"btw hows the g500 related to this thread at all?"

G500 is what started the square is hip thing. Before it was street legal here, you use to have to pay close to $30K just to have them specced for US standards. My mother - in - law wanted to give us her Galendawagen that she had in London, but the import costs and US safety and emissions would have been horrific. Basically a military spec vehicle...but I'd rather have a Defender 90!

 

>>Ok, so I'm not so sure they're all that foxy but I am beyond happy--I'm thrilled, really--that these cars are coming. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of giant, gas guzzling land barges. If these cars are preparing for US introduction--even if it's just in Cali so far--then someone obviously thinks they have a snowballs chance. And that makes me plenty satisfied.
>>

I feel the same way. When I first saw some Suzuki MINI wanna-be I was insulted. I said to myself, "Oh NO! Now everybody is going to join in on the MINI bandwagon!" But now that I think about it I say go right ahead. Maybe small cars will finally catch on in this country. Plus no one will put out a car as cool as a MINI...not a chance!

The SUV's of today are like the Station Wagon's from the 70's. We can only hope these eyesores will pass in time.

 

here's an article about the Scion from Business 2.0

>Scion on Business 2.0

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<img src="http://www.froemke.com/durzi/sambusik.gif"/

 

that 2 door benz truck is hot to death!
i really like it!
i'd rather drop that kind of money on a new condo!
you could buy a small fleet of mini's for that money!

 

<<I feel the same way. When I first saw some Suzuki MINI wanna-be I was insulted. I said to myself, "Oh NO! Now everybody is going to join in on the MINI bandwagon!" But now that I think about it I say go right ahead. Maybe small cars will finally catch on in this country. Plus no one will put out a car as cool as a MINI...not a chance!>>

Yep yep! And we can all sit back in our MINIs and know that we were one step ahead on the road to social change! (Besides which our cars will, of course, be far cooler.)

Wahoo!

 

I'm telling you, it's a baby Astro Van.



R

 

I think they toy uts look like the honda baby hummer. How could they
think something like would be a mini wanta be. Yeck. looks like
a 89 chevy astro van, minized

 

It's been called "The Toaster". It's Ugly (and I own a Sequoia)!

 

If that's their answer to the MINI...how, exactly, was the question phrased?

 

>>doug
>>
>>my cousin has a four door. he also has a aston martin db7 vantage and his daily driver is a 2001 nsx.
>>
>>btw hows the g500 related to this thread at all?

The G500 is "boxy" also... and I think it's way ugly compared to the Scion xB

Just a compairison...

 

Gotta remember... the MINI is more or less following a trend pre-set in Japan.. home of minicars/trucks and vans...

The Suzuki is a great little car and It'll kick Mini's butt, as will the Clio, and the Audi S3

the VWGTI is a mini butt kicker also... but looks like what it is.....
the Mini has one thing going for it, against the above... its styling.

 

Whenever I see the scion box it reminds me an astro van but smaller! I kind of like them. In Japan theres lots of fixed up ones cruising the streets. I saw so many classic minis there too it was so cool.

There are alot of MINI copys there but none are as cool as the mini. Nissan also has a mini van similar to the scion called the cube. Id rather see a bunch of these little vans on the streets then those annoying giant SUVs.

 

>>

 

I'm with you too, OmToast. Forget the looks (which I don't think are all that unforgiveable, especially considering its competitors in the price range). Any vehicle that helps swing the trend pendulum back toward smaller vehicles is a good thing. Period. The urban SUV is unlikely to just die off; a lot of people will never be able to fit their egos and insecurities into a sedan. A vehicle like the Scion xB lets them feed their needs without guzzling gas. 108 hp - I love it (even though I guarantee it's got 125 by the 3rd or 4th model year)! Boxy as this thing is, I bet it gets 30 mpg on the highway, unless Toyota beats it with the inefficiency stick like they did the Prius.

Now where's L.Mini with that "Toyota Drive-by" wisecrack?

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Borla, Moss intake, Magnecor

 

I just don't get it. I must not be the target demographic for this. I saw it on ESPN this weekend at the Detroit? Autoshow. They said it was designed for the "Y" or maybe it was the "Z" generation. My 14 yr old says its ghetto fabulous. I don't know if that's good or bad.

 

>>>>


I seriously thought when this thread started, I thought this was going to be about the Vitz, it's about as small the toyota Bb on the otherhand, it's a small van.

 

<< I bet it gets 30 mpg on the highway, unless Toyota beats it with the inefficiency stick like they did the Prius.>>

Mua ha hahahahahahahahahahaaaa....

And to all the SUV holdouts: Don't let the pendulum hit ya in teh @ss on the way out....

 

>>If that's their answer to the MINI...how, exactly, was the question phrased?

The only thing I've seen in this discussion so far that could be construed as a similarity to the MINI - and it's a stretch - is that it's customizable.

 

Lester, you are correct, the Vitz or Scion xA in AMERICA... Is like a MINI Matrix...



I'm into the xB moreso myself....

The xA is listed around $14K

 

here is the Nissan Cube



and now... some other Vehicles Similar to the MINI

Clio




BMW 1 Series - Allegedly around 250hp



Audi S3



Crazy Suzuki Concept


Suzuki Concept S


The SMART Crossblade

The Smart Coupe

 

Me like Clio

 

Those cars have been around for years in Japan. Hardly "Toyota's answer to the MINI" More like "Toyota's attempt to get back the youth market they lost when they went with safe, boring designs."

 

I saw the Toyota MR2 up close-
Why isn't that closer to competing against the mini? Those boxes with wheels aren't to my liking.

The MR2 only holds two people, it's very low, got a short outer length.-not short enough.
Some specs
1.8-liter double overhead cam (DOHC) 16-valve EFI 4-cylinder 138-hp (@6400)engine with Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i), 125 ft-lbs torque @4400 rpm
* Independent MacPherson strut front suspension
* Independent dual-link MacPherson strut rear suspension
* Rack-and-pinion steering with electro-hydraulic power-assist
* Power-assisted ventilated disc brakes with Anti-lock Brake System (ABS)
* P185/55R15 tires in front, P215/45R16 tires in rear
Turning radius 34.8 ft compared to mini's 35 ft
Overall length 153 inches vs 142.8 (cooper)
Width 66.7 inches vs 66.5 (outside of the tires on cooper)
Wheelbase 96.5 inches vs 97.1 inches (cooper)
CD 0.35 vs .35 for the base cooper and .36 for the MCS
mpg est 25/30
Cargo volume 1.5 cu.ft vs 23.7 cu ft with the rear seats down, 5.3 cu ft in the rear boot.
Halogen headlamps- NO Xenons!!! Ouch




Weight 2195/2215( for 6 speed) pounds, Warranty 36 months/ 36,000 miles
Cost $25100 for the 5 speed and $26300 for the 6 speed sequential manual

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03MCS-IB/W, aero grille, white tail lights, MB Quart speakers, euro parcel shelf, Madness intake/ rear swaybar- Get In.Get Out.Get Even-Motor On

 

 

When any car manufacturer comes out with a car that stands out among the rest, it's going to be compared to the other car that stands out from the rest, which is the MINI right now.

I personally like the fact these are coming out. Yes, the designs are boxy & strange. But it's finally a jump in the right direction. I love the concept car page in auto magz, but those designs never see light of day.

I think people want funky designs & to personalize their cars (at a reasonable price).

I dig it.