Toyota adds first minicar to Japan lineup

Kei's are coffins on wheels

Kei's are coffins on wheels

coffins that do 30km/Litre might I add?

no you're right, I wouldn't want to be tailgated by a truck with another truck ahead of me on the expressway riding that soapbox. They're not that cheap to buy either, even for second hand.

Kei's are where the U.S. needs to be right now, especially in the big cities. It may be true they are not as safe but the Smart Car proves that safety in a small structure is possible. I'm just not sure we can get past the car status symbol thing. maybe when gas hits $6.00/gal.

It looks like Suzuki Alt Lapin!

The 30 km / Liter is more or less a wish. Realistic seems 15 km / Liter with all that stop and go and slow traffic.

"Budget Car" from TOYOTA , in view of New Taxes On the Way?!

Not sure what is new here. Toyota has a controlling interest in Daihatsu.

This is biggest fallacy about cars. Car manufacturers have people believing that cars have to super small and underpowered, or a hybrid to be "green" or fuel efficient. This is not the case at all. Most newer non-hybrid subcompacts and compact, or even mid sized cars can get about the same gas efficiency as a Toyota Prius or most of the Kei's on the road. It all really depends on how you drive. If you hammer the accelerator all of the time, you'll get poor mileage out of any car. If you drive carefully and keep the engine RPMs low, any car can get really good efficiency. My aunt has a Honda Stream which is a mid sized car or minivan (depending on how you look at it) and it goes more than 1000 highway kilometers per tank, which is about the same as any Kei.

Toyota (especially) like to give the impression that their cars are super efficient and green, when in reality their efficiency on par with any car on the market. I would even argue that hybrids AREN'T green because of the high carbon foot print they create during production . Don't believe the hype. Its all corporate BS fanned by the media.

Mirai HayashiSep. 28, 2011 - 08:21AM JST. Car manufacturers have people believing that cars have to super small and underpowered, or a hybrid to be "green" or fuel efficient. This is not the case at all. . Most newer non-hybrid subcompacts and compact, or even mid sized cars can get about the same gas efficiency as a Toyota Prius or most of the Kei's on the road. It all really depends on how you drive.

Most of the car manufacturers have done remarkable job in engineering by maximizing the fuel milage, better performance, the reliablity of the vehicles, and comfort. If you compare with Toyota Prius, which has 1.8 engine, and about 3100 lbs with comparable Toyota 1.8 gas powered Corolla, Prius can average about 1/3 better gas milage than Corolla. Prius can get 45-50mpg in a real world normal driving compare to Corolla at 28-34mpg or Honda Civic with similar gas milage. Prius is as efficient of an engineering using hybrid technology. I wouldn't knock Prius, it's a great engineered car.

What the trend to improve performance without sacrificing gas milage with smaller engine is to add inexpensive turbocharger on 2.0 engine or less and most of the manufacturer will be using a lighter carbon fiber material in the future which will reduce the weight. Keeping RPM low can help but it's more about keeping your accelerator easy. Many high end cars being produced today are using 7-8 speed automatic transmission with the high final drive ratio to improve fuel milage.

K-cars were not produced to be fuel-efficient, only cheap to built and thus affordable to buy. Those first wave really were "coffins on wheels" because they sacrificed safety to save material and production-cost. Today's k-cars sell because of the cheap taxes and the shaken, which is the major point esp when the car gets older. They have airbags and 4-wheel drive and turbo to get more from the under-sized engine. All this makes them heavier and thus they will use as much gasoline as a normal car. But because the shaken doesn't change to yearly one after 10(?)years as with other cars, they will be driven much longer. And that will reduce the carbon foot print. I drive a Daihatsu Terios Kid; it got the same wheel-size as a normal compact car and is perfect for the small back roads on the country side. But, it is small, the engine totally sucks in low range (starting from 0, backing up) because the car weights about 900 kg, and when we hit the highway and drive more than 90 km/h, the mileage goes down to about 9 km per liter, because of the 4-gear automatic transmission. Having said that, for day-to-day live it is totally enough, good to drive in winter as well and more room than the Jimmy or Pajero-Mini; and when visiting the in-laws, just take your time on the highway.

I was thinking the same as presto345. Daihatsu is effectively Toyota's small-car division, so it's not as though they have really branched out or anything. I wish they made a kei-version of their iQ.

Most newer non-hybrid subcompacts and compact, or even mid sized cars can get about the same gas efficiency as a Toyota Prius

Where Prius excels is that it gets great mileage without sacrificing size or safety features. Sure you can get about the same mileage with a small car, but you are sacrificing comfort and safety features such as curtain airbags etc to keep the weight down.

In the suburbs where I live, everyone loves to drive Alphards or Estimas or similar people movers. Talking to my friends about mileage, most of them average about 10km-12km/l.... pretty dismal compared to a Prius. The best I can do in my 2009 model car is 15km/l on the freeway but the average is probably around 10-12km/l as well.

Maybe time to get a Hybrid.

This is where the market growth and that Toyota would get involved in a segment with little to no margin for profit shows just how long-term and absolutely relentless their attitude and approach is. There best days are still ahead of them.

Sorry for the typos, typed from my iPad

Sorry its off topic mods, but I have to rebut:

When you factor in all the energy it takes to drive and build a Prius it takes almost 50% more energy than a Hummer. In a study by CNW Marketing called "Dust to Dust", researchers discovered that the Prius costs and average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles (the expected lifespan of a hybrid). On the other hand the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile over an expected 300,000 miles. Which means that the Hummer will last three times as long and use less energy than the Prius.

http://www.thetorquereport.com/2007/03/toyotas_prius_is_less_efficien.html