Cappuccino experiences anyone ?

deevey

Okies .. for the past 10 years I've fallen in love with these miniature cars and it looks like im nearing the stage of actually owning one, wondering if any other boardsies have experience with them.

Bear in mind I intend to use this as a daily driver possibly quite a bit of driving too, not just weekend fun.

Am I better off importing one from japan, although pricewise they actually work out more expensive, but more variety, colors and lower milage - VRT is 670 euro.

Also wondering what they are like from a security point of view .. how easy are they to break into? being (mostly) convertible, and the area here isnt the best but not the worst.

Cappo

Where to start

There has already been some discussion on the Cappuccino on a tread on motors called


most fun car under 1.0L


However just to recap


Background

"The public first saw the project car in 1989 at the Tokyo Motor show. Built in Japan from 1991-1997, this car was a successful entrant in the Kei-class sector of the Japanese market. Body length less than 3.3m, body width not exceeding 1.4m, engine under 660cc. This means that it’s diminutive dimensions and engine size fall into a category created by the Japanese government called the K-Class or Kei-class. This class carried car tax incentives, to encourage car owners to buy smaller machines, leaner city vehicles for the congested and polluted streets of Japan. Benefits include access to certain small roads, on-street parking free of charge, and other things which are normally forbidden to the motorist in Japan.

Various other car models flourished in this sector of the market, all invariably boring, square-shaped shopping carts.

However, Suzuki, Mazda and Honda came up with a few variations on the theme when they created their sports models. Honda came up with the mid-engined Honda Beat, an attractive little soft-top roadster. Mazda sold a rare model named the Mazda A-I, a gull-wing coupe using the Suzuki engine. But Suzuki came up with the much celebrated class-beater - The Suzuki Cappuccino. Technically the car won huge critical acclaim, deservedly heaped upon the car’s designers.

Compliant with the K-class specification requirements, the engine was kept under 660cc. Suzuki produced the 657cc unit, and added a turbo. It’s a three-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder, producing 63.1 bhp at around 6,500rpm. Turbo interjection is at 2,000rpm. but all the action is
carried out far above that figure. The tachometer shows 12,000rpm (!), red-lining at 8,500. It takes the 700kg machine there courtesy of a rear-drive chassis that is beautifully balanced, allowing the tail to ease smoothly out to the side on it’s double-wishbone suspension setup, only to be easily gathered up both cleanly and accurately with a flick of the wrist. The car’s low centre of gravity, combined with absolute minimal overhang at each end, provide for kart-like handling through the precise, non-powered rack and pinion steering. Disk brakes are provided on all four wheels.

Such was the acclaim and demand for the car, Suzuki (GB) imported as many units as they could get their hands on for the European market (about 1,200) including very small numbers for Belgium, Holland, Germany and Sweden. In Ireland, I estimate there is about 20-25 cars – all personally imported from the UK or Japan.

The brilliant hard top is removable in 3 segments, leaving the driver with 3 choices: Coupe, Targa, or full open-top motoring. These tuck away ingeniously into the boot, each roof piece into it’s own cover. Once the roof is safely stowed away, the heated rear windscreen slides back in to the car body.

Performance
Owners have debated long and hard over the stats! The truth is, a standard un-modified Cappo takes from 8 to 10 seconds approx to reach 60 mph, it needs third gear to do this, so physically changing up through the gears adds
dramatically to the time.

Top speed is electronically restricted to 87mph, but de-restricted it will reach 110mph, and highly modified cars can apparently hit 130mph and a 0-60 in 4.5 seconds!

Fuel consumption.
Cappuccino achieves 40mpg easily around town, about 58mpg at a constant 56mph. Again this is a key element of what the K-class car was intended to be, fun, highly economical and environment friendly."



The Cappuccino is a superb little car to drive.

The handling is unbelievable! Had it on a track day in Mondello and it was a blast – keeping up with much faster traffic on the twisty bits and in the rain!

The best bit though is the roof. 5 arrangements are possible. Very ingenious and you will get attention. Do not buy if you are a shrinking violet. I have already had people shouting and staring!

Practicality is not a strong point. 4 Bags of shopping, but if you can keep the passenger seat free, the foot-well can take quite a large bag. You will learn to pack with bags, forget suitcases.

Safety is an issue as well. You need to be extra careful in the wet!!

For a car designed in the late 80s, before the increase of SUV’s - the Cappuccino is about a safe as most - has side impact bars and with the roll bar up it should survive a roll - but having said that I would not like to test it!

In traffic I tend to drive it like a motorcycle - extra extra alert!!!

One other warning – one word – wet roundabouts!!! OK two words!

Watch insurance. Although it has a 660cc engine, it can be very expensive for anyone under 25.

Parts are expensive. Turbo = 2500, headlight unit = 500. You get the idea.

Most parts for the older engine model EA11R (two engine types EA11R and EA21) are available in the UK as it was officially imported but larger items would have to be shipped from Japan.

Security is an issue with all sports cars – it’s about a secure as any other car of its age – the metal roof helps. I garage mine but I found the biggest problem is vandalism – I have had it “keyed”, panels kicked and fools trying to lift it, fueled by alcohol (bumper torn off).

Some owners had fitted “removable” steering wheels for when the car is parked with the roof off.

It looks are cute, the performance is spectacular, considering the fuel consumption (45MPG+) and it's a real hoot to drive - even at 'sensible legal' speeds.

For those who appreciate automotive design, check out some of the features:

4 roof configurations, light-weight aluminum panels, double wishbone suspension, rear wheel drive and an 8500rpm red line on its 3-cylinder engine.

I wouldn't recommend a Cappuccino though to the following groups of people:

1) Large ones (over 6ft)

2) Shy ones (lots of comments – is it a toy – do you wind it up)!

3) Those who need boot space (forget it when you have the roof panels in the boot – a packet of crisps – squashed at that)!

4) Those who think of cars as phallic symbols (is that Barbie’s car – how would you have sex in that)!

To everyone else, you (probably) don't know what you're missing.

I have had mine for eight years and it is certainly the best car I have ever had and every day I drive it I have a huge grin on my face.

I drove it as my regular car for 4 years and it served me very well – I commuted about a six mile journey a mix of suburban roads, country roads and motorway. I soon found that I was going out of my way to use the country road!

You will learn very quickly why the Japanese people are so neat. You have to pack and think about what you are going to carry in the car very carefully!


There is lots of stuff about the car on the official Cappuccino Club site with lots of questions answered in the FAQ section


www.score.org.uk


For parts and tuning stuff

www.cappuccinosport.com

deevey

Apologies for taking so long to ask even more (maybe silly) questions...

When I mentioned high milage I was kinda thinking 15-20k miles per year (possibly) using it as a "meet-the-clients/ promo car" for my own company, would it be up to it ?

Whats the reckoning on getting an Import vs Irish is it worth it? - the grief, nicer color variations, milage etc...

I also just saw the AZ-1 browsing on a japanese auction site :eek: Between the gullwing mazda Az-1 and a Cappuccino whacha reckon ? (they dont have a VRT price on the AZ-1 though on the Revenue site.) has anyone seen any over here ?

Is there any agencies that will handle ALL the fee's handling legwork etc.. for imports.

I know its the same engine as the cappu, but cant find very much "real" info on the AZ-1 regards real world driving, performance, reliability, etc.. anything that looks like it might be worthwhile is no more than engrish at best

... Am I nuts even considering

BTW.. I looked into the insurance on these well before I was 25 and a provo licence and it still worked out cheaper than my mothers Ford KA to insure by over 200 euro !!!! (although only 620 euro to insure me now muhahahaha)

Thanks for any pointers, appriciate the help.

Cappo

Mileage should not be a problem but it’s going to be an “old” car so you would need to keep it serviced regularly.

“Irish” cars are rare enough and it needs a lot of searching to find a good rust-free one – as mentioned Japanese models tend to fare better then the “UK” version.

There are agencies who will source a car in Japan and buy it at auction – there are grades of condition in Japan grade 3 of 4 is considered good to excellent. Grade 4.0 would set you back about €6-7K excluding VRT. The only one I know of is http://japnuts.com/
But I am sure that there are others.

The Mazda AZ 1 is a very attractive car – none in Ireland as far as I know. A guy in the SCORE club based in Holland has one (its also known as the Suzuki CARA) and he says the interior is really, really small and tight (smaller then the Cappuccino) so if you are anyway tall forget it. Same engine as the Suzuki, but re-badged Mazda. They are also very rare so I reckon parts are always going to be a pain.
:cool: