In a city with a smaller population, any vehicle will do. However cities with a high population density and minimum navigable surface area present challenges.
There is a tacit understanding that if you drive and park in major metro areas, you stand a good chance of getting dinged, scratched, robbed, and otherwise molested.
This does not in any way diminish the shock value of seeing year-old Porsche 911 whose bumpers look like they were embellished with claw hammers. Large initial investment is simply not recommended.
For those whose lives in the urban areas, however, one solution is to drive a smaller car that will sneak into the many petite spots that remain otherwise unused. We offer you some of the ideally suited city vehicles, mostly by virtue of being short. Even though most of these cars are not sold in India, their importance and practicality holds true across the globe.
Length: 106.1 inches
2008 Smart forTwo
The Smart Fortwo, lengthened for our market, is indeed longer than an H2 is wide, but only by 25 inches. The Fortwo will be, by more than three feet, the shortest car sold when it gambols onto US roads.
First-generation Fortwo sales slumped after its launch in Europe nine years ago. But shortly thereafter, people realized that its designers were right: The Lilliputian Smart meets almost all their automotive needs.
Getting 43 mpg on the highway is pleasant, but unless circling city centers for hours stalking spaces melts your butter, parking ease is the Fortwo's greatest ace. Cross-country trips are possible with a 144 kmph top speed.
Its 71bhp, 1liter three-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed automated-manual gearbox won't make your drive nearly as pulse-quickening, however, as will being tailgated by Freightliners cruising mere feet from the back of your head.
The Fortwo will be marketed only in large metro areas in US, and as both a sensible solution and highly coveted accessory, it should have no trouble selling in boutique quantities, especially with a base price of about $12,000.(Rs 4.8 lakh)
2008 Mini Cooper
Length: 145.6 inches
The Mini is a good car and particularly well-suited to urban life. Until the Smart hits streets, the Mini will hold the title of shortest car sold in the US
The Mini was a lethal parking weapon in US until everyone else bought one and all those tight parking spots filled. Folding down the rear seats forms a flat floor, allowing the Mini to swallow a copious load of groceries or mid-century knickknacks.
They're not exactly cheap, starting at $18,700 (Rs 7.50 lakh), but that buys you BMW build quality and engineering. In Cooper S form, the Mini is a pleasure on weekend trips with linked turns that don't involve curbs and stoplights.
2008 Toyota Yaris
Length: 150.0 inches
The Yaris was designed for the tight city centers of Europe and Asia.
A meager $11,960 (Rs 4.78 lakh) will get you into not just a base hatchback, but a Toyota neveryheless. Slightly cartoonish lines make the Yaris as minacious as a duckling and conceal four more cubic feet of space than in a Mini Cooper.
2008 Honda Fit
Length: 157.4 inches
Unlike in most other countries, subcompact cars are rarely a rewarding drive in the US largely because price point is generally the cardinal engineering directive.
The Honda Fit, however, dispenses fun disproportionate to its $14,585 price. (Rs 5.9 lakh) Also unexpected are the same high-quality interior materials used in Honda products costing two and three times as much.
The Fit's 109-hp four-cylinder won't haul you to the checker in a drag race, but it will fling you into corners at a clip, sufficient to experience a chassis so well tuned that it is one of the quickest cars ever through the lane-change test.
2008 Suzuki SX4
Length: 162.8 inches
Best-in-class cargo space and standard all-wheel drive make the Suzuki SX4 an interesting alternative to compact SUVs. As a true Suzuki product, not a rebadged Daewoo, the SX4 is injected with a touch of the sporting spirit otherwise flaunted in the brand's mastery of two-wheeled products.
2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
Length: 165.8 inches
The Rabbit is so good that it has managed to slew such notable contenders as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla in a contest for small cars. The same agrarian power band that makes it a bit of a snore on open tarmac is ideally suited to city duty, both torquey and tractable from idle. One tester described the Rabbit's ride motions as "liquid," the kind of adjective you want attached to a car that will know cobblestones, potholes, and railroad crossings. The Rabbit is the same length whether you select the three- or five-door model.
2008 Volvo C30
Length: 167.4 inches
The Volvo C30 may be for you. Seventeen exterior and 12 interior color options mean you can order up something truly unique (or tasteless). The trademark combination of safety and sensibility is combined with the sexiest interpretation of Volvo design in 30 years. The turbocharged C30 is a good alternative for those whose don't appreciate the harsher edge of a GTI or Cooper S, or simply want better placement from the valet. The $23,445 (Rs 9.37lakh) entry point isn't exactly cheap, but it's the least expensive way to own the Volvo experience.
2008 Mazda 5
Length: 181.5 inches
The Mazda 5 remains the most compelling of the two vehicles in the wagon/minivan market--the other being the Kia Rondo--with a two-plus-two-plus-two seating arrangement in a vehicle barely longer than a Jetta. The Mazda 5 rides on an elongated Mazda 3 chassis, with which it shares its sprightly moves. Rear sliding doors bless both sides.
Although it is the longest vehicle on this list, it is still shorter than the average passenger car and takes full advantage of a high ceiling to offer oodles of usable space for less money than a Mini.
Courtesy: Reuters
There is a tacit understanding that if you drive and park in major metro areas, you stand a good chance of getting dinged, scratched, robbed, and otherwise molested.
This does not in any way diminish the shock value of seeing year-old Porsche 911 whose bumpers look like they were embellished with claw hammers. Large initial investment is simply not recommended.
For those whose lives in the urban areas, however, one solution is to drive a smaller car that will sneak into the many petite spots that remain otherwise unused. We offer you some of the ideally suited city vehicles, mostly by virtue of being short. Even though most of these cars are not sold in India, their importance and practicality holds true across the globe.
Length: 106.1 inches
2008 Smart forTwo
The Smart Fortwo, lengthened for our market, is indeed longer than an H2 is wide, but only by 25 inches. The Fortwo will be, by more than three feet, the shortest car sold when it gambols onto US roads.
First-generation Fortwo sales slumped after its launch in Europe nine years ago. But shortly thereafter, people realized that its designers were right: The Lilliputian Smart meets almost all their automotive needs.
Getting 43 mpg on the highway is pleasant, but unless circling city centers for hours stalking spaces melts your butter, parking ease is the Fortwo's greatest ace. Cross-country trips are possible with a 144 kmph top speed.
Its 71bhp, 1liter three-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed automated-manual gearbox won't make your drive nearly as pulse-quickening, however, as will being tailgated by Freightliners cruising mere feet from the back of your head.
The Fortwo will be marketed only in large metro areas in US, and as both a sensible solution and highly coveted accessory, it should have no trouble selling in boutique quantities, especially with a base price of about $12,000.(Rs 4.8 lakh)
2008 Mini Cooper
Length: 145.6 inches
The Mini is a good car and particularly well-suited to urban life. Until the Smart hits streets, the Mini will hold the title of shortest car sold in the US
The Mini was a lethal parking weapon in US until everyone else bought one and all those tight parking spots filled. Folding down the rear seats forms a flat floor, allowing the Mini to swallow a copious load of groceries or mid-century knickknacks.
They're not exactly cheap, starting at $18,700 (Rs 7.50 lakh), but that buys you BMW build quality and engineering. In Cooper S form, the Mini is a pleasure on weekend trips with linked turns that don't involve curbs and stoplights.
2008 Toyota Yaris
Length: 150.0 inches
The Yaris was designed for the tight city centers of Europe and Asia.
A meager $11,960 (Rs 4.78 lakh) will get you into not just a base hatchback, but a Toyota neveryheless. Slightly cartoonish lines make the Yaris as minacious as a duckling and conceal four more cubic feet of space than in a Mini Cooper.
2008 Honda Fit
Length: 157.4 inches
Unlike in most other countries, subcompact cars are rarely a rewarding drive in the US largely because price point is generally the cardinal engineering directive.
The Honda Fit, however, dispenses fun disproportionate to its $14,585 price. (Rs 5.9 lakh) Also unexpected are the same high-quality interior materials used in Honda products costing two and three times as much.
The Fit's 109-hp four-cylinder won't haul you to the checker in a drag race, but it will fling you into corners at a clip, sufficient to experience a chassis so well tuned that it is one of the quickest cars ever through the lane-change test.
2008 Suzuki SX4
Length: 162.8 inches
Best-in-class cargo space and standard all-wheel drive make the Suzuki SX4 an interesting alternative to compact SUVs. As a true Suzuki product, not a rebadged Daewoo, the SX4 is injected with a touch of the sporting spirit otherwise flaunted in the brand's mastery of two-wheeled products.
2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
Length: 165.8 inches
The Rabbit is so good that it has managed to slew such notable contenders as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla in a contest for small cars. The same agrarian power band that makes it a bit of a snore on open tarmac is ideally suited to city duty, both torquey and tractable from idle. One tester described the Rabbit's ride motions as "liquid," the kind of adjective you want attached to a car that will know cobblestones, potholes, and railroad crossings. The Rabbit is the same length whether you select the three- or five-door model.
2008 Volvo C30
Length: 167.4 inches
The Volvo C30 may be for you. Seventeen exterior and 12 interior color options mean you can order up something truly unique (or tasteless). The trademark combination of safety and sensibility is combined with the sexiest interpretation of Volvo design in 30 years. The turbocharged C30 is a good alternative for those whose don't appreciate the harsher edge of a GTI or Cooper S, or simply want better placement from the valet. The $23,445 (Rs 9.37lakh) entry point isn't exactly cheap, but it's the least expensive way to own the Volvo experience.
2008 Mazda 5
Length: 181.5 inches
The Mazda 5 remains the most compelling of the two vehicles in the wagon/minivan market--the other being the Kia Rondo--with a two-plus-two-plus-two seating arrangement in a vehicle barely longer than a Jetta. The Mazda 5 rides on an elongated Mazda 3 chassis, with which it shares its sprightly moves. Rear sliding doors bless both sides.
Although it is the longest vehicle on this list, it is still shorter than the average passenger car and takes full advantage of a high ceiling to offer oodles of usable space for less money than a Mini.
Courtesy: Reuters
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