CURRENT heir to the Festiva legacy?

[danwheeler]

i saw the echo up in canadia the other weekend. never seen one in the states

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/notproducedinus.html?s_van=http://www.toyota.com/echo&ref=http://www.google.com/search%3fhl=en&q=toyota+echo

[festerzilla]

The Echo CE 3-dr base model is EXACTLY what I've been looking for in a new car. The US gets nothing good. I wonder how easy or difficult it would be to get one from Canada. Maybe I could stay with you while buy one and get it through customs Happymom :lol: I have heard you can buy a car in a foreign country and drive it a few hundred miles and then bring it back as a "used" car thereby avoiding some import taxes or something

[4cylDreadnaught]

saw an used Echo in the paper, about 10K for it, sitting on a dealer's trad in lot.

[EVOGUN]

Vitz yeah we have them!

http://www.bcautodesign.com/www.bcautodesign.com/Products.html

go under
Body Kits & Spoilers
then Echo.

Thanks :wink:

[gomer]

Closest to the 1988-1993 Festiva? A 2006 Festiva (Pride) obviously...

As for US available cars the closest would be the Hyundai Accent ,,, crappy car (like the Festy) ,, absurdly simple mechanically (like the Festy) and very lightweight...

[Deathshead]

on the Geo storm questions, YES they were/Are GREAT cars, the GSI models fly with there 140 horsepower isuzu dohc 1.8. But there REAL DEAL is the isuzu impulse RS this is a isuzu version of the storm, a lil nicer looking, fully loaded with a isuzu 1.6 dohc intercooled turbo All wheel drive!

I had 1 and it flew!, handled great, the shifter felt like a ferrari, etc
BUT they are so rare that even japan was all out of stock for rear struts.. heh..


[/img]

[4cylDreadnaught]

that's kind of a sexy car.

[FB71]

the best was the Joe Isuzu commercial....

he brags about how fast it is.
fires a gun along side a straightaway in the desert...
puts down the gun, gets in the car, fixes his hair, starts the car.....
and beats the bullet to the end of the track!

priceless! Joe Isuzu rules!

[gdawgs]

How about the Ford Focus ZX3? Anyone know anything about these. Looks like a decent car. Consumer Reports recommends them and reliability has been quite good the past couple years.

[Pgh5spd]

How about a Mini? Virtually the same dimensions. Price too high to compare? Well, the '88LX I inherited in '89 was $8K new. Without looking for a chart, 17yrs later $20K is probably not that far from 8K 1988 dollars.

[Gro Harlem]

The toyota Varis (aka Toyota Vitz replacement) is coming out soon in America.

It'll be replacing the poor selling Echo and it'll come in a 4 door sedan & 3 door hatch. It looks much less cartoony than the echo & should hopefully sell well.


The Kia Rio is basically a mazda 121 chassis with a hyundai 1.5 in it. Its pure shit too b/c that engine dates back to a 70's design & is only 12v. Its slow, gets poor fuel economy (seeing how its a 1.5...it gets upper 20's not upper 30's like it should get), and its automatic transmission (if equipped) is among the worst in the industry.

The rest of the car isn't bad, but the suspension is too soft.


There aren't many other small cars out there right now . Its pretty lame too, IMO if mazda sold the Mazda2 here, it'd sell like crazy b/c it looks good & gets great fuel econ. Or if Nissan realizes the marke & sold their Micra or something similar.

[Safety Guy]

The new MINI?

Those start out weighing around 2500 pounds and go up from there. My Dodge Aries weighs a bit less than that!

The original Mini was designed to compete with the original VW Beetle. It was for the po' folks.

Both "redos" of the Beetle and Mini are more upscale designs which are not supposed to compete with the lowest priced cars like Hyundais and Kias. Think "cache" not "budget."

The Focus is closer than the MINI.

The Rio (since 2003 model year) now has the 1.6 DOHC, which I thought was a 16 valver. Yep, here's the page:

http://www.kia.com/rio/rio-specs.php

Curb weight starts at 2400 pounds, with the auto 50 pounds heavier. Too much for the 104 hp, IMO. Power steering is an option, but at that weight it might be needed! (My cutoff point for PS would be around 2200 pounds.)

I thought the Rios were still under 2300 pounds, so this is a shock!

I guess the Echo may be one of the lightest, if not the lightest. Here is the new Yaris page from Toyota:

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/future/yaris.html?s_van=GM_Homepage_Yaris_txt

I'm liking what I see! Also, I could swear I saw one the other day in Columbus! I noticed it at an intersection and thought how "small" it was. It didn't look like an Aerio or Aveo. I suppose it could have been a test model, but I doubt it. By the time I was really wondering what it was for sure, it was gone.

My trip to Canada is coming up next week, and unless everything goes exceptionally well for my engine swap, I'll be renting a car. I requested an Aveo, a Rio, or an Echo. Whatever it is, I'll report on it when my trip's over.

Karl

[gdawgs]

I just got back from a small road trip this weekend(500 miles round trip) and I was noticing how many large vehicles there are on the road. I roughly calculated that close to 40% of the vehicles I went by were large vehicles(not counting semis). What I'm considering large are full sized pickups, large suv's(Suburban, Navigator, etc), or large cars(large Cadillacs, Lincolns, etc). Basically anything with a V-8.

Very few small cars. I saw 1 other Festiva, a couple Metros, a few Civics and Corrolas, but that was about it for small cars. The vast majority of the vehicles, not included in my "large" bracket were either smaller SUVs or mini vans.

Not many vehicles on the road that would get over 30mpg(which I consider fair mileage since I'm used to my Festiva :lol: )

[oxbrain]

My car before the festiva was a Storm. It handled really well and had pretty good power.

The only downside to it was the fact that it was cursed and got rearended 4 times in two years, had one person back into it HARD, and some kid took a swing at me with a golf club when I was driving.

The suspension is supposedly designed by lotus, the impulse even has the little badge that says it.

[4cylDreadnaught]

my flatmate had a storm. it was a nice car.


for real rollerskate power

http://www.obvio.ind.br/obviona/828.htm

Obvio 828:

Width: 1,650 mm (65.00 in.)
Wheelbase: 1,750 mm (68.90 in.)
Height: 1,500 mm (59.00 in.)
Overall length: 2,650 mm (104.3 in.)
Curb weight: 600 kg (1,318 lb.)
Gasoline tank: 50 liters (13,21 Gallons)

Tritec 1.6L, 115hp 29.4mpg city, 40.69mpg highway

optional 170hp & 250hp versions,
ZF CVT transmission (I'm not keen on this, I love MT's too much)

RWD,midship engine