an intresting car

[jserio]

hey guys. look what i found. it's certainly different. it would make a hell of a second vehicle. or a primary for those that have to do alot of business travel and don't like to fly. 


http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=457882

[frankieG]

i think it is pretty neat car, i wonder what the safety features and impact test results were like...it being so light and all.  i would definitely buy it as a primary vehicle, being single, if i was going to buy a car.  which i am not doing any time soon.

[jserio]

if i read the article right we wont get it in the states until 2010.  but it seems to be cheap as far as price. it's german built and i've never heard of anyone refer to a german auto maker as being of "cheap" quality. guess we'll have to keep our eyes open for further articles about it.

[Kasumi]

Its cheap because theres not much to it, you didn't use 2 tonnes of steel, all the bracing involved in holding all that together etc etc... The seats appear to be "fabric pads" attached to the main structure of the car meaning they dont need main structure and seats with their own structure to hold them together. You havn't got four doors and all the hinges, You have only got a 2 cylinder engine which will be much much lighter. Weight is also probably saved in the saftey aspects, designing cars with crash zones air bags everywhere adds alot of weight but i guess we will just have to see later articles to find out its saftey rating.

Cool car though i quite like the looks, can't think getting in through the front was the most practical solution to solve having no doors though.

[yamahonkawazuki]

hell id get one 

[ohgood]

mmmm, diesel twin !

if it were 4 doors, and around 20 grand, they couldn't make them fast enough.  oh, having 'honda' or 'toyota' stamped on the hood would help sales too

[spc]

the companies website says it seats 4 people. The backseat is rearward facing with the engine between the front and rear seats it appears

[jserio]

still quite a unique car. i'm not for sure 100% if i'd own one but i would certainly want to look at one up close, maybe even test drive it.  and the mileage rating is attractive too. even if it's a tad inflated. i doubt it is though. 2 cylinder diesel? intresting concept. i'm looking forward to further reviews and articles.

[ajaxgs]

nice car ,what we need here in north america , don't get me wrong i drive a truck ,and spend 100$ per fill up but i get some good milage from it , but what we need to do is to get the manufactures to bring over the diesels from europe , our fuel is clean now ...i want to drive a ford f150 with a diesel....as for all this hybid sh$t , is not clean if you want a true hybrid look no farther than a diesel locomotive .. a diesel engine turning at a constant rpm and driving an alternator  to traction motors , very efficient i would say

[Affschnozel]

I like efficient and interesting cars like that ,here's another one of my favorites :
http://www.leftlanenews.com/toyota-iq.html

[makenzie71]

I liked it until the "you can access internet and email" bit.

[scottpA_GS]

nice car ,what we need here in north america , don't get me wrong i drive a truck ,and spend 100$ per fill up but i get some good milage from it , but what we need to do is to get the manufactures to bring over the diesels from europe , our fuel is clean now ...i want to drive a ford f150 with a diesel....as for all this hybid sh$t , is not clean if you want a true hybrid look no farther than a diesel locomotive .. a diesel engine turning at a constant rpm and driving an alternator  to traction motors , very efficient i would say

Yea, but diesel now costs more that unleaded fuel

[spc]

And diesel engines get significantly better economy than gas engines.  Enough so to offset the higher price.

[scottpA_GS]

And diesel engines get significantly better economy than gas engines.  Enough so to offset the higher price.

Not the smaller diesels I have experience with... Jeep Liberty diesel gets Crap for mileage. most VW's as well and the Trucks...  No, not cheaper no way

[spc]

The Jeep liberty uses a poorly designed and even more poorly timed diesel.  It's a crime to even call it a diesel.

VW eh,  funny cause my dads Jetta TDI got almost 50mpg........... My 1982 MB 240d  gets about 40 on the hwy and it's a freaking solid steel turd on wheels.  Let's not forget about modern MB turbo diesels, you know the ones pumping out 400hp in an SUV and still managing almost 30mpg hwy.  Show me a 400hp gas SUV getting 30mpg.

The diesel smartcar gets something like 80mpg, and my dads other car a professionally retuned E320 got almost 30mpg hwy and could hang with vette's all day long.

Yeah so a 3500 diesel gets shaZam!.....maybe 18-20 hwy these days.  Look at the freaking torque it's putting down.  The engine in those isn't designed for economy it's designed to pull.

[scottpA_GS]

You sure know your diesels 

[GeeP]

My mom's VW 1.8 Diesel, equipped with Kompressor got 60 MPH ALL the time.  The car doesn't exist anymore, after 25 years of corrosion the unibody was gone.  However, I overhauled the engine, bored it to first oversize and it soldiers on as a 30kW stationary  generator set. 

[spc]

I love diesels.  Damn fine engines and I swear as soon as the Twinstar Thunderstar hits production I'm getting one.  That or I need to get some machining/welding skills like Geep has and just fab my own diesel  superbike.


I will agree though the Liberty CDI is a piece of shaZam!.  I test drove one a few years back and it just plain sucked........

I almost bought an old VW diesel off craigslist today, I just can't justify it right now

[yamahonkawazuki]

the car was around 20k? idk not cheap as far as im concerned. that indian car, NOW THATS CHEAP  i think it was called a tata 
anyhoo if that car ever ended up upside down, how would its occupants get out?

[yamahonkawazuki]

i just wish i could make one of these road legal here in the us  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JhR8BLR6ndw&feature=related