yaris ads

i just saw the ads for the yaris. they're like tinier versions of XA,
except they're not Scions, although they may be, since I read that XA
is discontinued.

BreadWithSpam...

I haven't seen that (discontinued) but the Yaris is not
'tinier' - the Yaris Liftback is almost identical in size
to the xA. Overall length 3.5 inches shorter, wheelbase
is about 3.5 inches longer. Width and height identical
and interior dimensions all within an inch or two. Engine
is identical.

But the Yaris also comes in a larger sedan version -
20 inches longer than the liftback and with a good bit
more interior space.

They look great. It's about time we got some cars out
there which are the right size for commuters and which
get gas mileage in the 35-40 mpg range. It'd be nice
to see the Smart cars (I went to smart.com to try to
look up some specs, but it's amongst the most horrendous
and unnavigable and uninformative web pages I've ever seen).
ZapWorld.com plans on bringin the Smarts into the US,
but they expect them to be about $25k (instead of the
$10-$14k that the xA and Yaris cost). I've seen claims
that the Smarts get 60mpg. For size comparison, the
Smart car is "just over 8 ft. long" - around 100 inches.
The Yaris Liftback and xA are 154 and 150 in. respectively.

I wouldn't want to have any of those as my only car,
nor would I want to use any of them for long trips, but
for a typical local commute - in my case, to a train
station a few miles away - they'd be pretty spiffy.
I can imagine them being a family's second car, though
that, I guess, is not how they're marketed. The xA
and Yaris are being marketed to young folks who want
new but cheap cars.

I saw an ad for a new very tiny Honda, too - some
wierd business with the car upside down and coming
out of a ceiling, falling to the floor and landing
on its wheels?

Ah, the Fit. It's a 4-dr hatchback, 157" long -
a little bigger than the yaris and xA hatchbacks,
but four doors is a nice feature. It's also a
little more expensive.

what do you think of them?

suretrade001...

my bad, yaris is actually a redesigned ECHO.