This time I will be riding a light truck.
It’s a car that sports car enthusiasts tend to think has nothing to do with it, but I’ve been interested in it for a long time because of its short wheelbase, lightweight mid-engine characteristics, and its history of supporting the Japanese economy.
About the specs, grade, and price of the car
I expect it to be a “standard” model with a new car price of 968,000 yen.
This is about 6600 dollars.
For now, I’ll pick up some of the specifications and write them down.
- Size is 3395x1475x1780mm
- Vehicle weight is 850kg (5MT is 820kg)
- Maximum load capacity is 350kg
- Minimum turning radius is 3.6m
- The engine is a 658cc straight 3 naturally aspirated engine.
- Maximum output is 46 horsepower at 5700 rpm
- Maximum torque is 60Nm
- CVT part-time 4WD
- fuel is regular
- Tire size is 145/80R12 for both front and rear
About grades and variations of Hijet trucks
Since this is something I’m curious about myself, I’ll write about it roughly.
All images are taken from the grade page of Daihatsu’s official website.
First of all, there is a “high roof” that has more headroom than the normal version.
There is also a “jumbo” that has an additional space for reclining.
There is also a grade called “Extra,” which features plated decoration and adds various luxury equipment.
There also seems to be a grade called “Agricultural Special” that is equipped with Hi-Lo switching, differential lock, loading dock light, and reinforced leaf springs.
It seems that options such as automatic brakes and automatic/manual/4WD will be added to this.
About the YouTube channel called “Takechiyo Club”
It’s a small story, but for me, light trucks have a strong image of a travel YouTube channel called “Takechiyo Club.”
The people on this channel travel in their Hijet trucks, running for hours and hours a day.
Exterior view
Finally, let’s get to the introduction of the actual car.
It’s an ordinary, old-fashioned light truck in Japan.
Beautiful warm light.
Personally, I like the retro feel of the taillights.
A safe and reliable cargo platform. What you can see in the lower left is an attachment light that can be attached to a GoPro.
He did a great job in this shoot.
Take a look underneath.
fuel cap. The fuel efficiency itself is not as good as that of a hybrid car.
about interior
It’s a miracle that in this day and age, the price of a new car doesn’t exceed 1 million yen.
It doesn’t feel luxurious, but the price alone is impressive.
I don’t know if it’s an option or what, but the seats are covered instead of cloth.
It has a nice texture.
The driver’s seat is simple, but it has a good view of the world.
The cup holder on the right is convenient.
A manual version is also available, but there is no tachometer.
The meter is quite simple, but you shouldn’t have any trouble.
It looks like you can put something on the meter, but it looks like it might slip and fall.
Even so, there is a mysterious space that looks like it could be solved by placing a non-slip mat.
Navigation is included in the center console. Very easy to use.
Nostalgic manual air conditioner. If you want to use the defogging function, it’s annoying that you have to move it all the way to the right.
The range of movement for adjusting the air volume is small, making it troublesome to make fine adjustments.
Driving assist system controls, 4WD switching, and push start are integrated.
There is nothing under the passenger side footwell.
The CVT shift knob and the cup holder are so low you can’t reach them.
side brake.
Occasionally, I see something that looks like an accessory case, but it doesn’t seem to be of much use.
Passenger side dashboard.
The passenger side door panel is the ultimate in simplicity. Power windows are not included depending on the grade.
The feet are also really simple. Thanks to these efforts, I can buy a new car for 1 million yen.
Enlarged view of the feet. The pedals are too simple. It’s interesting to see the wiring.
It seems like you can move the seat back and forth if you grab this part, but if you get close to it, you won’t be able to reach the headrest.
Also, I couldn’t find any mechanism for reclining.
Driving impression
Finally. First I try to close the door, but it’s so slow that it immediately becomes ajar.
I had a bit of a culture shock and thought, “It’s this light texture in 2022.”
What will happen if there is an accident…
By the way, when back parking, you can get this view by looking behind you.
Once you get used to it, you can’t beat it.
About height of perspective and leaning forward
What’s also surprising when you sit in the driver’s seat is that you have a very high perspective.
Also, I feel like I’m leaning forward slightly.
I feel like I’m constantly running at a Michael Jackson angle.
about powertrain
…So I start driving, but the start is excessively jerky.
After the engine roars noisily, it begins to move violently.
I thought that the non-turbo 660cc engine would have limited acceleration performance, but perhaps due to its 850kg weight and the effective control of the CVT, it accelerates with great vigor.
At around 60km/h, you can feel the car rapidly accelerating.
However, even if I opened the accelerator with a bang, it wouldn’t accelerate at all.
It takes too long to reach from 60km/h to 80km/h. I feel like I will never be able to reach 100km/h no matter how much time passes.
No matter how hard I pressed my foot, the engine was screaming loudly and I couldn’t even pick up speed.
I wonder how everyone does things like merging on the expressway…
about ride comfort
You can’t expect the ride quality of a light truck without any cargo on it.
The rear suspension is a leaf spring.
But I was betrayed.
It is true that there is a push up immediately after crossing the step. be blown away.
However, immediately after that, the reeds stroke firmly and suppress the uneasy shaking, so the comfort is just right.
Although it wasn’t designed to be a particularly comfortable vehicle, I was surprised at how comfortable it was.
steering feeling
The initial response was quite slow.
It won’t start moving unless I turn it about half a turn.
Also, while most models lock at 1.5 turns, this model rotates around 2.5 turns.
In situations where there are a series of sharp curves, the steering wheel is busy.
You have to turn a lot, so if you want to run at a fast pace, you need to think about how much time you have to turn the wheel.
However, the rolls are quite small.
As I said earlier, the tracking at the beginning of the turn is slow.
However, once you start turning, the change in attitude is suppressed from an early stage, allowing you to press the tires firmly against the road surface and apply load to use the tire grip in the horizontal direction.
I was surprised by the solid feel of the ride.
Regarding the dangers of sudden braking
As usual, I performed a sudden acceleration/sudden braking test on a straight line where safety had been confirmed.
This light truck’s engine is quite loud, so this time we carefully selected a place to rev it.
The acceleration power itself is poor, even though the engine sound is scary enough.
The problem here is what comes after. This is the movement during full braking.
The rear cannot keep up with the braking of the front two wheels, or rather, the rear seems to be trying to overtake the front.
Simply put, just applying full braking will cause the vehicle to spin out.
What level is it?
“It’s similar to when you apply full braking in a Prius PHV on an icy road.”
I want you to think about it calmly. Braking on a flat, dry road surface is as unstable as on an icy road when wearing studless shoes.
This is really dangerous. If you drive on an icy road, you run the risk of spinning just by stepping on the brakes. Although the weight of the vehicle itself is light, it is not possible to build up braking force stably.
This will likely become the biggest weakness of light trucks, which have short wheelbase mid-engine characteristics.
Regarding straight-line stability at high speeds
The maximum practical speed of this car is 80km/h.
It is difficult to achieve more than that in terms of engine power.
It’s best to keep in mind that it’s impossible to drive at speeds over 80km/h due to the feeling of ground contact, stability, and the danger of braking.
The minimum turning radius is an astonishing 3.6 meters.
The price of a new car does not exceed 1 million yen depending on the grade.
Let’s think carefully about what kind of car this is.
まとめ
Japanese Kei trucks are great.
Even though you can buy a new car for around 1.5 million yen at ComicCom, you can use it so conveniently.
This led me to seriously consider buying something for maintenance and driving on snowy and forest roads.
P.S. Detailed review from a certain light truck driver
In the comments section of this article, we received reviews from people who have actually ridden the bike.Since the content was very good, I would like to introduce it in the main text.thank you
2022年のマイナーチェンジ前のスバルサンバートラック（OEM二代目）に乗る機会が多いので、コメントさせて頂きます。
リクライニング機能が無いのはキツイです。スバルが自社生産していた頃は標準でリクライニング付きの椅子が採用されていたので不満に思います。ただ、キャビンの大きいジャンボではリクライニング椅子が搭載されているので長距離移動にはもってこいかと。
運転姿勢に関しては、「身長140㎝のおばあさんから180㎝の兄ちゃんまで運転できるように設計した」と、どこかの本に書いてあった気がします。
私の場合だと身長が低いのであまり高い位置に居る感覚がしないので、座高の高さがモロに出るものと思います。変速はMT車なのであまり参考にならないと思いますが、結構ギクシャクするのは共通です。クラッチを離すと一気に抜けてガックンとしますし、2速以降をいきなり繋ぐとやっぱりガックンと加速します。クラッチを一気に踏みつつ直ぐに変速しつつ、3速まで半クラを意識すると大分、ギクシャクは緩和されるのでMT車を運転する際は参考にしてみてください。
加速は実は3速辺りまでは結構早く加速します。ジャパンタクシーと競争してもメーター読み35㎞辺りまではアクセル８分踏みでも先に加速出来ます。ただ、40㎞を越えると加速が鈍くなります。具体的には４速に変速すると加速が緩やかになります。５速は加速出来ません。５分踏みで５０㎞から６０㎞に平地で加速するのに６秒程。
踏み込んでも加速しないので速度を上げる場合はギアを落として一気にペダルを踏み込んで加速します。それでも加速は遅いままです。６０㎞から８０㎞まで４速だと１５秒程で加速しますが、フィアットのツインエアやデミオと比較すると論外です。乗用車は目いっぱい踏み込まなくても加速してくれるので。
高速道路の合流はギアを落として無理やり加速。CVT車は乗った事が無いのでよく分かりません。
実は1速がよく効きます。クラッチを繋げたまま5㎞を下回ってもエンストしないので下り坂で結構役に立ちます。まあ、あぜ道を超低速で走る車なので当然ですが。2速もエンジンブレーキがよく効き、20㎞制限の道でよくお世話になっています。
軽トラは高速域での話ばかり出ますが、低速域では極めて良好な性能を発揮します。
あと大声では言えないのですが……2速でも発進できます。私は3速で発進させてしまった事があります。乗り心地に関しては、私の運転しているモデルだと車重１tに迫るので単純に比較は出来ませんが、意外と良好なのは変わりありません。乗用車には劣りますが、300㎞ぐらいなら運転できる程度の居住性と乗り心地です。ただ、荷物を300㎏程載せると段差をやたらと拾ったりと悪化します。なので標準モデルで積載350㎏までは乗り心地は担保されているものかと。
車内は思っているよりは広いです。特に天井が。ハイルーフモデルだと車高が1.8mを越えるので頭上の圧迫感は少ないです。収納はサイズの割には多いのが特徴です。ドリンクホルダーに1Lの紙パックだって入ります。ただ、シフト上のドリンクホルダーに物を入れると、微妙に変速しにくくなります。
ただ、キャビンが絶望的に狭いのでリュックサックを助手席に人が乗ると置くのに苦労します。ジャンボなら座席裏に比較的広い収納スペースがあるのですが、標準キャブだと座席裏の空間は停止表示機材を置くだけで一杯になってしまいます。ハンドルは狭い路地や山道でスピードを出して曲がる場合を除けば、自然と流すだけで思い通りに走ってくれます。ハンドルは2周半まで切れますが、慣れれば自然に回すようになります。慣れです。コツはゆっくりを進みながら一気にハンドルを回す事。
ただし、後退時を除く。後退時は前進時ほど曲がりませんので、前進時の感覚でハンドルを切ると痛い目に遭います。それでも乗用車よりはよく曲がります。
急ブレーキを掛けて身の危険を感じた事はありません。ただ、やっぱり後輪が滑ります。
具体的には滑る後輪を無理やり重量で押し付けている感覚するので、車重が重い方が急ブレーキ時の安定性が増すものかと思います。不安定である事に変わりはありませんが。
そもそも速度を出す車ではないので割り切っているのでしょう。制動距離は空積時の方が短いのは言わずもがな。
高速直進性は悪いですが許容範囲内です。しっかりとハンドルを握れば問題はありません。
ただし横風が吹いていなければ。
横風が吹いていれば途端に直進性が悪化します。風に煽られてハンドルを小刻みに動かさないと直進は不可能です。
強い横風なら50㎞を越えるとハンドルを取られるような感覚がします。80㎞ではハンドルを抑えつかないと横転しかねません。それほど風に弱い車と言えます。
首都高湾岸線やゲートブリッジ、伊勢湾岸自動車道のような海沿いの道を走る場合は覚悟が必要です。
ショートホイルベースのデメリットがモロに出てしまいます。燃費はカタログで15㎞ぐらい。実測だと平均12～14㎞。市街地走行や急加速が多いと10㎞を下回ります。加速は鈍いですが、60㎞までは難なく到達できるので速度維持を心がければ燃費は稼げます。ただしアクセルから足を離すと途端に速度が下がり始めるので、ふんわりとアクセルを踏み続けなければいけません。
5速でもエンジンブレーキは健在です。余談
実は軽トラでも100㎞は出ます。しかし、とにかく不安定ですし何より燃費が悪化します。メーター読みで85㎞ぐらいまでが限度でしょう。ただ、メーター読み80㎞を越えると燃費が悪化するので実際の経済速度は75～8㎞程度と思われます。
それと東京大阪程度なら問題なく走行できます。1日で往復も可能（らしい）。ただ、これは個人の体力と相性の話になります。
それと10万㎞に達していない軽トラックでも状態は悪いものが多いです。理由は農家が過積載して収穫物を運んでいるから。メーカーは1トン積んでも壊れないように作っているそうですが、無理させている事には変わりありません。中古車を買う場合は田舎よりも都会の個体を買うのが無難かと。
ただ、普通の軽トラだと新車から30万㎞程度は走行できるそうです。
自社生産時代のサンバーなら50万km越えの個体もザラです。エンジンは載せ替えているそうですが。以上の点から、もしも仮に軽トラックを購入されるのであればキャビンの広いジャンボをお勧めいたします。車重が重いので若干、安定性が増しますし何よりキャビンが広く椅子がリクライニングする。荷台が狭くなるのがデメリットですが、軽トラ一杯に荷物を積む機会はあまり無いので快適性と使い勝手を取るべきかと思います。
