A non-turbo/supercharged engine that’s already approaching the 100HP/liter mark is already pretty good. Not much else to do except to strengthen the internals and pressurize it…
Agreed. Each HP from there will be very expensive - either upfront, or in reliability… Or both!
In fact, I’ve no issue with the power at top end. It’s kind of enough for the car, considering its size and weight. But the engine is a bit weak and lacks torque and response at low revs (typically below 4000 rpm) - I guess there’s not much to do to improve that significantly!
Coming from the “bike” world, I will probably feel the same with any car - My TL was delivering 140 BHP / liter at the wheel, and the RG… Wof, roughly 270 (who asked whatever about reliability, petrol consumption and low end torque?!?) . Gniark…
Lev
[quote=“Nonsequitur”]Look on a 911 Turbo, Ferrari, RS4 owner’s face when their doors are blown off: Priceless!
Oh yeah… NAY on the Mazda 3. It’s a Taike car if I’ve ever seen one. 
:p[/quote]
I think I love you.
EEEEEK!! Run away!!! 
[quote]Agreed. Each HP from there will be very expensive - either upfront, or in reliability… Or both!
In fact, I’ve no issue with the power at top end. It’s kind of enough for the car, considering its size and weight. But the engine is a bit weak and lacks torque and response at low revs (typically below 4000 rpm) - I guess there’s not much to do to improve that significantly!
Coming from the “bike” world, I will probably feel the same with any car - My TL was delivering 140 BHP / liter at the wheel, and the RG… Wof, roughly 270 (who asked whatever about reliability, petrol consumption and low end torque?!?) . Gniark… [/quote]
That’s always been the problem of high performance engines. Low end torque is little to non-existant. Reliability though, has improved with time so today’s little screamers work pretty well. Honda really made a break through with it’s VTEC system (quickly copied by other manufacturers) but it still wasn’t enough. Just look at the S2000 for example; the engine screams but has a tiny usable powerband.
if you can’t torque the torque… buy a diesel. or a ducati ( or a diesel ducati? )
Err… Thanks, but no thanks. Dunno why exactly, but… No.
Yup yup yup. A 900SS. A Bimota DBx. Even, why not, a Monster S4. But not in Taiwan…
Lev
Mini Marcos. Tested one once, but hesitated because it was a fair bit of money (for me at the time, cheap actually) and was dead scruffy (but fettlable. Rustproof monoque body). Decided to go for it next day and (of course) sold.
Regrets, I’ve had a few…
Not in Taiwan of course, and hens teeth rare even in the UK
So what car should I buy to haul my wife and kid around and still feel sporty?
That’s a pretty broad question… your choices can vary from a Mini One to a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (4 seater).
Quit answering my broad questions with a broad answer 
Lets say a budget of under .6million.
Ferrari makes a 4 seater?? GTFO :loco:
I was thinking of a Ford Focus, Suzuki Solio or Swift, or a Yaris (but I ain’t seen one yet).
The Swift is a nice car. Mordeth just bought one recently. I’ve seen the Yaris around here but don’t know much about it.
Yes, Ferrari has made 4 seaters since quite a while back…
[quote=“Nonsequitur”]EEEEEK!! Run away!!!
[quote]Agreed. Each HP from there will be very expensive - either upfront, or in reliability… Or both!
In fact, I’ve no issue with the power at top end. It’s kind of enough for the car, considering its size and weight. But the engine is a bit weak and lacks torque and response at low revs (typically below 4000 rpm) - I guess there’s not much to do to improve that significantly!
Coming from the “bike” world, I will probably feel the same with any car - My TL was delivering 140 BHP / liter at the wheel, and the RG… Wof, roughly 270 (who asked whatever about reliability, petrol consumption and low end torque?!?) . Gniark… [/quote]
That’s always been the problem of high performance engines. Low end torque is little to non-existant. Reliability though, has improved with time so today’s little screamers work pretty well. Honda really made a break through with it’s VTEC system (quickly copied by other manufacturers) but it still wasn’t enough. Just look at the S2000 for example; the engine screams but has a tiny usable powerband.[/quote]
I have a '05 S2000. It’ll drive like an Accord all day until you rev it between 6,000-8,000 rpms. I think it’s a terrific car for the weekend and autocrossing/track use. It’s a reliable engine, though you have to check the oil often. Sure it doesn’t have the best low-end torque but it really doesn’t bug me that much. I enjoy the car mostly on twisty two-lane roads where I could keep the revs high. My stoplight-to-stoplight race days are behind me. If I want a car that does that, I’d get a BMW or Mercedes diesel. Talk about low-end torque!
An introduction to the Yaris:
In terms of legroom, there is only the Camry (just) and anything bigger that can compete although the width of the car is quite narrower than a Camry. A 180cm person such as myself can easily strestch out in the front driving possition and still leave loads of legroom for another 180cm person in the back. There is limited headroom in the back however and a 180cm person will just touch the ceiling with the rear seats adjusted to full slid back position. At a combined 17.5 km per litre from a 1.5ltr, the Yaris is the most ecconomical, non hybrid car on the market in Taiwan at the moment. It easily seats the tiny (my wife) and the normal (me) without booster cushions or the need for a sunroof to poke one’s head out of.
It barely has a boot/trunk however and so should not be considered as an airport pick-up car at all, although the back seats can be folded completely flat, leaving an enourmous space to take up to perhaps 7 bodies or up to 1/2 a ton of raw Cocaine, which is far more than an average Merc or BMW’s boot space will accomodate. The boot/trunk’s fancy floor covering can be removed though, leaving a much deeper well in which more things can be stored. Guns can be stowed in a plethora of cubbyholes and whisky is conveniently on hand, when stowed in the fancy dash mounted drinks holders, or in the driver and passenger doors.
I won’t go into the extras too much, but will simply state the differences between the 3 grades of cars, the E,G and S.
E: Basic indeed, with cloth seats, a solid, 1 piece rear backseat backrest and with few things to even warrant it a picture in the brochure. It doesn’t come with a boot/trunk plastic floor moulding and so has a step between the boot space and the seat back when folded, in otherwords, doesn’t have a flat level loading space. Oh, it does have 2 airbags however as do all other models. Colours: white, silver, silver/grey, black, blue, puky gold, red
G: Leather seats, split rear seats 1/3, flat level loading space, steering wheel music controls, keyless entry.
S: Slightly stiffer suspention as ‘S’ is for sports, [trying not to laugh, unless supermarket checkout times can be considered a competition.] Wider wheels and tyres and an additional 1 inch larger rims, for slightly better grip at the cost of a slightly stiffer ride, which may be not altogether good, given Taiwan’s general road surfaces, but is acceptable to me. Black gloss centre dash collumn, which hosts the stereo ad heating controls, darker grey plastics, cloth seats, split rear seats 1/3, higher spec front headlights, driving lights, rear spoiler, side skirts, front skirt, keyless entry, rear disk brakes, 2 extra front speakers which equals 6 in total.
Available colours (metalic): silver, black, blue, red
Additional extras for all models include: Black gloss or silver plastics, front-rear parking radar, massage seats, bluetooth phone connection, base speakers, rear loading space net, mirror mounted indicators, fuel filler flap cover, larger rear spoiler, rear bumper loading scratch protector, tail pipe crome cover, side/front/rear skirts, interior sound sensitive disco light (guffaw! You have to see it!), rear loading mat, footwell interior lights, DVD player/GPS
The target price of the ‘S’ model is about 560,000nt which makes it more expensive than a Swift without any of the optional extras. Many people are complaining about the cost of a Yaris in comparison to a Swift, as the initial outlook certainly favors the popular looking and sporty Swift and at a lower price too, but are failing to notice or compare the differences.
Yaris over Swift: Toyota’s have better resale value on average at -40% over four years. Swift -50% over 3 years. Much, much larger rear seat space and larger interior space overal. ISOFIX technology for rear baby seats, larger rear flat loading space, greater international safety rating at 5 stars (Taiwan’s models only have 2 airbags however compaired to 4, 6, or nine in other countries), greater pedestrian safety, better fuel ecconomy, leather seat option, better headlamps, keyless ignition, greater 1.5 ltr power at over 141 Nm @ 4,200 rpm"[Swift 1.5] 133Nm @ 4000rpm"
Swift over Yaris: Climate control on some models,greater power with a 1.6 ltr engine (availability unsure). Better corner handling with shorter wheel base, four airbags available. Greatest advantage is a cheaper purchase price, and second hand models available.
I will not comment on looks as most people prefer the Swift, but beauty in the eyes… and all that.
I see the two cars in different lights and will refrain from arguing one is better than onother as I don’t see that as the case. They are two different cars with different principles as you will feel when you either sit in them or road test them, although the crunch factor for many is the purchase price and for this reason the Swift is better value for money at the start although looses ground to the Yaris over a short time. For those drivers with rear seat passengers to think of and children, then the Yaris is the only option as the Swift leaves too little room for comfort. The Yaris also has more rear seat adjustability with forwards and backwards slide as well as tilt. The Suzuki is more likely to be a more enjoyable country lane ride however with its shorter wheel base and less role on corners.
My advice? Go and try them both out!
[quote=“sulavaca”]An introduction to the Yaris:
the Yaris is the most ecconomical, non hybrid car on the market in Taiwan at the moment. (Nice!)
keyless entry. (For me only? 
)
ISOFIX technology for rear baby seats (Sold!)
My advice? Go and try them both out![/quote]
Thank you! 
:bravo:
What about the Solio?
Glowing Black, fully smoked glass, with the shark fin on the roof, the 19 inch rims and 335/30/19 tyres, it actually has a sporty look, no?
Lev
Haha!! You know I have a Solio! Stop laughing at me! 
But really, the Solio is now almost completely outdated and it’s only a few years old. At the time it was almost the only car under about 1 million nt that had airbags. It has a great useable rear hatch with massive flat space with the seats down and loads of cubbyholes to store things in. There is even a bucket under the passenger seat that came in very handy when bathing our baby on a camping trip. Nowadays it isn’t the safest car out there by far and there is limited rear leg room as I contest, with my kid kicking all hell out of the back of my seat! :fume: :fume: . Not super ecconomical either with the aerodynamics of a loaf tin and only a 1.3 litre engine to push it. Nowadays there is little reason to warrant purchasing one as there is the Yaris and Swift. The only advantage the Solio has over them both is the head room, which is sky high, oh and that you can, if you want to, put a whopping great whale-tail spoiler on the back, smoke out the windows, put a manual box in it, stiffen the suspension to diamond hard proportion, put a boa feathered scarf in the front windscreen and bucket seats in it to bring your brow to dash height. If you aren’t interested in any of that however, then I suggest you just go and buy one of those other two cars.
You two, this is not the Ah Huang thread!
Oh, and Maxi-Cosi ISOFIX child seats can be found at “Taiwan
Topping Prosperity Inc.
6F, No.49, Lane 76, Ruey-Guang Road,
Ney-Hwu District, Taipei, Taiwan
Tel. 02-87924158
Fax. 02-87911586
E-mail: topping2@ms21.hinet.net”
So it says on the net. I haven’t called them yet, but will when we get the new car.
shop.babyworld.co.uk/DisplaySect … ?secid=197 For pictures of ISOFIX seats.
Oooops I didn’t know that! Sorry…
But you must admit that properly - and cheaply - tuned, that’s something really different. I love the rear wheels with 10’’ deport, at 45 degres. Lovely and probably extremely efficient.
Seems that you’re a big Airbag / safety fan, right? I kind of understand that, but never considered it as a real priority in my car choices. Maybe I should, it makes sense here since most of the accident would happen below 60 km/h, where these equipments really works.
There’s another small, cheap, funny looking stuff that we see on TWN roads - Forgot the name, Korean made I guess - Maybe Hyundai… What’s that?
Lev
Oooops I didn’t know that! Sorry…
But you must admit that properly - and cheaply - tuned, that’s something really different. I love the rear wheels with 10’’ deport, at 45 degres. Lovely and probably extremely efficient.
Seems that you’re a big Airbag / safety fan, right? I kind of understand that, but never considered it as a real priority in my car choices. Maybe I should, it makes sense here since most of the accident would happen below 60 km/h, where these equipments really works.
There’s another small, cheap, funny looking stuff that we see on TWN roads - Forgot the name, Korean made I guess - Maybe Hyundai… What’s that?
Lev[/quote]
I’m just pulling your leg! A tuned Solio? I cringe at the thought! It’s a rough enough ride already though and I wouldn’t want to take one to a corner at speed. It might fall over! :s
I like airbags as I have a natural fear of death, that many other Taiwan motorists seem to strangely lack. Seriously though, safety wasn’t a factor for me so much in the old days, and I woudn’t hesitate to take a Imreza down a country road at 150mph just to scare the hell out of any new apprentice. Nowadays, since I had my kid, my whole sense has changed. I rarely ever pass the speed limit on purpose. I always wait for lights behind the line. And I recently always demand a seatbelt in a taxi. I just can’t help worrying about my kid having no mum or dad. I also can’t help worrying about his safety too. What worries parenting brings!!!