 3-pot motor that revved to 8k, adequate luggage space and a stop-start function for town, I'd beg, steal and borrow to get one!

 

[buickgnx88]

Hell yeah! 👍

 

[nick09]

I would not cope with the cramped leg and head room very well at all. They look OK but I'd rather not drive one.

 

[homeforsummer]

Head room isn't really a problem in most of them - the restriction that isn't put on Kei cars is height, which is why so many of them (save for the sports cars, which probably are quite cramped) look quite tall.

Oh, and I've been doing a bit of photoshopping for the last hour or so - I bring you, the Beat Coupe, a Kei-sports for 2009

(Roof from a DC5 Integra, lights from a Civic Si and wheels are TE37s taken from a random tuner Skyline)

 

[Boz Mon]

Hell yeah! 👍

I had one of those as my first car!

*goes to search for pics...*

Edit: Found it. 1983 Chrysler LeBaron. 2.6L mitusbishi 4 cylinder that made like 90 hp and around 130 ft/lbs for torque. 3 speed automatic transmission, power seats, power windows, power door locks, am/fm cd player. It was my first car, a really crappy first car, but it was a convertible.

 

[C-ZETA]

Hell yeah! 👍

I would NOT call that a K-Car, certainly isn't under 3.5 m.

 

[McLaren]

That is a K-Car. It comes from the Chrysler K-Car Platform.

And while K-Car is an applicable term, the better choice for this thread would be Kei car.

 

[Azuremen]

Kei Car =/= K car.

Yes, I like Kei cars. Would I fit in one, probably not.

Do I like K cars? Not so much, being Chrysler and all.

 

[homeforsummer]

@ C-ZETA - probably best change the title and your references. All the syntax pedants will probably leave

 

[Famine]

Because "Kei"'s pronounciation is quite close to "K" (unless you're VEXD and insist, for 4 years, that it's "Kai"), the two are interchangeable.

If you're getting really pedantic, they should be Keijidosha (or Keijidoosha, if you're getting all Hepburn). It's all good.

 

[eiriksmil]

Britons have it a bit easier than us, we can't get these Japanese cars registered here. Looking at the kei car list I don't see one car I've seen in Norway, apart from a Copen, and that one comes with a NA 1.3 here.

I want a "close to kei" for my next car though.. This one is rad, the Subaru E12. It's not a kei, but really tiny

 

[homeforsummer]

That Subaru seems pretty cool. Isn't that the one they call the Sambar, and many have been converted into VW Bus-alikes?

If so, I think they are classed as Kei cars.

As for the Copen, presumably you only got that car recently then? We've had it in the Uk the whole time - the earlier ones are the 660cc that Keis are restricted to (with a turbo), but we now get the 1.3 that you mention.

 

[Tornado]

Do I like K cars? Not so much, being Chrysler and all.

Being a Chrysler isn't the problem.

I read an article in a magazine a while ago that talked about trying to get old Kei cars usable in America for farm work so that farmers wouldn't have to buy tractors to do everything, and I thought it was a clever idea.

 

[Jim Prower]

Actually, there's some places where you can buy old Kei trucks. I think CAT had a few Daihatsu Midgets in their Mossville plant when I visited once.

 

[C-ZETA]

@ C-ZETA - probably best change the title and your references. All the syntax pedants will probably leave

Done done. And from now, you must do the following: never mention Chrysler in this again! Nah, just kidding.

 

[YSSMAN]

I don't even think we've gotten a Kei car in the US, ever, at any point. So, I like them... From a distance. The Suzuki Cappuccino in particular.

 

[C-ZETA]

I don't even think we've gotten a Kei car in the US, ever, at any point. So, I like them... From a distance. The Suzuki Cappuccino in particular.

Not even the Copen or the Mira? That's...surprising to hear.

 

[Azuremen]

Not even the Copen or the Mira? That's...surprising to hear.

Can't meet our safety standards (thank you SUV people). Or what people want for power. The smallest engined Toyota has a 1.5L, while the Corolla has had a 1.8L for over the last ten years as the standard equipment.

 

[eiriksmil]

Yeah, Golfs have had like 2 litres since the Mk3, and the newest ones have been having 2.5s while we're happy with turbo'd 1.4s.

Just American bumpers on kei cars would have been bigger than the cars themselves

That Subaru seems pretty cool. Isn't that the one they call the Sambar, and many have been converted into VW Bus-alikes?

The Sambar isn't the same as the E12. Sambars actually look like T2s, no conversion
And we've had the Copen for a couple of years now. It's as mentioned above, people want power (and displacement). The Americans are "worse" than us, but we are "worse" than the Japanese again.

 

[Jay]

I am suprised the US never got any of the popular ones, Copen has sold quite well here.

 

[mPWRD]

kei cars are utter rubbish for the following reasons:

1. I can't fit in one.
2. A tortoise would outrun one at full throttle.
3. They rattle like hell at "high" speeds.
4. My girlfriend hates them.
5. They're all essentially golf carts on steroids.
6. Good luck modifying one
7. They look like they were originally decent cars that were prematurely recycled before Al Gore declared that they would pollute the world's landfills.

 

[C-ZETA]

6. Good luck modifying one

This is Mazdaspeed's AZ-1, and really, it's an OK mod. Yeah, I know it's Mazdaspeed but they should be given a 👍 for doing a good kei car mod.

Also, I believe the Alto Works Suzuki Sport Ltd. from the majority of the GT's (except the first) is somewhat modified. It does clearly show it in the name though...

 

[Famine]

1. I can't fit in one.
[...]
3. They rattle like hell at "high" speeds.

The former precludes the latter. How do you know?

 

[eiriksmil]

I also fail to see how they can't be modified..

 

[homeforsummer]

kei cars are utter rubbish for the following reasons:

1. I can't fit in one.
2. A tortoise would outrun one at full throttle.
3. They rattle like hell at "high" speeds.
4. My girlfriend hates them.
5. They're all essentially golf carts on steroids.
6. Good luck modifying one
7. They look like they were originally decent cars that were prematurely recycled before Al Gore declared that they would pollute the world's landfills.
8. I know absolutely nothing about Kei cars

I added an eighth, drawn from the conclusions of the other seven.

I've already mentioned that they aren't significantly smaller inside than a normal car, expecially the ones with high roofs. It's called "packaging", which means being able to fit people into whatever space is required. I've sat in a Copen, probably one of the "cosiest" of the Keis, and it's not appreciably smaller inside than a Mk1 MX-5. I'd expect most Keis are more spacious than a Copen.

As for speed, you're running under the misconception that just because they're small, they're slow. Fair enough, they're not exactly a Viper in a straight line, but some of the sports Keis would give many a car a run for it's money around corners, I'd reckon:



Reinforcing my guess that you nothing about them, your comment that they came about for some environmental reason or other is utter tosh - they came about due to space restrictions in Japan, and there have been keijidōsha restrictions since 1949.

If you don't like Kei cars, at least attempt to ensure you aren't completely oblivious to everything about them before you voice an opinion.

 

[Sniffs]

apparently, you people never looked up America's home grown Kei cars. we had two in the fifties, and a rebadged brit that's still a hot seller.

Crosley Hot Shot. a Refrigerator Magnate cashed in on the car boom when the little guy could still get in on it. he sold them through his appliance dealers. and, yes, Crosley is still in business as an applience dealer, though it is now a "ghost Brand"

American Bantam. these are the guys who conceived the BODY of America's trade-mark JEEP®. it was a copy of a british Model. it's an Austin in American form!

Nash Metropolitain. yet another american import from Britan. they were selling these little buggers up here long after they had physically ceased production.

america, before the Japanese Invasion, got everything British, including Morris, and even hillmans! (Plymouth sold a rebadged Hillman into the 70's)

the only problem is the last Kei-sized car we got...Yugos...Slavic assembled Fiat 124's with a crappy reputation. a lot of modern americans don't physically fit into anything smaller than what Europe terms a "family sized" car, and even then, they're cramped. ask anybody squeezed into the back seat of a coupe of any kind.

as one of the physically SMALLER americans (i am NOT a 6 footer, and have trouble finding short enough pants!), a kei would be welcome. however,as stated earlier, the benifits of a kei would go away here in the states. the economy benifits would be ruined by the addition of 500 kilos of absolutely required by the government airbags, safety braces, reinforcements, etc. throw in the fact that we're a lot hillier than you guys in europe think, and have enormous amounts of miles/kilometers to go between small towns...well, something under the 2 liter engine class gets run off the road.

 

[Jim Prower]

Well, yes and no...those cars (save for, MAYBE, the Crosleys,) wouldn't fit under Japanese Kei Regulations, even today.

But we DID get an actual Kei Car a LONG time ago...

Apparently, they were scary to drive. Consumer Reports reported poor, bouncy handling...But, then again, that's CR. They cheated the Suzuki Samurai.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

I've seen a Kei, on the road, in the states. Dunno which it was but it was maintaining freeway speed at least Tall wagon nonetheless. RHD.

 

[Tornado]

I've wondered something ever since GT2 came out: Assuming the engine was made compliant, would the old Mini have fit under the Kei regulations?