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The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
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The True Cost Of Owning A Fuel Efficient Car
Official Car Pundit Drinking Game: Fonda Ain't Got A Hybrid In The Back Of Her Honda
Why Aren't All Small Cars Selling?

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DoctorNine
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
The KA... for Bahhhston...
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MushyHeirloom
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
I'd rock most of these.

The Fiesta's a great little car, I have no doubt. But look at that! It's definitely got the jet-airplane look going, and by that I mean "rounded, styled body and tiny little wheels". Argh.

The Wave is the anti-Pontiac. Rubbish to drive, slow, and that's about all I have to say. Keep it as a Chevrolet, or perhaps sell it as a Saturn... but God, not a Pontiac. Oh, and fix the Cobalt-like fuel economy, too.

The Peapod and iQ are bordering on so-small-they're-scary, but I can deal with that. They're kinda cute. As long as they're not utter mileage failures like the gas-powered Smart, they're not bad.

I'd definitely take a Soul or Cube (preferably the Nissan, as I could then partially debadge it, then add a superscript 3 to the Nissan logo). Nissan³. I could get behind that.

I sure wouldn't turn down the Cruze, either. If I had to drive a compact sedan, well, that's not a bad bet at all from the look of it, at least not with the 1.4T. The Volt, if I could afford one, should be quite nice as well.

Anyway, outside of the G3 (which, being old and slow, is aptly named), this is Good News.
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Elhigh
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
Will there be a five-door Fiesta? If so, I'm all over that. It's been a while since I had a zippy roomy econobox and I'm ready to return to that happy place.
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Elhigh
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
The iQ's space issue is a topological puzzle. If you can solve it, you can get in.

Space problem solved! Return to your tasks!
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RLJ676-LS3 Commuter Car - for the environment
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
I'll take the Superduty, thanks.
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BLS
12/09/08

@rlj676-new job, same problems: Sooper Doody vs Pee Pod and iQ in a battle to the death. According to the measurements above it should be a fair fight.
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It's a Camaro
12/09/08

@BLS: Why?
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Mad_Science
12/09/08

@kumbayacars: Because if you use equal amounts of each, that's like 3 PeePods Vs 1 SuperDuty.
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Torquer72
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
The Fiesta is widely reported to be coming as a 3 door also. Check your sources as usual (again).
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acarr260
12/09/08

@Torquer72: It actually mentions the 3-door in the article.

Reading is hard, I know...
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smalleyxb122
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
Awwwww, wook at the wittow bitty caws.
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bzr
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
The Pontiac G3 "Wave" represents everything wrong with GM.

As if the Aveo isn't infamous or shitty enough, let's pull the wool over the car-ignorant American public and trick them into thinking that it's a completely different car! It's a pointless rebadge of an awful Korean car for a brand that's bleeding to death, designed to appease the bloated dealers clamoring for a full product range, even after GM promised numerous times to quit slapping the same ugly face on the same ugly car. And to add insult to injury, it has a stupid generic alphanumeric name and a shitty nickname to boot. "Wave?" Is that supposed to be "Driving Excitement?"

For every silver lining in the form of the Volt, the Cruze, and the Orlando, there's turd-colored cloud called the G3. If this is what GM is still going to do then good riddance.
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theeastbaykid
12/09/08

@bzr: Pretty much.
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theeastbaykid
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
The Fiesta also has a twin called the Mazda2.
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Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage!
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
Anyone who honestly prefers the Fiesta sedan over the hatchback is an idiot.

Discuss.
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Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
12/09/08

@Gearhead_42: Anyone who honestly prefers the ______ sedan over the hatchback is an idiot.

Fixed for universality
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Deartháir II
12/09/08

@The Name's Ash78, Housewares: Wagons count as big hatchbacks, right?
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Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage!
12/09/08

@Deartháir and his eight little drained beers: I can go along with that. You, Ash?
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Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
12/09/08

@Gearhead_42: Yep, it's buried in my item #2 above.
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Graverobber
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
Jezza did a nice review of the new Fiesta last Sunday, and apparently it's suitable for either escaping corvette-wielding shopping center hoodlums, or joining the Royal Navy in storming beaches of non-landlocked countries. It's also Green, or at least the paint on his was.

Additionally, the Chevy Orlando is dreamy. No, wait, that's Orlando Bloom.
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A strolling player
12/09/08

@graverobber- My Yugo Nova!: Is it green?

Yes.

Very.
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Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
What I don't get is the massive push for really small cars. I like small cars for their maneuverability and generally light weight. But for economy and MSRP, you get some steeply diminishing returns after you go below "midsize" and about 3,000# weight, at least among gas engines.

So unless you live in a city and NEED the small size, I don't see how many of these are any better for the US than a four-banger midsize with 32mpg highway. Do you really want a MUCH smaller car for an extra 2-3 mpg?
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wrx-tyrannosaurusWrx
12/09/08

@The Name's Ash78, Housewares: You know, I completely agree.

My friend just bout a Versa Sedan, with the CVT and only gets 32 MPG. He paid about 16 grand for it too.

Meanwhile, I'm sporting the 2.4 4 cylinder Accord ('07), I got it for 15 and I get around 34-35 MPG when I don't drive like I've got to be somewhere.

I don't consider it all victory though, as he got the Aux input and I didn't. But I have a midsize that gets BETTER gas mileage than the sub compact.

Really makes you think...

...That subcompacts aren't all they're cracked up to be.
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theeastbaykid
12/09/08

@The Name's Ash78, Housewares: Great point. I really like ultra-small cars as an engineering exercise, but they are certainly less practical, on average, in U.S. cities than they are in European or Japanese metro areas. The Smart car is a good example--in Rome, the few feet you save compared to a Focus can mean the difference of parking your car or not, while in the U.S., it typically only affects the distance between your car and the next one. That said, I once shared a parking spot in front of a bar with a girl driving a Cushman meter-maid cart. She was able to squeeze it in front of my Mazda3. (I thought that was pretty cool, and she was actually fairly cute, but chances are she was crazy as a drunk Bob Lutz.)
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Deartháir II
12/09/08

@The Name's Ash78, Housewares: If I'm gentle on the highway, I can easily pull of 30 mpg in my sports car; the Benz, with judicious use of cruise control, would get slightly better, and take 4 people in relative comfort. My test run on a G8 GT, using cruise control on the Hwy 2 freeway between Edmonton and Calgary, came in at about 32 mpg, according to the onboard computer.

My best friend came to visit me last summer, a trip of around 800 kms, and he managed just shy of 50 mpg in his TDI Golf.

These ultra-small cars need to do better if their primary selling point is fuel economy. For my daily highway commute, the G8 GT is the best option for comfort, performance, and price, if I'm only sacrificing 2 mpg.
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Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
12/09/08

@Deartháir and his eight little drained beers:

1. People are dumb. Just like looking at a body builder and assuming he could kick your ass (because muscles are supposed to equal fitness, but that's only partially the case), people see small cars or hear a marque and assume "good economy." I don't know how many times people have heard I drive a VW and their first reaction is "hey, that must get great gas mileage." To which I reply "In city driving, in summer with the A/C on, maybe 16 or 17 in the city" (wow, VW puts leather and V6 engines in their cars nowadays?)

2. Two-box designs all reign supreme. Wagons are the king, followed by hatchbacks. That is the decree. I have often said this, but after sitting in the back of our new(to us) Passat Wagon, the sense of openness AND the extra storage mean I will NEVER go back to a sedan again. How silly those things are.
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TurboBrick [LIGIER]
12/09/08

@Deartháir and his eight little drained beers: Really?? Is that 32 miles per US gallon or are you using some wonky Canadian gallon that draws 9.6 liters?
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Deartháir II
12/09/08

@TurboBrick: I've seen the posted economy numbers too, but in my test run, it returned 7.6 L/100km. And my apologies, that's 31 mpg.
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sos10
12/09/08

@The Name's Ash78, Housewares: I agree that in the US small cars like the IQ are not needed. Other countries do need small cars like that because of their urban infrastructure.

Just like the oversize cars from yesterday were unnecessary, so are the small ones of today and tomorrow, but from the 2 trends, the later one is clearly the wisest.
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Deartháir II
12/09/08

@The Name's Ash78, Housewares: Further to that: I think today's sportwagons look better nowadays too:

vs.

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Jim-Bob
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
The iQ wouldn't be bad as a commuter if it was really, rally cheap and reliable. I'd be willing to pay $7500 for one if it had A/C. That being said, it will probably be more pricey than the overpriced Smart Fortwo, and for that money there are far better choices. I drive 35,000 miles a year, so fuel mileage is no laughing matter. Then again, neither are maintenance costs and purchase price.
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A strolling player
12/09/08

@Jim-Bob: Well, if you're driving 35000 miles a year, purchase price gets less and less important.

Anyway, it's a Toyota, it'll never break down, and it's a Toyota, it'll probably be cheaper than a Smart. They don't mark shit up nearly as much as Benz or BMW with the smart of Mini.
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GotaGurt
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
There is irony somewhere in that GM is "going to" produce a vehicle called Orlando, a city which has absorbed more GM fleet vehicles than any other burg on earth, thus being an icon to the past decade of poor management decisions on their part. hmmm maybe? are you with me on this one?
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Deartháir II
12/09/08

@GotaGurt: It's Florida, so most of those fleet sales are probably HandiDart wheelchair vans. The rest of the sales in Florida should be Grand Marquis', Caddy DTS' and Lincoln Town Cars.
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A strolling player
12/09/08

@Deartháir and his eight little drained beers: In Orlando, it's a little bit of everything.

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UDMan
12/09/08

In reply to The Ten Small Cars Of The Future
And there's only two of these available on the American Market right now. The rest of the list is pure vaporware, at least until we see which of the big three survives.

Yes, I know the Cube and the Soul are both on their way, but the rest....
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