I’m 99% certain that’s a 2nd Gen Honda Acty. Which means it has at best a .7 liter engine making 45hp.
The wannabe monster truck at minimum would have a 4.3 V6 making almost 300hp. But the particular spec in the picture typically has the 5.3 V8 at around 355 HP.
Kei trucks are cool. But they’re like a big golf cart with a flatbed.
I have a Daihatsu Hijet on my property. Pretty much use it like a quad. Spray paint camo job, 4x4, dump bed, w/ rear locker. Pretty awesome at pulling shit, getting thru muddy spots, etc.
I’ll say this - that little Hijet is a much, much more capable little rig than my 2014 Taco, let alone the stupid bro-dozer in the picture. I’ll probably bring it with me elk hunting next year so I can load up the bed with elk quarters and crawl out of the bush
Have you ever towed anything? Towing a trailer of that size and weight with a car like that, even if legal, is sketchy as fuck. Especially on hills or mountains. Where I am from its legal to take that picture, it’s not legal to get on the road. For good reason. A capable truck is much safer for that purpose, for everyone.
Doing that in the states would be illegal. Our payload and towing capacity are calculated differently which vastly drops the ammount you are legally allowed to carry. For example a jeep wrangler in Europe has a towing capacity of 5000Lb (2300Kg) but the same exact jeep in the states can only tow 3500Lb (1600kg)
Speeds are a per state basis however a good chunk of them do in fact have separate speed limits for vehicles with trailers. For example, California limits vehicles with three or more axles to 55 MPH (88kph).
Well some people do. I did for about 3 years, 4+ times a week (work and hobbies) but those are all gone now so looking to trade it in.
Not defending the absurd legislation that makes these keep getting bigger but there are a legit few people who actually regularly make full use of everything a full size offers.
I had a 2015 Nissan Frontier a with a tow capacity of about 6500 lbs. Bought a hitch receiver and towing wiring…and never installed it. Never towed a damned thing with that truck, even though I had it in my brain that surely I would at some point.
I like the motto of optimizing for the things I do more frequently, not for the edge cases. It’s up to you to decide where that line is. But maybe if the need for something larger is rare enough, you can find another option like renting something. I know renting is a pain, but if it’s rare you don’t have to do it all that much.
I live in a blue collar neighborhood. Big trucks owned by tradesmen/women everywhere. They absolutely use them frequently for what they’re capable of. Some of them have a second cars for groceries etc. but I’m glad there are not two cars for every truck because parking would be a bitch, and wouldn’t save much gas. If they were to rent for the “rare trip,” it would be the grocery store. No one is gonna rent for a grocery store trip when they can just happily drive their truck. The store is closer than the rental agency.
My dad’s VW Touareg could tow like 7700 lbs, which is more than a lot of trucks and easily enough to pull plenty of boats and campers. Even a compact SUV that can tow 3500 lbs can pull some boats and campers as long as people don’t buy giant oversized versions of those, too.
Not the same bed width or volume though. Not the same comfort level in the cab or crew capacity. Definitely not the same towing capacity. It’s silly to buy the bigger truck just to drive around town, but there are plenty of legitimate reasons to get one.
Are you going to tell me that insane difference in vehicle and engine size and weight is needed to gain that extra inch and a half of bed width? I think we can agree it is absolutelty not and I am pretty sure you can find a model of the sane truck with a larger/longer bed as well. Actually here it is, and it hauls way more than the “truck”, crazy bro they even made a version thats closed and higher so you can bring like 3x more stuff and it doesnt rain on your precious power tools or literally whatever you are carrying around.
Not the same comfort level in the cab or crew capacity.
Sorry what? Comfort level? You mean like ass-heating seats or cup holders? Werent we talking about a work vehicle? And even if not, what comfort feature is it not possible to implement in the smaller one? A toilet in the backseats? The crew capacity argument kinda “holds” in the very very specific and nieche scenario where you need to carry a very big team… but also not that many tools and materials? And I think we can agree 99,99% of the trips done in those don’t fall within this scenario.
Definitely not the same towing capacity.
14000 libs towing capacity, my brother in christ, do you need to tow a tank? Because if not, the only thing that number is towing is its marketing
It’s silly to buy the bigger truck just to drive around town, but there are plenty of legitimate reasons to get one.
And that’s kind of what this entire community is advocating for; I don’t think no one cares if a person that actually needs a worktruck buys the silly type of truck for actual work (even though this posts wants to say that for A LOT of those cases there might be a financially and efficiency-wise better alternative). What’s stupid is that roads in some countries around the world are filled with them and I assure you 99% of them are used for the 1% they are advertised for.
Wall of text, forgot to say that they also have shitty visibility, while the second type one is great
I’m glad you said this. This truck comparison I’ve seen going around is getting tiresome. If someone’s only measure of a work vehicle is bed length, I suggest they widen their scope.
The Ford Maverick is the smallest, if that’s what you’re thinking. A bit larger, but with better towing and off-road ability, you’re looking at Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon, Toyota Tacoma, and Nissan Frontier.
Yikes?! A Ford RANGER is considered a small truck to you?? They’re part of the growing plague of stupidly large trucks in my part of the world!? :-/ I mean I knew the US had big trucks but I never thought the Ranger would be considered the small alternative?! We’re so screwed?! :-(
It’s so shocking?! I’m looking at a Ranger out in the car park right now and trying to imagine something bigger parked out there?! It wouldn’t fit within the bounds of the parking space?! Already if there were two Rangers parked next to each other there wouldn’t be enough room to walk between them, even if you turned side on :-/ Let alone having room to be able to open the door and get in & out?!
In fact I can see that it’s had a flow on effect whereby every other parked car has had to park on the extreme edge of their space to allow room to open the door and get out. If there was one more Ranger anywhere along the line someone would be likely blocked from getting in or out of their car!
The Ranger in the 80s and 90s was a perfectly reasonable size. The new ones are gigantic next to them, but they’re still smaller than almost anything available in the North American market.
It is one of the smallest available in US. Of course I’m referring to Tacoma with a standard cab, not the People Hauler 5000 it’s basically a minivan crew cab configuration.
The Tacoma would actually be my pickup of choice. I hate the modern styling, but the Toyota build is just so solid & Ford as of late has been disappointing. To say the least. The green movement is not only based on size, but how durable a product is & if it can last for many, many years of reliable operation. Unfortunately we do not have Hilux, but Tacoma is America’s version of Hilux.
Now this is just personal taste, but I really don’t like the looks of that truck. Cosmetically, I put it on the same level as the Chevy Colorado. Generally speaking, Hyundai isn’t known for quality builds like Toyota, not even close.
That said: the new Hyundai Elantra makes the short list of vehicles I’d be interested in, buying new. Scotty Kilmer praises its naturally aspirated, non-turbo engine & traditional build components. Thinks it could last a long time. 👍🏻
I love it so far, especially now that I got a bed extender so I can haul full sheets of plywood and such.
It’s got a ton of power under the hood. I average around 26/30mpg, but my wife averages 28/32-35mpg
It’s really roomy inside too. I’m 6’3 and this is the first vehicle I’ve driven where I didn’t have to move the seat all the way back. And people are able to sit comfortably behind me.
I highly recommend trying to get one with the tourneau cover on the bed, because it’s amazing. But don’t get the trailer hitch from them. You can save $3-400 having a local mechanic do it.
My only real gripes are that the AC blows too hard on its lowest setting (for me) if just the upper vents are blowing. The ride is also pretty smooth, so I often catch myself speeding without realizing it. Also that the steering wheel controls don’t have a play/pause button.
I’d skip the Santa Cruz largely since Hyundai/Kia are experts at cost-cutting that blows up big in customer faces down the line. (anti-theft, engines, warranty work, wiring, etc.) but your options are already limited so I wouldn’t blame you for getting it. I’d get the base engine/transmission though if you anticipate stop/go traffic or off-road use since the dual-clutch in the upper engine option is better than dry clutch models but IMHO still suspect.
I would lean towards the Maverick but neither are really “small” since they’re still pretty long.
There’s the Transit Connect if you want a cargo van that’s compact.
EPA regulations that car manufacturers used as a way to game the system by not focusing on ICE efficency, hybridization, transitioning to electric sooner.
This is the same reason sedans have gotten larger or disappeared in favor of “cross-overs”.
For real, these things are basically minivans for suburban dads. The primary thing this thing will be hauling is kids to soccer practice. At Christmas time, though, he’ll go get the tree from Home Depot himself, instead of needing to have it delivered.
Kei cars/trucks/vans are limited to the following requirements to be categorized as such per Japanese regulations:
Length − up to 11.2 ft Width − up to 4.9 ft Height − up to 6.6 ft Engine capacity − up to 660 ccs Power − up to 63 hp Capacity − up to 4 passenger seats Load-carrying capacity − should not exceed 771.6 pounds
1200 is technically possible. But it’s past designed brake, suspension, transmission capacity of any Kei truck. I’d urge you to use caution if ever doing it again. Wouldn’t go over 20 mph if you can even reach it at that weight.
I definitely don’t disagree with you on transmission and breaking. You can do 35 with 1200lbs of load but a Toyota Hilux will do a better job and I would not drive a Kai truck on the highway regardless of what’s in the bed, your knees are a few inches of thin sheet steel construction from the outside world.
The smaller truck probably carries more in loads than 90% of all pickups on the roads unfortunately. They’re not being used like they’re designed to be. Or they’re being used exactly how they’re designed to be I guess.
Okay then how about something truck owners do a lot. Which one is better for a husband wife and two kids? Which one can reach highway speeds? Which one won’t make you deaf trying to drive to work?
The Ford Fiesta, a subcompact, can tow 2,000lb. For the vast, vast majority of tow jobs a standard car with a hitch will be just fine. Fuck, half of England tows RVs across their country every summer and they mostly drive cars smaller than Americans.
Oh, and the person driving that Kei truck? He likely doesn't own it, it's for his job. Trucks are work vehicles. Almost no Americans need pickup trucks. It's a luxury status symbol that's highly dangerous. The few times someone needs to haul shit, you can rent one and then you don't have to worry as much about scratching the pristine bed that 99% of American truck owners never use.
Again, those are nice vehicles but can’t replace a truck for certain things. A truck can haul much more weight and I wouldn’t want a van because a lot of the time the stuff we’re hauling is too big to fit inside or just straight up garbage and debris that I’d rather have in an outside bed.
I mean the whole rest of the world seems to manage just fine without these, and we have tradesmen as well? The cabins can be as clean or dirty as you need, I’ve seen everything, loading trash or debris is also fine. If you’re really carrying mostly gravel or other type of stuff like that then you’d have something specialized for that with a much bigger box than on your pickups, or rent it for the job.
But looking at your other comments in the thread I see that you’re just set in your ideas and just looking at finding justifications for niche cases where it might be a superior vehicle, which I don’t deny certainly exist, but that’s not the problem, the problem is these are a dime a dozen if not the majority on your roads, and they’re not at all good as normal vehicles whereas the vans are. Also they’re honestly just superior in pretty much every way, flat bottom, low load-in height, can accept pallets, stuff stays dry, locked, engines are efficient and not crazy oversize and gaz-guzzling, they have good viewing angles at the front (e.g. you would see a child in front of the vehicle), etc etc etc.
So you agree with me than? Idk how many times I have to say yes I agree most people don’t need trucks, I don’t personally like trucks nor have I ever had one and I don’t plan on ever getting one, but they should still exist for those niche cases (although there seems to be more than you think exist). I’ll admit I was wrong about a trucks payload when compared to a van but it still wouldn’t work for most of the work I do. If you wanna carry the four person team that I work with they’d have to sit in the back taking away from the space required to haul materials, not to mention even if we wanted to drop two guys and have the full cargo space we still wouldn’t be able to haul as much as we can in our truck bed.
Also I agree vans are superior in a lot of ways, if they work for you I would absolutely suggest getting one instead of a truck, and some of your points are great but I gotta ask. You think trucks can’t accept pallets?! I feel like it’s far easier to put a pallet in a truck than a van lol. Not to mention you can stack multiple pallets on a truck! Also the low flat bottom is certainly a plus for some cases but that’s negative for when we need to haul materials off road on some shitty lumpy mud trails. And as far as gas guzzling goes trucks have become a lot more efficient over the years, obviously they’re still about the worst personal vehicles you can get as far as gas mileage goes but vans aren’t that much better.
I think we do agree, it’s hard to tell sometimes haha. I base my view that they’re not needed by 99% of the population on the fact I see much less than 1% of them on our roads (thankfully) and everyone seems to be doing just fine.
I get it, they’re kind of a middle ground trying to do it all but it fails at doing so imo and in the process, creates dangerous and polluting vehicles, compounded by the fact they’re getting bought on whim or as social status but then never see the use they’re supposed to be made for, just terrible all around.
But indeed I don’t deny they can be good specialized vehicles, I just think these cases are <1% of the population like if you’re chasing bears in the arctic or something, and certainly trades people etc would generally not need them and be better served by alternatives.
Lol I hear ya, especially over the internet! But yeah, we definitely agree that there are far too many trucks on the road and too many people buying trucks for dumb reasons.
That’s anecdotal evidence, I’ve never even seen a kei truck in real life but that doesn’t mean I think they aren’t out there, and sure you could fit a couple guys up front. But I’ve seen plenty of teams of 4 or sometimes even more come piling out of a work truck. I’m currently in one with four people right now! And just to be clear I agree there are far too many trucks and not every suburban dad needs one, but you blame the driver not the truck. There are absolutely instances where a full size truck is the best vehicle for the job, just like there are instances where a kei truck makes far more sense.
Of course, but that doesn’t mean one should get it. If you are gonna haul wood once a year, you are not BUYING a log trailer and just tow it behind you vehicle through the city all year - like a sensible person, you rent one for a day or two.
You did, but said I blame the driver not the truck. Who else to blame? The driver bought and is using the vehicle. I am not against using a vehicle for it’s job, but so many drivers just don’t do that.
I am sure the F-150 has a legitimate use, but it’s seldom used to it’s full potential, and for some reason it’s MOSTLY used legitimately.
Yeah exactly get mad at the driver who buys a truck they don’t need. But don’t be mad at trucks simply for existing, they have good reasons to exist. That’s the only point I’m trying to make.
Idk why I thought otherwise lol that’s my bad but yeah looking back I agree with all your comments lmao, it seems like there are others in this thread that just straight up don’t think trucks should exist though lol
It’s not about what you have, it’s what you do with it. I have carried things in my small sedan that you would never believe. You are just underestimating japanese tech and Mexican capacity for not giving an f.
The Suzuki Carry has a bed width of 1585mm (62.4") the Silverado has a max bed width of 64.8" (1646mm) so 60mm/2.5" wider. But the Silverado’s bed isn’t rectangular, ie if you want to lay something flat, the widest it can be is 50" (1270mm). That’s a foot narrower than the Suzuki.
The Silverado has higher walls which imo isn’t really a plus or minus. (More bulk materials, and less need to tie things down, but harder to access the things).
There are a lot of other differences in available configurations. I think the reason a lot of people prefer Silverados boil down to esthetics, and the perceptions of others. I think that for a lot of men, pickup trucks are an expression of their masculinity. They want something big and powerful that they can take into the woods and be manly^tm^ with.
A Carry is very practical and if I owned a landscaping business I think that’s what I’d want my crews to be driving.
But also, I’m not a business owner. I’m a man and I get it. Honestly I’d way rather own that enormous impractical pickup. I’m more likely to be hauling hockey gear than lumber and drywall. I’m tall and girthy, I appreciate a spacious cab. I have child seats in my car.
Maybe men should stop pretending they don’t care a lot about fun.
Edit to add: but I do agree we need society to be less car/truck centric.
Tbh I was going to say that at least some of the new fangled pick ups have easy to remove wheels, most of that stuff is easy to check, replace tires etc, but besides that from what I’ve been told they’re as much a pain to drive as they are to giveaway to
Yeah, but what if you needed to haul a team of volunteers to do disaster relief with a 9,000 pound trailer filled with water and food and then use the empty bed to haul debris away while rescuing survivors from the flood waters?
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