RUMCars Forum
General Category => Unusual Microcar Discussion => Topic started by: darrg on January 10, 2008, 03:19:26 PM
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The world's cheapest car has just been unveiled, and as it's 33bhp & 624cc I think we can claim it for "one of ours" - though at about £1200 it might not be unusual for long - perhaps someone will have to start the Register of Ubiquitous Microcars ... ?!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7180396.stm
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its 3.1m long and so is disqualified as a microcar. Its also 1.6m tall which is a lot.
It only manages 43 MPH from 33 BHP. My micro should do 80 and it only has 22 BHP.
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3.1m long and so is disqualified as a microcar
The Nobel 200 is 3.2 metres in length and is regarded as a microcar.
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its under 700cc so meets the main fixed criteria.
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its 3.1m long and so is disqualified as a microcar. Its also 1.6m tall which is a lot.
It only manages 43 MPG from 33 BHP. My micro should do 80 and it only has 22 BHP.
A Reliant Rialto has 40 and can do 70mpg on a run.
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This from Rumcars introduction piece.
The Register of Unusual Microcars (RUMCars) was established in 1980 to cater for the growing number of microcar enthusiasts whose vehicles were not eligible for membership of any of the existing one-make clubs or registers. The general definition of microcars as economy vehicles with either three or four wheels, powered by petrol engines of no more than 700cc or battery electric propulsion.
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Hi
I think it looks like a great car, did anyone spot Praktiko's Tiger Kub. Made in Dubai and priced at about £1,500
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=124146
How much will these cost once they get to U.K. ? we are ripped off in this country so much, just because wages are higher and standard of living is better we get an extra stupid tossers tax on everything.
John
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Its described as very dangerous without any safeness. this car was tested in a german car magazine. Totally unsafe. No admission on german roads. The testers conclusion is BEWARE!!!
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i wonder how much the tester was paid by the German auto industry to say that! ;D
although it looks awful,will be badly made and finished etc,it is NICE to see at least one micro engined,relatively small car in a sea of huge flabby monsters that are supposed to be small!
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My congratulations to Tata - this is what the car makers should be making. Sadly we will never see this car in Europe (except perhaps as used imports once they get older) because it will never meet Euro crash legislation, which has become so restrictive that the manufacturers can never produce a truly economical car here.
The daft thing is, you can sell a motorcycle that will do 180mph with no seat belts, no airbags, no crumple zones etc, but you can't sell a car that will only do 50mph unless it has all of these things. A senior exec at a major European car maker told me recently that there are now so many airbags in their modern cars that if they all went off at once, the air pressure could burst a baby's eardrums. They're waiting with trepidation for the first lawsuit in USA on that one... The reason that there are so many airbags, incidentally, is not that the car makers want them - it's that the buying public place so much store by the Euro NCAP ratings, and to get a top rating you have to have them... Legislation stifles innovation and progress, sadly!
Malcolm
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you can sell a motorcycle that will do 180mph with no seat belts, no airbags, no crumple zones etc, but you can't sell a car that will only do 50mph unless it has all of these things.
Not quite true. You caan sell cars without those things, so long as it meets Euro safety standards, which are still the minimum standards cars used to meet before EuroNCAP. There's also low volume type approval, which I believe doesn't have a crash test.
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Hi
Just an observation, in bodyshops, so many cars are being written off because the airbags and seatbelt pretensioners etc have been activated, that the garage trade is loosing too much business to writeoffs, and older cars have no value after about 6 years.
John
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It is a great idea to make a genuine modern micro, but in UK its 4 wheels mean immediately that it is a car and must meet masses of regulations and requirements, so much so that I doubt it will ever come here. Furthermore if it does become popular anywhere any bad crashes will make buyers desert it. Sadly the Government, car industry, and particularly the general public have demanded "safe" vehicles. For a long time I have thought it would be good for the UK government to introduce a set of regs for a light/micro/cyclecar/kei car class of vehicles with 2,3 or 4 wheels to stimulate innovation and design in this area,. especially with aims of congestion/parking space issues, low fuel/emmission rates, and less materials and energy to build the things. I don't think there is a single person in national or local politics with that much imagination ( if there was there would be a cycle lane on every road!).
I love the idea of a modern bubble, and think the Smart is the closest, but it is very safe...with a price tag to match.