Japanese Kei cars:
 

I was interested in how close the Fit compares to a Japanese Kei car. I had driven a Daihatsu Kei car once when in Japan, but it was not so much fun. As the Fit struggles in traffic and sales against SUVs and trucks, I doubt that Kei cars would even make a dent here in Canada, but maybe if gas doubles in price. Europe has a better shot for a Kei car. You tall 'Muricans might have some issues.

Honda N-Box Kei
Fuel economy: 3.4L/100km
Dimensions: 3395mm long, 1475mm wide and and 1770mm high.

2018 Honda Fit
Fuel Economy: 6.9L/100km (my real life city driving in summer, 5.5L/100km highway)
Dimensions: 4099mm long, 1694mm wide and 1524mm high

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...13335fe73d.jpg
Japanese Kei car roadster



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ticle36971678/
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/honda/n-box
https://www.honda.ca/fit/specs

i always wanted one kei car in my line up cause i think theyre cool and cant buy it in the USA.

but each time i go to japan people laugh when i say that cause those things are like the cheeziest of cars u can buy. oh well.. something about wanting stuff you cant have i suppose. :D

I've had my Fit for a month now and never once have I "struggled in traffic" so I can only assume that people who struggle have the CVT. I just need to wind my 6MT out to 7K and the car moves along briskly. My Fit has 130 horsepower which is exactly what my 2002 Mazda Protege5 had which I bought new and drove for almost 6 years, again without struggling and again with a manual transmission.

As for Kei cars, I wouldn't want anything smaller than my Fit, although I guess my MX-5 is technically smaller. Especially since I do a fair bit of 80 km/h and up highway driving.

CVT version doesn't struggle either, it's got plenty of pep for DC Metro area traffic as well as the mountains of VA. Maybe OP's reference to traffic is people even looking at a subcompact versus a crossover with gas prices being low.

Highways in the USA have higher speeds limits versus Japan, so not sure how those KEI cars would do at 70-80 MPH. If it's strictly a city car, then it probably wouldn't be too bad.

The big question for a Kei car in North America is whether it would meet our crash standards. I'd suspect not. In the example in the picture I doubt that the driver and passenger would survive an accident involving a rollover.

I'm not sure it would survive getting broadsided by a moped. Looks cute though.

Europe already has Kei cars. The Daihatsu Copen, Subaru Vivio, and some other select cars were sold.

They're more of a novelty, if brought to America. They're limited to 140km/h, but most rev pretty high. They're very economical cars.

I love them. Would love to import a Suzuki Alto Works to Ireland.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...6ddb117f68.jpg

LOL. Either that guy has a really big head, or that is a really small car!

Looks like it would be fun! I could see that with a Hayabusa motor swap.

I've looked into the Daihatsu Copen before.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...f10e5b49a0.jpg

Been told they're extremely restricted, due to emissions. A good few mods and a bigger turbo, you'll see 250hp from the 660cc engine, which is insane from a car that weighs sub 900kg. Thankfully, I'm Asian and my small stature can fit inside these things ha.

agreed... probably wont survive. :iough:

That's not fair! What would survive that?


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...bb60c02db3.png

post-impact..

http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/3fd4c43a29...rts-bf4h62.jpg

:eek3:

Some of them are fun, I guess. I think there is a market for the small kei trucks that Japanese farmers couldn't do without. They are darned near bulletproof, and with 4wd, make excellent little vehicles for getting around off road.

For a farm vehicle, you're not going to find anything more convenient for getting from one cabbage patch to the next.

kinda like the john deere gators. :D those things are fun to drive.

I dunno. I think those gators are more like a fairly useless ATV in comparison. I'm also a bit skeptical of the gas consumption of kei cars because of the small engine. You've got to really push them just to keep up with traffic, and that lowers MPG considerably.

If you take away the HP limitations that Japan puts on kei cars, you might be able to make the case for them in big cities as runabouts. You wouldn't want to spend much time in one on the interstate, but for sitting in stop and go traffic looking for a place to park, the only thing better is a scooter.

Another really good kei you might consider is what they call a "mini micro bus". I had a daihatsu atrai and for a miniature van, it was really nice. 4WD, turbocharged intercooler, and 5 on the floor made it fun once you managed to get out of that miserably short first gear, and it had more interior room than a fit.

It looked exactly like this one, down to the same paint job and rims.

https://s.auto.drom.ru/i24196/c/phot...rai_471513.jpg

hahaha, i remember seen those in japan. :D yah, youre probably right about the gators being more a atv vs kei-sha.

i saw a Smart car today.. i guess that's our version kei-sha in the USA...

I, too, remember those when I was in japan. They were really nice! and very practical. But with all the large SUVs around Toronto you'd have no chance in a crash.

When I say struggle in traffic I mean for visibility. Compact cars are somewhat rare now, I feel somewhat lost in traffic. It has little to do with actual acceleration, or maintaining speed.

As I recall a couple were sold in the states with a few changes. Subaru Justy & Toyota Starlet.

Those are not Kei cars. Those are subcompact cars.

Thanks for the heads up Kanjo. They were the smallest cars on this side of the pond when they were sold here.