City Car?
City Car means "sh*t on highway". Not only the lack of speed/oomph. That one only does matter on the slim occasion you have an empty road.
But the silent-ish yet thrashy engines. Even when jammed and the long road lit to the horizon with red brake lights.
Other stuff:
- Short wheelbase so not good speed stability. I do mean anything around the speed limit on the highway. Maybe a good thing these have such dead, uncommunicative steering.
- Tall because such a short car needs to feel roomy, so little composure in case of gusts of wind.
- Needs to be light, but the safety systems make them heavy (for the size). Can't use lightweight+strong materials because it needs to be cheap.
- Good for squeezing into small parking spaces, I give them that. So that's what the "City Car" means!
..
So.. It's a cheap car, built to the current safety regulations, and a few cheap gimmicks thrown in so it'll be appealing. Cheap personal transport.
I'm all for cheap cars, but hate the see-through marketspeak. They are cheap cars. Get over it.
Since this one's Japanese, it's bound to be quite reliable. But I'm not entirely sure this is a boon in the long run.
If you look at cars as "sneakers", as something to put on when you need to protect your soles on your trip to the shops these will do, torn and dirty they will function. If you like driving occasionally .. no.