Battle of the Tiny Cars - August 26th, 2008
Word has it that Hyundai will be bringing a five-door hatchback, the i10, made in Chennai, India, stateside to go head-to-head with the Smart ForTwo and the Honda Fit. Reportedly the i10, onsale since last October in some 70 countries, gets 56 miles to the gallon. Size-wise it falls right in between its two main competitors at 140 inches in length. That comes out to 21 inches less than the Fit and 34 more than the ForTwo.
Just this past weekend I drove alongside a ForTwo on the highway for the first time. Although a friend of mine refers to the tiny, efficient, and thoroughly cute Smart cars as rolling death traps, it looked more substantial than I thought it might and did an admirable job of zipping around other cars on the road. Obviously the little darling has some get up and go and the fellow behind the wheel looked like he was having fun, smiling and waving at the folks openly staring at his car — me included — when we should have been watching the road.
The announcement that the i10 is headed this way is further proof that we all better get used to seeing, driving near, and perhaps piloting, cars that seem down right diminutive next to SUVs and pickups. The i10 has a 1.2-liter engine that has more oompf than the Smart. The Hyundai will be outfitted with a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic giving it a weight range of 1,892 lbs. to 2,094 lbs. (The Fit weights 2,432 and the Smart 1,808.) Look for keyless entry, anti-lock brakes, dual airbags, and fog lamps standard on the i10 with a price starting at $7,800 and going up to $11,200.
As for the redesigned 2009 Honda Fit, they’ll be in dealerships by next Tuesday, August 26, way ahead of the original October arrival date. The first seven months of this year Fit sales zoomed up 72.9 percent for 52,053 units, so there’s every reason to believe the 2009s will do well. Honda is planning on sending over between 80,000 and 90,000 units. With a base sticker of $15,220 and mileage of 35 highway and 28 city, the Fit is a good antidote for pain at the pump. (Alas, however, the Fit hybrid is not scheduled to make it to our fair shores.)
Posted on August 26th, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: lifestyle |
Leave a Reply