Merry Christmas from Subcompact Culture

Have a safe, happy Christmas and New Year, and we'll see you in 2011. Thanks for reading Subcompact Culture. Without you, I'm writing to myself.

- Andy

RidePros giving away a MINI Cooper ... RC car

RidePros (powered by AutoAnything) is giving away a 1:20 scale MINI Cooper RC car. How do you win?

Go to their site, watch the vid, and in less than 50 words describe why the 1:20 scale could possibly beat a 1:1 MINI in an illegal street race. While I don't endorse street racing, I do endorse RC cars.

Check out the details here. Entries must be received by January 3 and a winner will be chosen on the 11th.

Toyota releases new Vitz

Here it is: The 2012 Toyota Vitz (aka Yaris). In Japan and other markets, the car will be available with a 1.0-, 1.3, and 1.5-liter engine driving either the front wheels or all of the wheels. In Japan, the car will be available in 17 colors, and Toyota hopes to sell 10,000 a month there. FYI, the Vitz/Yaris will be on sales in 70 countries, and has previously sold 3.5 million units.

Obviously the styling has changed, as has the interior. Gone is the rounded-off, bulbous shape. Also gone is the center-mounted dashboard. Transmission choices (again, in Japan) will be either the Super CVT-i (the only option on the 1.0 and 1.3 models) or a 5-speed manual or Super CVT-i on the 1.5 mill. I'm a bit surprised they didn't go with a six-speed. Also surprising is the fact the car will be available with the old 1NZ-FE 1.5-liter, which makes me wonder if that's the engine we'll get in the U.S. That engine debuted in the U.S. in the Toyota ECHO in 2000.

The sound of a Fiat 500 TwinAir two-cylinder

Maybe you saw Fifth Gear's video of the Fiat 500 TwinAir on Autoblog today. The one thing that video lacked was the TwinAir's sound, which is somewhat unique, since, well, it has two cylinders.

YouTube to the rescue! The little 900cc two-banger actually sounds pretty cool. Doubt we'll get this engine here in the States, but so be it. It's still cool.

New Vitz to debut tomorrow (Dec. 22) in Japan?

According to a thread on Yarisworld.com, the all-new Vitz (aka Yaris in the U.S. and other markets) will debut tomorrow (Dec. 22) in Japan. This is what one of the more tricked-out versions should look like. Quite a departure from the current version.

Here's a teaser from YouTube:




More info to come!

Dream Factory Blow turns Kei cars into miniature American classics

What else can I say: I love it. These little things are indeed works of art—so cool. Granted, the Chevy van isn't exactly "classic" and the Dream Factory Blow version doesn't exactly sound like a "driver's car," they're just too neat not to like.


LINK
Translogic
Dream Factory Blow

Honda recalls 1.35 million Fits

Honda is recalling 1.35 million Fits around the globe due to defective headlight wiring. This includes 143,000 Fits imported to the United States.

Trying to think of a "don't have a fit about the recall" pun, but nothing seems to work ... or fit? Damn it.

My favorite modification

I've made all kinds of modifications to my cars. From custom wheels and tires to short shift kits and stiffer bushings. I'm happy with all of the mods I have to my cars. However, if I had to choose a favorite modification, I'd have to say suspension.

Let's face it: Most small cars aren't that fast, and without putting tons of money into the engine, they'll never be straight-line cars. However, for not much money, you can upgrade your suspension system and make a heck of a difference in handling. In fact, I'd say that suspension modifications are the best mod you can do to an inexpensive small car.

Take, for example, my Toyota Yaris. I've currently got Tokico HP shocks, Tein S-Tech springs, and a TRD rear swaybar. These three modifications make the car so much more entertaining to drive, especially in the curves. Total investment: About $750. Add a set of sticker tires, and you can complete your suspension package. Of course, a lowered car typically looks better, too, so there's that added bonus. Of course, you don't have to spend that much on a suspension setup. You can just start with a set of springs for around $200.


And upgraded suspension is probably my favorite subcompact car modification for both performance and looks.

What's your favorite mod?

I grew up with small cars.

People ask, "So why small cars?" I typically give them the same response, which is it's what I've always had (among a bunch of factors I prefer in a car/truck). But it's true. Growing up, we always had one subcompact/compact and a larger vehicle, which was usually my dad's company car. Although there was some overlap, my family's car history looked something like this:

Small Car	Larger Car
Ford Pinto	Ford Torino?
Dodge Champ	Buick Century
Dodge Omni	Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra
Dodge Colt	Plymouth Voyager
Mitsubishi Eclipse	Jeep Cherokee
Mitsubishi Expo LRV	Jeep Cherokee (still)

Some time after the Eclipse was bought, my parents split (I blame Mitsubishi). My dad got a 1990 Jeep Cherokee, mom took the 1990 Eclipse.

However, after two years of having a leased Eclipse, it became apparent to my mom that it wasn't the optimal car for a single mother of two living in the snow belt. So, after showing her an article in Car and Driver about the '92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV (it was teal, I remember), she checked out the Mitsubishi Expo LRV Sport and bought an Amazon Blue version (with a gold pinstripe, thank you very much). I ended up with this car from 1994-1999 (still the longest I've owned a single car), mom bought another Eclipse (a '94 GS) and the rest was history ... kind of.

The Expo wasn't a "cool" car to me at the time (despite the custom exhaust and intake I put on it. Wait was it ever "cool"?), and I really liked the upcoming sport-compact scene. I ended up getting a '99 Nissan Sentra SE Limited (SR20DE-powered; at left), then going on a habitual car buying/selling spree until 2005, which is when I bought my Scion xB—the car that reinvigorated my appreciation for the smallest of small cars. The rest isn't history—more like the present. I now own a 2007 Toyota Yaris, a 2010 Suzuki SX4, and a 1995 Suzuki Sidekick.

Minor Rant: Oil Can Henry's charges more for four-wheel drive oil changes

This lady says "boooo!"

I usually do my own oil changes. However, since I now have a 9 to 5 job again, it makes finding time to do my own oil changes more difficult (and since I don't have a garage, it's done under my car port. I live in Oregon, which means it rains all the damn time). Anyway, I usually avoid quick lube places like the plague, but for convenience, they're hard to beat.

I'm pretty picky about going to these places, too. I refuse to bring my car to Jiffy Lube due to the numerous horror stories I've heard (including one from my dad where they ended up paying for a transmission replacement on his 1990 Jeep Cherokee). I have taken a vehicle to Oil Can Henry's before, and was fairly impressed. So what the hell—I'll do a price check on a basic oil change from them.

I just got off the phone, and asked how much they charge. The employee asks, "Two- or four-wheel drive?"

"Uh, four wheel drive," I say begrudgingly, knowing there must be an up-charge.

"$42.99," he says.

"And how much for a two-wheel drive?" I ask.

"$39.99."

Of course, now I'm wondering what their definition of a four-wheel drive is. So I ask if they consider my Suzuki SX4 a four-wheel drive vehicle. He asks me if it has a switch to move it into four-wheel drive, to which I respond, "Yes ..."

"Then yes, it's a a four-wheel drive," he replies.

"So why do you charge more for a four-wheel drive vehicle's oil change?" I ask curiously.

"It's because there's an extra box we inspect on the vehicle."

OK, so you're telling me you're going to charge me more money simply because there's another "box" on the car you're likely not even going to do anything with? It'd take literally seconds to look at the underside of my 2010 Suzuki SX4 AWD, and that allows you to charge more?

Sorry, that's BS in my opinion. How 'bout you skip the damn inspection and just change my freakin' oil?

/Rant

Next Chevrolet Aveo to be called "Sonic"

Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic drive-ins. There, I've said it.

Regardless of the naming convention, the Chevrolet Sonic appears to be a good looking little vehicle. Set to replace the current long-in-the-tooth Aveo (and keeping the Aveo for markets outside of North America), the Sonic could prove to be the first subcompact in years (perhaps ever?) to be a half-way decent vehicle. And yes, this will be built in Orion Assembly Center in Michigan, not in South Korea—I like that!

Luckily, the Sonic does not have big shoes to fill, since the Aveo is considered to be a bottom-of-the-barrel car for many. The current Aveo, however, has been posting impressive sales numbers as of late, so it will be interesting to see how the Sonic will be accepted. As far as I know, Cherry Limeades and tots will not be available. However, I do wonder if it'll come in blue. (Sorry, that's low-hanging fruit, and I know it.)

1984 RX-7 + built Ford 302 = awesome small sleeper

OK, so here's a garden variety '84 Mazda RX-7, right? Looks like it might need a new paint job. Got any mods to it?

s Oh my. Owner of this '84 has installed a Ford 302 under the hood. And this isn't just some junky 302. According to his post on Zuwharrie.com, this is a built 302 mated to a C6 transmission. Engine mods include MSD ignition, it's bored and honed, new Speedpro pistons, new rods, cam bearings,Comp cam, reground crank, headers, Edelbrock dual roller timing chain, custom driveshaft, and more. The C6 trans is also built, too.

This potent V-8 RX-7 has 4,000 miles on the engine. Plus, the interior looks really clean (be sure to click the link below for more photos). The owner is asking a very fair $3,500 for this pocket rocket. Man, this would be one fun and fast ride!

LINK: 1984 RX7 built 302/built C6 (bbs.Zuhwarrie.com)

What would be your 2010 Subcompact Car of the Year?

The end of the year always bring the "INSERT TITLE of the Year" awards. Film of the Year, Song of the Year, sports plays of the year, etc. Of course, there are the top cars of the year, too. Several sites have run their "INSERT CAR RELATED THING of the Year," and I thought, what would be my Subcompact Car of the year?

However, if I had to name a '10 model year vehicle as "Subcompact Car of the Year," I'd have to say the Kia Soul. Its sales have been outstanding, it's made people seriously look at the Kia brand that may have never considered a Kia. The Soul was marketed very well, and overall, the car is quite decent and is definitely a bang for the buck.In fact, the Soul, much like Scion's original xB, has brought new people into the small car realm, and that's significant.

Some don't like to think of the Soul as a subcompact, but its wheelbase is within subcompact territory. Its exterior isn't exactly C-segment, but more like B+ segment. So I'm sticking with my argument the Soul would be eligible for a Subcompact Car of the Year Award.

So what would your Subcompact Car of the Year be?

Now keep in mind, this would be for 2010 models only, so the Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2, for example, would be out of contention. These models will have to wait until 2011.

Project Sidekick: A little work goes a long way

So as you may remember, I bought a '95 Suzuki Sidekick (aka "Project Teal-Tastic"), and yes, there has already been work done. Not the "fun mods" kind of work, the "stuff I need to get it running/looking/working right" kind. But a little work goes a long way.

For starters (no pun intended), I replaced the battery. The battery that came with the vehicle would no longer hold a charge and it was the incorrect size, etc. I called around and got a great deal at Batteries Plus. Now the Sidekick starts up first twist of the ignition. Total cost? $57.

While replacing the battery, I noticed the metal battery tray was totally rusty, and there was a bit of rust on the inner fender panel, too. I wondered what would cause this because A) I'd driven the truck in the rain and it didn't leak and 2) the Pacific Northwest doesn't use salt. With the battery out of the truck I found the culprit: A pinhole leak in the windshield washer line. It had been likely been leaking, albeit slowly, for some time. A quick trip to NAPA and $1.26 fixed that leak. However, it pains me to think that $1.26 would have prevented all that rust in the bay. So be it.

A week-and-a-half ago, I took the trucklet up to my dad's garage to give it a good interior cleaning. If "amateur detailing" was a hobby, that'd be his. The interior now looks magnitudes better than when I received it. All this cleaning allowed me to get up close and personal with the vehicle, too, which allowed me to noticed other things that needed replacing.

So what's next? A new radio surround bezel, replacement manual crank window regulators, new trim for the soft top (so that it actually attaches to the truck. As you can see at the left, the trim is missing), and a new driver's side door handle. And when I mean "new" I mean "new to me."  In fact, I've got a trip to Eugene, OR on Sunday to pick up a bunch of parts. And that saga continues.

November 2010 subcompact sales

This was a half-and-half month: Half the models were up, half were down compared to this time last year. The pack was lead by the Kia Soul, up 122.8% over this time last year. It also gets a mark in the "win" category for the biggest year-to-date change thus far.

The big loser this month was the Kia Rio, which was down more than 70% and only sold 966 units. It, like the Accent and Yaris, are both basically unchanged since their introductions in 2006 (2007 for the Yaris). All three will be revamped for 2012. No major story on the slowest seller of the year—the Smart ForTwo—which continues its downward spiral.

The two newcomers paint an interesting picture, though. The Fiesta, launched in June, is already outpacing a number of the more established models. The Mazda 2, released in July, has only sold 2,187 models (only 462 models were sold in November). Only the MINI Cooper Convertible and aforementioned Smart ForTwo sold slower.

Make/Model	Nov. '10 vs. Nov. '09	Units Sept. '10	YTD '10 vs. '09	YTD sold '10
Kia Soul	+122.8%	5,582	+110.9%	60,743
Chevrolet Aveo	+47.5%	3,262	+26.8%	44,586
MINI Cooper/S Hardtop	+25.1%	2,030	+4.7%	44,586
Nissan Versa	+21.1%	6,724	+17.6%	89,504
Honda Fit	+12.2%	4,180	-20.8%	49,494
Hyundai Accent	+5.8%	4,052	-23.1%	49,191
Suzuki SX4	+5.0%	1,140	-47.0%	10,380
Scion xD	-5.6%	810	-31.1%	9,286
MINI Cooper S/Clubman	-13.4%	459	-24.0%	7,640
MINI Cooper S/Convertible	-27.7%	297	+13.6%	6,594
Nissan Cube	-35.9%	1,003	+18.8%	21,883
Toyota Yaris	-42.0%	2,154	-37.4%	36,654
Smart ForTwo	-67.5%	211	-61.0%	5,357
Kia Rio	-72.4%	966	-23.0%	23,675
Ford Fiesta	--	3,473	--	18,061
Mazda2	--	462	--	2,187