Well, I actually went down to Saint John to try out one of the little buggers. Pictures really don’t convey its’ odd proportions: Very short, very narrow and very tall. But for some reason I like the looks.
Inside the ungainliness disappears. The first thing you notice is the high seating position, almost at minivan level. This helps to remove the feeling of vulnerability small cars can convey. The interior materials seem pretty good to me. Nothing jumped out that screamed its’ price point. The tach and clock were on stalks at the top centre of the dash, which isn’t very intuitive. The HVAC controls are a bit out of the ordinary too but are easy to decipher. Plenty of room for me, and the seats were good. Great front visibility, but the Cabriolet roof has a small back window, which cuts down on the rear view.
The engine starts right away with no waiting: very quiet, no vibes. The sequential shifter took some getting used to, as did the lack of clutch pedal. The shifter action was great, short throws, just a tap up or down and the shift was made. The demo car also had the paddles behind the steering wheel, which worked well and would be my preference.
On the road, acceleration in first gear could best be described as deliberate, especially since a “Hill Hold� feature allows the brakes to drag a bit until the clutch has fully engaged. Once the turbo spools up (~2000rpm), acceleration was acceptable, but the only drag you may win is with an H1 Hummer or a Kenworth. The non-powered steering was fine around town, and good feedback, enough to know what the wheels were doing, but filtering out the rough stuff. The suspension is firm and well controlled. I had expected a lot of hobby horsing, over Saint John’s cratered streets, but it didn’t happen. Road noise was low for a small car, with only really large bumps being heard inside.
I decided to push my luck, and take it out onto the highway. I took the access ramp faster than I likely should have considering the high winds and driving rain, but the car exhibited very little body roll, and handled the ramp quite well, and I was able to merge with traffic at 115kmh very easily. I kept the speed at 110-120, and was very surprised (practically shocked) with how well it tracked given the cross winds and standing water in the wheel ruts. It was actually pretty quiet on the highway, quieter than my Corolla or Tercel, for instance. Minor corrections were required, but considering the cross winds, were certainly reasonable.
One thing that I noticed was that I was being noticed! I got a number of thumbs up around town and on the highway, something that has never happened to me before. While turning around in a mall parking lot, an 18-20year old girl ran up to the car and tapped on the window and wanted to know what the car was, who made it how much etc, while the rain thoroughly soaked her! That made the car worth it to me!!
I don’t think it’s for everyone, but to me it has that endearing character that cars like the original Mini, 2CV and Beetle had. I didn’t put a deposit down (guaranteeing April delivery) but I’m much closer than I was prior to driving it.
(Message edited by Big_Thumb on October 18, 2004)
