On August 15, 2023, Automotive News (paywalled site) reported Mitsubishi may be discontinuing its thrifty Mirage model after MY2024. This really isn't that much of a surprise since automakers have been abandoning the subcompact market for years now in North America. (Mitsubishi Japan already killed off the Mirage, FYI.) Then today, I heard word via Carscoops Kia is going to stop selling its Rio in the U.S. This leaves just the MINI brand and its small cars and the Nissan Versa as the sole subcompact car offerings in the U.S. I'm not surprised.  Numerous outlets have reached o ..read more

  This is our old Suzuki Sidekick, The Teal Terror. We sold our trusty Sidekick in 2016 and I hadn't seen it since until now.  Frankly, I'd always wondered what happened to the thing and if it was still running. On January 14 of this year, a member of our Subcompact Culture Facebook Group says: Bought this Sidekick last January of 2021 and it had Subcompact Culture stickers on the sliders. Never knew it was a group. Only vehicles I had ever owned up to that point was full sized Fords pickups and I’ve have never owned a vehicle that was more fun. Wish I still had it. Wait, w ..read more

  Today was a big day. Today we sold our 2007 Toyota Yaris. This marks a lot of milestones. This marks the end of an era.  We bought our 2007 Toyota Yaris liftback brand new in '07 from a local dealership in the Portland, OR area. We traded in our 2005 Scion xB for it. But this is the car that helped to start Subcompact Culture, and eventually led us to start Crankshaft Culture. This is the car that was a gateway to blogging, to automotive writing, to automotive journalism. This car was the beginning of a movement for us and perhaps many others. Prior to this little go-kart of a c ..read more

Suzuki Ignis in Mexico New subcompact car sales are nearly nonexistent right now in the USA. There are only a couple new tiny cars even available for purchase anymore. However, if you want to see a ton of new and different small cars, all you have to do is cross our southern border. I just got back from a week in Manzanillo, Colima, and found small cars are alive and well in Mexico.  Small Cars Are Everywhere! While visiting my mother and uncle in this Pacific port town, I was enamored by the plethora of small cars running about the Mexican countryside. Bright yellow Nissan Versa ..read more

  In what can only be described as "completely unsurprising," the subcompact Chevrolet Spark will be discontinued. There had been reports out of Korea that GM Korea was going to halt production months ago, but Chevrolet's U.S. representatives would not confirm its discontinuation for the North American market at that time. Well, now it's official.  The Spark Has Fizzled Apparently the pint-size hatchback, one of the last on the U.S. market, will cease production in August, 2022 and there's no replacement expected. This will end a decade-long run for the small car.  We've dri ..read more

Photo via C.Y. Lee Over eight years ago, I ran into one of the most badass Suzuki SX4s I'd ever seen. This lifted Suzuki SX4 had big knobby tires, a flat-black paint job, and a custom front bumper among other things. I actually got to know the owner, C.Y. Lee, a bit because of it. Ironically, I had just been talking to C.Y. about this car on October 15, 2021, and then, next thing we knew it, it was totaled by someone who went on a rampage in stolen school bus. Yes, you read that right. Photo via C.Y. Lee When I first saw this beast, it was lifted and rode on 29x10.50-15LT Su ..read more

Hey SCC readers. I know it's been a while. We've still been here, still been doing things, but just not as active on the website. For what it's worth, we still have a very active Subcompact Culture Facebook Group. Please join! So what've we been up to lately? Toyota Yaris Update Well we still have the trusty 2007 Toyota Yaris, as seen above. I recently swapped out our orange Konig Daylite wheels for a set of some of my favorite all-time wheels: Votex Larado. These are 14x6 wheels with a +33 offset that were made in Germany. They were originally a factory option on Volkswagen Golfs in the 1990 ..read more

Back in 2017, we sold our 265 horsepower Subaru WRX for a 78 horsepower Mitsubishi Mirage ES Hatchback. Crazy, eh? Well, this summer will mark four years of Mirage ownership. Despite the Mirage being on sale in the U.S. since 2014, there are still people out there that have questions about these cars. From roadworthiness to fuel economy, and other ownership items, I decided to debunk some Mitsubishi Mirage myths.  2021 Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback MYTH: With only 78 horsepower, the Mirage can't keep up with traffic. You don't need 300 HP to navigate America's highways and bywa ..read more

  I'd wanted to drive a Nissan Kicks since they first debuted in 2018, but never got around to getting one for a press loan until just last week. So does the Kicks kick out the fun? Does it kick butt? Does it have pumped up kicks? I'll stop. You're welcome.  My full review of the Kicks was just posted over at AutoWise.com, where I said it is a funky compact CUV with a lot to offer, just not in the speed department, and that's totally it. It's got a really neat interior, a semi-sporty exterior, and handles surprisingly well for what it is, which is clearly its highpoint. It is poke ..read more

From 2012 to 2015, Toyota's Scion brand offered what might be the company's most unique vehicle. The Scion iQ microcar was squarely aimed at another microcar, the Smart Fortwo (iQ vs Smart—get it?). It's not like the Smart  Fortwo was setting the American small car segment on fire with sales, so it was always curious that of all companies, Toyota decided to go after the Fortwo. But Scion—the funky youth-oriented arm of the Japanese automaker, did indeed go after Smart. Their tactics were far different than Smart's. And like most of the Scions, they played to enthusiasts who did some rea ..read more