Greg
11-14-2001, 11:43 AM
What a fun toy!
I will admit this car looks bizarre when approaching it, especially if you've seen Mr Bean in his car. But once you get near it, you start smiling, and the smile stays while you drive.
When you sit in this car, you feel like you should be ducking because the car is so small, but you actually have more room than an E36! We had a 6"1', 210lb guy in the back with no issues!
I tested the 4 cylinder without the blower, and it was peppy, especially after 4500 rpms. It's tight like a miniature BMW, and it handles like on rails!
The steering is go-cart sharp, and the brakes are of BMW standards...
We were winging this thing around turns like it was nothing. My M would have been squealing and slipping when this thing was already contimplating the next turn!
It weighs about 2300lbs, so the 116 hp feels higher. The SC version will have 160 hp. The proportions are interesting too, the width in relation to the length makes it the widest car out there! The sport version will have an even wider stance than the one I drove which I would have already considered sport inspired.
The neat thing is that these cars have been out in Europe for some time now, so lots of tuning components have been fabricated.
www.minimania.com
I looked over to my friend and suggested that it was not a "pickup chicks" kind of car. As I finished my sentence a woman was getting out of her red E46 just across the street from us at a traffic light.
She was smiling and said: "cool car"
I rolled my window down, and asked her thumbs up or down, she gave 2 up!!! Well that sort of shut me up...
We even had 2 friends who are Ferrari technicians for one of the big shops in our area come for a spin. Now these guys drive everything from F60s to F355 Challenge cars, and they both were like gitty children after a quick drive. The contagious smile had spread to two more victims.
The re-occuring line for the night was "Where and when can I get one!"
You can't go wrong for $18K!
I will admit this car looks bizarre when approaching it, especially if you've seen Mr Bean in his car. But once you get near it, you start smiling, and the smile stays while you drive.
When you sit in this car, you feel like you should be ducking because the car is so small, but you actually have more room than an E36! We had a 6"1', 210lb guy in the back with no issues!
I tested the 4 cylinder without the blower, and it was peppy, especially after 4500 rpms. It's tight like a miniature BMW, and it handles like on rails!
The steering is go-cart sharp, and the brakes are of BMW standards...
We were winging this thing around turns like it was nothing. My M would have been squealing and slipping when this thing was already contimplating the next turn!
It weighs about 2300lbs, so the 116 hp feels higher. The SC version will have 160 hp. The proportions are interesting too, the width in relation to the length makes it the widest car out there! The sport version will have an even wider stance than the one I drove which I would have already considered sport inspired.
The neat thing is that these cars have been out in Europe for some time now, so lots of tuning components have been fabricated.
www.minimania.com
I looked over to my friend and suggested that it was not a "pickup chicks" kind of car. As I finished my sentence a woman was getting out of her red E46 just across the street from us at a traffic light.
She was smiling and said: "cool car"
I rolled my window down, and asked her thumbs up or down, she gave 2 up!!! Well that sort of shut me up...
We even had 2 friends who are Ferrari technicians for one of the big shops in our area come for a spin. Now these guys drive everything from F60s to F355 Challenge cars, and they both were like gitty children after a quick drive. The contagious smile had spread to two more victims.
The re-occuring line for the night was "Where and when can I get one!"
You can't go wrong for $18K!