Interesting times in a baby car

[BBDOS CV8]

I had one of those almost life-changing experiences last week. I went to Port Douglas for a holiday (long-suffering wife was climbing the walls with a bad cold from Melbourne's winter). We had a great time in the tropical North, warm days and nights, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, trip through the Daintree Rainforest to Cape Tribulation, eating fresh mangos, pineapples and seeing saltwater crocs!

As a package deal we picked up a small car hire. short distance, twisty roads and no highways so it was well suited but a bit different to the 5.7 litre V8 I drive or even the missus' Astra.

We got a 82,000km old Daihatsu Cuore manual.


1.0 litre, 3 cylinder fivespeed. Now, I wouldn't want to hit anything bigger than a gnat or maybe a small bird in it. But it was a ripper of a little car. The engine had that distinct 120 degree-3 burble I remember from Triumph Tridents and my old Suzuki GT750 waterbottle. It also had their torque characteristics and the feeling the power would never end - imoressive for a small motor. In one burst it held third when overtaking up to 65mph.

Brisk off the mark, easily matching a auto 1.8 Corolla. The engine loved to spin but also had good pull from low. 2nd went from 10-35 mph, handy when going from corner-corner on a tight uphill road. It didn't really want to know about much more than 60mph. But at any speed up to that it was a delight. The brakes and suspension didn't deliver a performance-oriented track-style package, but it was vice-free and quite capable of being punted along - as people who were tailgating me on straight bits of road found as soon as the road went twisty and hotfooted away like a nuclear go-kart (until my missus complained about wanting to relax not grab the passenger strap!).

The interior wasn't plush, but it had good headroom, firm but well-shaped seats and adequate room for my doorfiller frame. Despite being brutalised as a hirecar it fired and revved eagerly, everything worked as it should and it only needed a wheel alignment and cooling system flush of the brown goop to be in perfect servicable condition. It had everything you reasonably need - even aircon, which didn't actually affect the motor too much when on.

Even with a moderate amount of fanging, it got 5.2l/100km, or 45.23USmpg, and I wasn't driving it gently, mostly. lots of stop-go low-speed, cold-start short distance runs.

My point? Sometimes simple and light and nimble can be fun - and small doesn't bave to equal boring or characterless to drive, even if it doesn't have every gee-gaw known to man. This thing was not amazing in any respect, except it was just plain fun. I think sometimes we forget that when we demand makers pack cars with evey mod-con and many useless or under-utilised features. Then wonder at their price and service cost and weight and fuel consumption.

[TuffG929]

I'm 6'4" and I seriously doubt i could ever pilot one of those comfortably. I certainly wouldn't choose to no matter how brisk it was off the line.

hmm...so about that 5.7L V8.

[V8GMT360 Guy]

Originally Posted by TuffG929

I'm 6'4" and I seriously doubt i could ever pilot one of those comfortably. I certainly wouldn't choose to no matter how brisk it was off the line.

hmm...so about that 5.7L V8.

I'm tall enough that I barely fit in a Cobalt without lopping myself off at the knees... so I can't even imagine trying to drive something as small as an Aveo, let alone something even smaller yet. This whole "small car revolution" is going to kill me... I'll keep my full size GM truck, thanks!

[Suziebob]

I'm big enough that I can barely get in a Cavalier.

If I had to drive one of these I'd have to just take the drivers seat out, extend the steering column, and sit in the back.

[mikmak]

Originally Posted by TuffG929

I'm 6'4" and I seriously doubt i could ever pilot one of those comfortably. I certainly wouldn't choose to no matter how brisk it was off the line.

hmm...so about that 5.7L V8.

I'm 6'6" and I used to love flogging the dear life out of my ex girlfriends Daihatsu Furore...or what ever it was called.

It sounds like it had similar performance to BBDOSCV8s recent loaner.

They certainly aren't fast over all, but yes, complete and utter hilarity when dealt with in the "appropriate" manner.

Less is more, though I know it's a tough line to sell when people are being forced to choose small cars these days (even more so in the future) so they don't WANT to give up all the electrickery that comes with modern machinery.

Still, there is the possible niche for manufacturers to create a fun to drive stripper that gets ridiculous mileage as well as raising the heart beat. It could even become the next fad, like mini-trucks (yuck!) or ricers.

Has anyone driven a Matiz? I know Paul8488 would be all over this.

[vsd]

That's why I love small cars. Especially living in the place where the long way home is a twisty canyon road.

[BlekherBob]

I'm not that tall.

Still love big cars though!

[rory]

the excitement from a mini is hard to beat, and that distinctive sound

[Patto1]

Does it come in a size 10 ?

[chevyman1973]

small cars suck but in this day sometimes you need to buy a box like this!

[Whitesky]

Originally Posted by chevyman1973

small cars suck but in this day sometimes you need to buy a box like this!

No matter what the day, you never need buy a box like this and I know I never will. But I have no problem with them being made available for those that do want them, just as long as I can have the properly sized vehicles that I want.

[HotCarNut]

Originally Posted by TuffG929

I'm 6'4" and I seriously doubt i could ever pilot one of those comfortably. I certainly wouldn't choose to no matter how brisk it was off the line.

hmm...so about that 5.7L V8.

lol....I'm 6'4" 225 lbs and I pilot a MINI Cooper S on a daily basis. In fact, the seat isn't all the way back when I drive. Another guy I know who is 6'7" pilots a MINI Cooper S on a daily basis as well very comfortably. It isn't necessarily the size of the person or the size of the car, but rather the layout of the controls and the thoughtfulness of the designers. I barely fit in a Cobalt or Ford Focus, and yet the MINI is a size class smaller than either of those cars. Proof yet again that GM & the Big 3 pay too damn much attention to the "average" consumer and focus groups rather than using common sense and throwing real people of different sizes into the mules.

[Perian]

Great post!

Thank you for sharing your experience.

[Kchoz]

Originally Posted by V8GMT360 Guy

I'm tall enough that I barely fit in a Cobalt without lopping myself off at the knees... so I can't even imagine trying to drive something as small as an Aveo, let alone something even smaller yet. This whole "small car revolution" is going to kill me... I'll keep my full size GM truck, thanks!

It's not because a car's exterior dimensions are small that the interior room is similarly small. The Cobalt is one of the worst cars for interior room on the market right now, it's not tall enough basically, there is more room in the Aveo for the front and rear passengers than in the Cobalt (Aveo has 91 cubic feet of passenger volume versus 87 for the Cobalt). The Aveo has nearly one inch more front headroom than the Cobalt, which makes it nearly as good as the headroom of the Malibu (38,5 inches for the Cobalt, 39,3 Aveo, 39,4 Malibu), it has a bit less of max legroom in the front (and a good 2 inches more in the back), but it has actually wider shoulder and hip room. Let's face it, the Cobalt's use of space is awful.

Most small cars right now tend to be a bit boxy and tall, they're "small" only if you consider the exterior length and width, but they push the wheels to the extremities of the vehicle and make an efficient use of space for the engine and mechanical components (which unfortunately probably makes them hard to work on). The seats are more chair-like so that you don't need a lot of length as your legs are more bent than straight.

Anyway, to make a long story short, you give up basically no room in "small" cars nowadays if you seat 4 passengers in them. It's only if you have 3 people on the rear bench seat that they realize it's a small car as they have less shoulder and hip room than in a midsize vehicle (as they're less wide it's inevitable).

Personally, I like smaller cars, they're easier to maneuver with, get better fuel economy and typically handle better (except in crosswinds). Heck, I'd even like it if Kei cars were available here.

BTW, the first time I sat in a truck, my reaction was "Damn, this vehicle is tight" (and not "tight" as in good, tight as in "so that's what a sardine feels like"), my knees were basically hitting the glove box and the seat wouldn't go back any farther. I'm more comfortable and more at ease in compacts than in most trucks, I suggest you try some of the smaller cars, just sit in them, and you'll realize your truck isn't that big (for passengers).

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by BBDOS CV8

My point? Sometimes simple and light and nimble can be fun - and small doesn't bave to equal boring or characterless to drive, even if it doesn't have every gee-gaw known to man. This thing was not amazing in any respect, except it was just plain fun. I think sometimes we forget that when we demand makers pack cars with evey mod-con and many useless or under-utilised features. Then wonder at their price and service cost and weight and fuel consumption.

Well stated, BBDOS, and well done! Thank you for the personal recount and your words couldn't be truer.

Peter DeLorenzo at AUTOEXTREMIST.com recently admired the look/interiro of the new Caddy SRX but slapped it for its excess weight. He said this is part of a growing trend that began in Europe where automakers keep on adding more and more and more to vehicles and the weight keeps increasing.

Point is, you don't need every bell and whistle to have fun in a car. A peppy and lively small car can be just as entertaining if set up properly.

Thanks again.