Popular Mechanics Pisses on Kizashi's Grave

[sx4rocious]

yeah definately!! If you take I-57 south to I-70, then take it East to Indiana like most people do, you'll be within about a mile and a half of me the minute you get into the Indiana boarder!! Maybe we could meet for dinner or something. Hope you don't mind kids, because they pretty much go where we go!! LOL

[Woodie]

I've actually brought jdm part numbers to my Nissan dealership and they could order anything I wanted if I was willing to wait for the boat.

I've ordered parts which were never used in North America, and I've also ordered car parts from the motorcycle dealer. If you can come up with a part #, you're golden.

[SamirD]

yeah definately!! If you take I-57 south to I-70, then take it East to Indiana like most people do, you'll be within about a mile and a half of me the minute you get into the Indiana boarder!! Maybe we could meet for dinner or something. Hope you don't mind kids, because they pretty much go where we go!! LOL

I'm not sure what my route will be yet because I want to have the snow tires on before I even start looking, but I was thinking I'd have to go through Chicago? I basically have to get to I65 and then just head south. It's been a couple of years since I've driven from the south to Chicago.

Dinner of a quick meal would be awesome, except that it would probably be a late morning breakfast or lunch. It's always cool to be around kids who love cars. Those are my favorite types.

I'll have to drop my wife off at work and then take off from there. I'm estimating it would be about a 16hr drive, so I'd arrive in HSV at midnight if I leave by 8am.

But all of this will also be dependent on the weather. I once drove a car I bought in Michigan back to Alabama in January, but that was an easy drive since there were no storms and the roads were clear. I'm hoping I have that type of luck again.

[IshaanIan]

Think of the models like this:

Honda Fit = Suzuki Swift
Honda Civic = Suzuki SX4
Honda Accord = Suzuki Kizashi

I would have to disagree. I'm not sure if you have all these cars in our market, but:

Suzuki Swift = Volkswagen Polo
Honda Fit = Volkswagen Golf
Suzuki SX4 = Hyundai Accent
Honda Civic = Hyundai Elantra/ Toyota Corolla

I hope I have been able to name them as they are sold in your market

[SamirD]

I would agree that's a more precise comparison. I was just trying to stay with one marque, lol.

[KuroNekko]

Think of the models like this:

Honda Fit = Suzuki Swift
Honda Civic = Suzuki SX4
Honda Accord = Suzuki Kizashi

I would have to disagree. I'm not sure if you have all these cars in our market, but:

Suzuki Swift = Volkswagen Polo
Honda Fit = Volkswagen Golf
Suzuki SX4 = Hyundai Accent
Honda Civic = Hyundai Elantra/ Toyota Corolla

I hope I have been able to name them as they are sold in your market

The Polo is not sold in the US and I'm going to have to disagree with the Fit being the equivalent of the Golf (at least in the US). The Golf is not a subcompact like the Fit is considered and is more upscale than the Fit. In fact, the Golf has a better reputation among car enthusiasts than the Jetta. Even the GTI is based on the Golf.
The Polo is the Fit equivalent.
Also, the SX4 is the compact offering from Suzuki while the Hyundai Accent is a subcompact.
Of course, these are based on my opinions and the American categorization of the cars. The same car can be considered something else in a different market, e.g. the Civic was considered a midsize car in Japan when it used to be sold there. However, even in Japan, the comparison I listed is how they are viewed as segment rivals.

The reason why I compared Suzuki models to all Honda models is to show the segment offering from the brands especially because Suzuki and Honda are probably the two most similar Japanese motor companies to each other. They make rivals products for everything from motorcycles to outboard boat engines.

[SamirD]

...the Civic was considered a midsize car in Japan...

When I parked next to a newer Civic in my 94 Accord and compared the size, the Civic is even a midsize here in the US...in 1994.

I guess as we Americans keep getting bigger we have to relabel things to keep ourselves from feeling fat.

"Introducing the Civis 'Supersize Me' Edition"

[KuroNekko]

...the Civic was considered a midsize car in Japan...

When I parked next to a newer Civic in my 94 Accord and compared the size, the Civic is even a midsize here in the US...in 1994.

I guess as we Americans keep getting bigger we have to relabel things to keep ourselves from feeling fat.

"Introducing the Civis 'Supersize Me' Edition"

Despite its wild success in the US and other markets, the Civic was discontinued in Japan years ago due to lack of sales. The Fit sells much better there and Honda's new line of kei-cars are taking off. Accords are still around, but are rather rare.

[SamirD]

Despite its wild success in the US and other markets, the Civic was discontinued in Japan years ago due to lack of sales. The Fit sells much better there and Honda's new line of kei-cars are taking off. Accords are still around, but are rather rare.

Wow, pretty interesting. But I can see that as the same holds true for India (another densely popular place). There you have a 'minivan' called a Suzuki Wagon R that's barely the size than a compact car in the US:


It's interesting that the kei-car market just exploded. I mean, it was a very logical thing coming since cars kept getting bigger and bigger and there's alway been a market for tiny compact cars as well. Suzuki was so well poised to take advantage of this here in the US too.

[KuroNekko]

The Wagon R is a kei car from Japan that made it to the Indian market. It's Suzuki's most famous kei. In fact, that photo that you found of it was taken in Japan. I can easily tell because it has a yellow license plate which only kei cars have in Japan. The buildings and mountain in the background is also dead giveaway to me since I frequently visit Japan.

Anyhow, kei cars don't meet US safety specs so they never have been imported to the US. I wonder if the Wagon R in India is the same as the ones in the JDM.
Kei have a max displacement limit of 660cc so all are turbocharged.

Also, the kei car market didn't just take off. It's pretty much been a huge segment since their introduction decades ago. It's the #1 selling segment in Japan so you see kei cars everywhere in Japan. They would also make excellent city cars in the US. They are small on the outside, but roomy on the inside due to their vertical-bias build.
The latest version of the Wagon R gets the mpg equivalent of close to 67 MPG.