Japan user
 

I am currently living in Japan. I am originally from America, but after graduating from college I decided that I wanted to get some work experience in Japan. I live in Toyota city...

... but I drive a Mitsubishi. It is what is classified as a kei car. Basically that means that it is lightweight, and has a 660 CC engine. It is a Minica, and it supposedly should be getting around 22.5 km/l. That works out to 53 MPG. Not too shabby... until you consider that the Japanese government testing for fuel consumption is worse than the US method. I get around 18-20 km/l depending on driving conditions. This is purely city driving with lots of stop and go traffic. I start working in a new area from the beginning of next week, so things could change drastically!

Oh, my company got the car for me, so I can't complain too much. They cost about $4000 (USD) brand new. I can't imagine that there is a more basic car than this bad boy.

Erdrick -

Welcome! You are "in the soup" of small cars! The closest I get to those are the Japanese car magazines I get on sale in LA.

Free Kei Car!?!?! Coolio.

CarloSW2

Welcome Erdrick! I also drive a Kei car! I have a 1991 Honda Beat. I know what you mean about the "claimed" mileage. Honda claims (on the infamous 10 mode) that I should be getting around 63 mpg! I typically get around 40.

Start a garage entry and get some pictures up of your Mitsu!

Welcome Erdrick. Looking forward to learning about your vehicle.

https://www.din.or.jp/~ymko/photo-in/minica.jpg

So you car is similar to this? I am glad to see different types of cars on the site.

Welcome
 

I cant wait to hear about your driving experiences from Japan. Often we refer to the "small cars from Japan", it will be nice to have your opinion on them as well.

Welcome aboard!!

Welcome to the site!

[QUOTE=Erdrick;46322 I live in Toyota city...

... but I drive a Mitsubishi. :eek: They cost about $4000 (USD) brand new. .[/QUOTE]

Hey welcome! New car that gets good mileage for $4000 ? WOW :thumbup:

Welcome, where is toyota city? I'll be in chiba this summer, :)

does my n600 classify as a kei car? 598cc and hella small.

Anyway, welcome to the site :)

Welcome to the site!

I've spent summers there when I was a kid down on Honshu in Yamaguchi Prefecture as well as a year abroad in university in Sapporo City up in Hokkaido. I loved it!

Now THAT's a city I could visit.

Matt -

It would today, but not when it was built :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car

It would have to be 360 CC to qualify back then.

CarloSW2

DaX: Yeah, the 10 mode is insane. They claim that the Prius can get in the 70MPG range. Anyways, for the average person this would be impossible, but with some skills it might be attainable.

kickflipjr: THAT is the car. Mine is white though, and it came with a one speaker AM radio (speaker was in the actual radio). That is the only option. AC is standard in all Japanese cars... if I am not mistaken. Otherwise the car is the most stripped down thing in the world.

UfoTofU: Why did you used to spend summers in Japan? Do you have family here?

cfg83: I can back that statement up. Kei cars used to be 360CC. I believe that they might have had a previous even smaller engine before that too. I can't imagine having anything smaller than 660 though. Even that is ridiculously underpowered. Having a 1000CC engine would probably end up saving gas. Most people have to floor their Keis in order to keep up with traffic. I can always hear them driving past because the engines constantly sound like they are going to explode!

Yes, my mother is from there so every few years we would take a trip back with her.

Welcome to the site. I wish they sold cars like that here. It would be nice to have one comunally owned for zipping to town, and getting 60-80MPG. I think that to get really good MPG with one of those, you would have to keep speed under 40 MPH. Above that, the engine is probably spinning too fast, and aerodynamics get to be a problem. Have you tried the engine off coast? That may help your MPG significantly along with maintaining maximum momentum.

So you don't get the luxuries of FM radio, Hubcaps, or 2 Speakers :)

A few years ago I was working for an importer and distributor of Japanese industrial machinery. I was in Osaka walking along the Shinsaibashi one afternoon. In the span of an hour I saw my first F-50, my first V12 Mercedes, a left hand drive Daimler Princess (never officially exported from UK apparently), but these paled to the thrill I got from first hearing the shrill skriek, and then seeing a MMC Minica ZZ with the 5 valve engine.
Maybe it was the mundane sea of "Joy Pop"s and "Sunny Excellent"s that made these others stand out so much.