Bender_xD

Saw this today as did some of you i'm sure. Our xD made their top ten list of best "MicroCars" on the road. Not Bad.

LINK - http://editorial.autos.msn.com/lista...part=passenger

Personally I don't appreciate the way the media portrays smaller cars, although its attempting to be complimentary of smaller vehicles in this article, it still fells as though driving a small car is "not normal for an american". I'm not of that mindset and I know not every journalist out there is either. I guess i just wish more americans felt like smaller wasnt some kind of "downgrade". The auto makers arent doing anything to help either though. Until recently i think most small/compact cars in this country were made with cheap parts/interiors, and that hasa kinda stuck. Euro/asian versions i think often have interiros that are just as nice as luxury vehicles. MINI/BMW gets it, not many others do, i think Toyota if figuring it out. Just my small rant.

TRDxD

I agree, Japan, Europe, Italy, France, China, Vietnam....all sorts of countries have been utilizing small cars with extreme success, and as you said, are no where near a downgrade.

one problem i personally have with this is:

"At 155 inches long the xD is not the smallest of the pack, but earns a laudable 26/32 mpg (city/hwy) from its 1.8-liter engine with an automatic transmission."

as if the automatic is the only way its fuel efficient. I'm pretty sick of reviewers hailing the automatic transmission, not even bothering to mention the manual options out there. It really frighten's me that there's such lack of interest in manual vehicles. I hope in the future, the standard clutch operated manual will still be around...I can't imagine driving a car without it.

lostxD

^

by that time, youll be too old to want clutching anyways =]

TheQuietThings

xD and 5sp FTMFW!

WellesleyScion

AMEN to that!

TRDxD

i sure hope so....but you know...the day i become too old to clutch is the day i die. so lets hope that never happens

JDMJim

the cars need to be driven by anyone, so the slushbox has to be there. looks like they read the brochure for the mileage.
the xD/Ist rated top 15 of some JDM magazine. I think #10 over the new Cube and even over the QNC bB.

Dave06

Agree with Bender on the prejudice in US against small, subcompact, mirco.....etc cars. I think the tone of the linked review said it all- these cars are like second class citizens, not really appreciated or considered "real" or "serious" cars by many. check out this link on Euro cars NOT coming to the US: Mazda 2,Mercedes, Opel (Saturn)

http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...59.html?page=7

TRDxD

its an extreme shame that the mazda2 isn't coming to the u.s. i LOVE how that car looks...it really doesn't make any sense though....if Toyota believes the iQ will be successful, then what's Mazda of America's problem? better yet ford's problem since they own most of Mazda...very poor decisions.

jct

some times i wish i could peddle mash clutching it some times gets old in traffic but

its hella cheaper then having a automatic and will be cheaper to fix too so its a win win fail

AAG

iTrader: (1)

x2, I have those days where traffic is really bad and having a manual tranny can get annoying. But then I realize how much more fun and cheaper to maintain they are compared to an auto. manual > auto

JDMJim

yea. xD clutch sucks in bad traffic. which is almost anywhere in Chicago. I hate driving around here anymore

A1binoA11igat0r

Actually Ford doesn't own a controlling share of Mazda any more, they sold a lot of Mazda back to Mazda. (I hope that makes sense)

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/18/f...take-in-mazda/

Bender_xD

Has anyone here actually done a thorough investigation into what it would cost to import one of these cars, yeah they dont sell them in a dealer ship, but with enough money i'm sure anything is possible......the question is how much money?

Sure plunking down 15K is no prob when importing some kind of 300K sports car, but is the reason no one has one of these little imports, because the cost of the car is equal (or near equal) the cost to import? I would LOVE to be that unique car on the road (maybe left hand drive!), but could i EVER justify it on my modest salary? THOUGHTS?

Personally, my limit would be about 5K to import. I could spend 5 thou, on it to be one-of-a-kind, but prolly not much more. Sure you could drop 5k in upgrades in any US model, but so could the next guy. i dunno.

Dave06

I think there a lot of reasons why these cars never made it to the American market. For years the US car market sold the idea that everyone needed an SUV, then foreign auto makers followed, created competition, the dollar exchange rate combined with lower production costs made it easier to sell the average US buyer on an SUV. Going into the showroom, you’d see subcompact, sedan and SUV and say, well, for $ 1,000 more I could buy a much more “substantial” vehicle (SUV)- even if you don’t need a seven seat huge, gas guzzling vehicle. So until attitudes change or gas goes back up, I don’t see the incentive to import these cars, which is a shame. But if you commute to work in a city like San Fran or Boston, the last thing you want is an SUV.I lived in Europe during the 90’s. I was always amazed at the difference between what GM (Opel) or even Ford would sell there. For the sake of comparison, look at the Ford Focus from my link above. The euro Focus is a sport performance car, sharing parts/platform from Mazda 3 and Volvo with a potential 300 hp while here in the US, it’s…… well…… just a Ford Focus. Sorry if I offend any Focus owners out there, it's really Ford marketing stategy I'm dissing.

Bender_xD

i totally agree with you dave, and correct me if i'm wrong here but as far as i know there arent any "luxury" compacts here in the US, are there? You cant even get a subcompact that could even be considered "fully loaded". I think the closest thing you can find here that is sold in the US is something like the MINI. Forget the US automakers, they've NEVER made a compact car that has ever come CLOSE to offering the kind of options that are available elsewhere in the world.

EDIT: I have noticed however that VW with its tiguan and Mercedes most recently have began selling their "mini-smallish-SUVs" and promoting and emphasizing their small size. MAYBE someone in Detroit is watching TV? HMMM? (Pssst Ford, yeah, the flex is cool lookin, but its FRIGGIN ENOURMOUS and Chevy, the traverse is nice and new, but if people wanted a trailblazer, they buy one of the 600 collecting dust at their local dealer. HEllo?!?)

Its a friggin shame but you're right, and i cant fault the public (too much) about the "gee for a few bucks more a month i get so much more car!" mentality. Sometimes less is more or rather smaller is more ;)

TRDxD

a little late to respond to this but AWESOME I had no clue about that. thank's for the update that makes me a little happier....haha

JDMJim

my take on big SUV's is this. Family wants to have four kids in three years. that means they'll most likely need 2 strollers four bags just to go to the mall! well, Scion has nothing to fit all that. So all the manufacturers built giant cars for america in hopes we'll buy them. then all hell broke loose and now if yer in a small car you can;t see where you're going, so the next person buys the bigger car etc. Not me. I hate big cars. even the Chargers and stuff. just too hard to manuver around tight spots. case in point..neighbor rolls around in a 86 Caprice with 26's. this car requires a 6 point trun to back from garage and get out on to the street. While he's doing that, I'm doing circle laps around him in either the xD or xB1. I'm long gone before he's out. peeps with their SUV"s are the same way. they can't easily manuver around the parkling lot cuz they 1. can't see or 2. have no space other than inside the car.

mcbrew

I've got to disagree with you about Mini, though. A friend of mine has a Cooper S and the interior is awful. Lots of things have broken or look pretty rough... even when new, there are a lot of uncomfortable seams left from molding plastic parts and the speedo cluster looks like a cheap toy.

Don't forget the rest of the car... typical German engineering: Rush all the new innovations into production. I'm not against them... in fact, the xD is my first non-German car. If she wanted to take all the broken parts to the landfill, she'd probably have to make two trips.

JDMJim

I still believe the xD/Ist is a european design tho. think about it, the extra long VW/BMW style clutch. Ist now sold in Europe as Urban Cruiser despite the Ist was available before. things that make you go hmmmm