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World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 12:55 am
by Silver Seren
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_c ... 000-in-us/

Even if it goes up to $8000, it's still rather worth it. As long as you don't mind driving a car that small, especially since Americans have big car syndrome, it should work amazingly well. It has 50 mpg, so lots of money saved there and the top speed of 65 mph, in my opinion makes the speedsters stop speeding. Win-win scenario, really.

Though I doubt very many people will actually buy it here. Americans just don't do cars like that.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:09 am
by Verilidaine
I wouldn't drive around in that, it's way too small. That's not because I have a big-car-syndrome, though, it's because I have a want-to-stand-a-chance-against-SUVs-syndrome. My two-door (<3 her) makes me nervous enough as it is sometimes, heh. Just for my own personal safety I wouldn't want that car, because there are so many gigantic monsters on our roads.

Also, I do a lot of driving in 75 mph areas. No way would I give up my ability to go 82. It looks like an awesome car, just not one well-suited for our culture.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:34 am
by Sebbie
That looks like a great car for cities, where you drive relatively slowly (not at highway speeds, anyway) and parking's easier to find for small cars. Plus, it would pollute less, which would help the city air quality. However, like Veri said, I just don't see commuters or people who live in less urban areas going for it.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:53 am
by Silver Seren
I guess it would be the perfect car for New York traffic jams? You won't be wasting as much gas as the other drivers and won't be polluting the atmosphere.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:02 am
by Sebbie
Silver Seren wrote:I guess it would be the perfect car for New York traffic jams? You won't be wasting as much gas as the other drivers and won't be polluting the atmosphere.
That's exactly what I had in mind (New York's the nearest big city to me, so that's what I always envision when I think of generic cities. Maybe not the most general city, but oh well).

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:09 am
by Locke357
I remember reading an article on this car when it was still exclusive to India.

This car would be great for North America . . . if it wasn't for what Ver had pointed out . . . those lumbering SUVs and Hummers on the road.

Is there no better epitome of Western culture gone wrong than the H2 and H3 cars?

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 6:35 am
by PhycoKrusk
Good for city cabs, maybe. But honestly, I would rather drive something electric.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:26 am
by epion04
How did I know this would be a Nano before I even clicked the link :P

This car would be great for an urban environment but anywhere where there will much highway use it is not a good idea. Not even counting the size VS. SUV factor, it has a top speed of 65. This sounds good enough on paper but what about any real hill? Also figure, while you may never go much faster than 65 it is a really bad idea to be at the car's limits when just cruising on the freeway.

To put an example to this, you are driving your nano at 65mph on the freeway, there is a car behind you, to your left, and to your right, the area infront of you is clear. The car to your right starts to try to merge into your lane, being there is a car behind you, you cannot slow down to get out of the way, the car to your left prevents you from using that lane and your are at the cars limits so you cannot speed up to get out of the way.
I am not saying you need a large vehicle to be safe, I drive a 90hp Mazda. Top speed is something like 97 going down hill with a tailwind, but that is just enough that if I need to I can drop it in 3rd gear on the freeway and get my tiny plastic car out of the way.

On a more positive note, I don't know if anyone here follows autoblog but if you do you have probably seen the pickup variant of the Tata Nano, yet again urban environments only, but this would be a great idea for local delivery companies ect.

For the rest of the country a new comer that is botching their marketing so bad it is not even close to funny anymore is Mahindra. Another Indian auto company that is working on bringing vehicles to the US this year. This would be one of the best solutions for general use I have seen in some time. The Mahindra Pikup should be in this fall and is about the size of a ford ranger, can carry more than twice the payload, and is rated for about 30mpg city on it's standard 3L turbodiesel engine.

To put this more simply, We have a full size V8 Toyota Tundra pickup as a work truck, after reinforcing the leaf springs it can carry a payload of up to 2400lb, and averages about 14mpg if you drive it really nice. The incoming Mahindra can carry a 2700lb payload from the factory, and is rated to about 30 mpg. We, as a nation, need to get over the "Big Truck" fetish and start looking at other options like this. </rant>

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 4:05 pm
by FastChapter
I can see how that car could be useful on golf courses. :wink:

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 4:45 pm
by the red soldier
I wouldn't drive that thing in a canadian snow storm. Plus I dont live enywhere near a city, mostly country sides around here so a truck is actuall more usefull.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:15 pm
by Wynni
I have three kids and a husband, where would I put them?

Plus luggage if we're going somehwere.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:25 pm
by Silver Seren
You could have a different car for that, but you could use this car for other single travel. With the price and how much you'd save on gas, it would save a heck of a lot of money in the long run.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:01 pm
by PhycoKrusk
Silver Seren wrote:You could have a different car for that, but you could use this car for other single travel. With the price and how much you'd save on gas, it would save a heck of a lot of money in the long run.
Or, a Chevy Volt. It's full-sized, but will go 40 miles on pure electric, plus a gasoline generator to add an additional 200 miles to its range. That too will save you loads on fuel (although your electric bill would be a bit higher than it otherwise would).

As has been mentioned, this might make a good fleet vehicle for in-town taxi services. Especially in a city like New York. I don't know how well it would work elsewhere.

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:06 pm
by Locke357
PhycoKrusk wrote:
Silver Seren wrote:You could have a different car for that, but you could use this car for other single travel. With the price and how much you'd save on gas, it would save a heck of a lot of money in the long run.
Or, a Chevy Volt.
The ~$20 000 difference between them in price might have something to do with consideration there :P

Re: World's Cheapest Car comes to US

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:11 am
by Ashpool
I think I'd still rather stick with my tiny Japanese car. It's not quite that tiny, but it's definitely tiny. XD (And it gets around 30-35 mpg, which isn't so bad for it being 18 years old).