I’ve driven many cars, but none have had engines as small as the one I am driving now: a Kia Picanto. This has a 1L engine. It has no trouble reaching 100kph on Singapore’e expressways. The interior is roomy enough to seat 5 (cooperative) adults. It has 4 doors and a hatch. The trunk is small but fine for groceries for a family of 3.
It’s also the smallest car I’ve driven. Even in the parking lots around NTU, it’s about the dinkiest car around. Here is a photo.
The car is supposed to get 50mpg easily. I’ll report on the results I get this month.
1 Feb 2010: First tank of gas, mileage is 13.6 km/liter, or ~32 mpg. Not as much as I would have hoped.
Why don’t we have city cars in America?
the trick about getting the best mileage out of these cars is to find the optimum speed, and to drive manual (shift stick)
I believe you can get Smart ForTwo in the states, right? I think you can consider that a city car.
It’s true, the Smart car was out when I left the US. Here in Singapore there are many to choose from. In the US, unless you live in California, it’s hard to find them.
A friend of a friend bought a smart for two in L.A. last March, and had to take it back to the shop for repairs/replacement parts within 2 weeks.
Maybe the problem with city cars in the U.S. is that so many people commute in and out of cities on highways, with average speeds of 75 mph and crazy SUV drivers barreling down at you. I did hear of a plan in San Francisco to make a bunch of VW Beetles or Smart for Twos available for inner-city driving around - rented out in short periods of an hour or two to whoever showed up for a credit card. Too many variables in that plan, though - too much scope for outright theft. Although the thief would never escape the city in a car that topped out at 60 mph….
There are cars even smaller than the Picanto in Singapore. The Cherry QQ, and a Subaru RZ (I think that’s the name), that’s about half the width of a regular passenger sedan. You can get the RZ in pink.