Suzuki Alto Works RSX Review (JDM Kei Car Review) Bonus! We street race a Miata in it!

[@jamiepeterson5646]

The power limit is 64ps (63hp), but yeah, as stated at 2:20, it's a gentlemen's agreement, and not actually the law. In Japan, the car companies frequently collaborate with each other, so staying in each other's good graces is important. You can tell it's not a legal thing because Caterham sells the 160 as a kei car in Japan (using the Suzuki K6A, the same engine as in this car), but with 80 horsepower, and the government is not only okay with that, they actually insisted on it, because it's available in that spec overseas. There's also evidence in the form of interviews from Mazda engineers that the Suzuki F6A (and probably the K6A too) made more than the 64ps it makes on paper - Mazda used the twin-cam version of that engine in the Autozam AZ-1, and it's also in the Suzuki Cappuccino and earlier Alto Works. It sounds hilarious to think of 80hp as a lot of power, but honestly, these tiny things FLY with that sort of power. I have an Autozam AZ-1, but the Alto Works is what I'd have if I couldn't have that; they're awesome little cars.

[@CarGuyFridays]

We love the Alto, az-1 is what we are about!! Lucky man!

[@geovonnie69]

I was told they actually make anywhere between 80-90hp to the crank.

[@allenplant1702]

Kei car "standards" are 64 at the crank. I just got my 97 Alto Works IE/S Limited and will be bringing it back to the US after enjoying it here in Japan for the next year or two. It feels fast because it's torquey and ultra light, however, I haven't checked it's official power on a dyno. I intend to do that within a few months.

[@GregosTH]

@@allenplant1702 Hi ;) Have you checked on Dyno yet ?

[@allenplant1702]

@@GregosTH unfortunately not, I've been modding it and busy with work and my wife 😂

[@03focussvt943]

Glad to see Kei cars gettin love over here.

[@CarGuyFridays]

yes, all cars deserve love....unless its a ford tempo from 1991.

[@Tapo-walf]

It even goes fast enough, a nice pocket rocket.

[@allenplant1702]

My bypass valve was apparently not working at all. When I eliminated it and capped the piping, the flutter sounded exactly the same, except my throttle response was MUCH BETTER 😊 1997 Alto Works IE/S

[@CarGuyFridays]

I bet it was!

[@geovonnie69]

I bought one of these today! 1997. It's done about 88,000kms. Absolutely love it. Only thing I don't like is it's an automatic. So I'm going to be looking into what it takes to to a manual swap.

[@CarGuyFridays]

Yes a manual is the way on these. Enjoy the new ride, they are pretty cool

[@brelfpv1437]

The sound is better than my RSZ..

[@aspacenerdfromflorida1134]

I love how small and cute the car is and how it looks!! I wanna pick one up soon if I can find one

[@CarGuyFridays]

Japanese importer will be your friend for finding one!

[@erickmatus3201]

Pretty cool for a tiny kei car dude, keep up with the good work, greetings from Chile 🇨🇱🤘🏻

[@CarGuyFridays]

Thanks! 👍

[@TezcatlipocaMountyRailfan]

I managed to fit myself into, and drive, a Honda Beat once. And I’m a 6 Foot 3 270 pound dude. Don’t ask me how, but I did. 😉

[@CarGuyFridays]

Very carefully is how!

[@TezcatlipocaMountyRailfan]

@@CarGuyFridays Totally.

[@doctranate]

Now that was a great video. Your best yet perhaps. Videos with rare shit like this will take off.

[@CarGuyFridays]

You dont know how much that means to hear that. We are putting our heart and soul into these. Knowing that people like what we are doing means a lot

[@mattkemp3727]

that was awesome ty..deserves more likes..He woulda won the race if you were not in it.... easily ...no replacement for displacement as they say

[@CarGuyFridays]

Yes if equal weight we think the alto would pull too, but then there would be no fun videos to share

[@reikofujiko991]

I'm not sure on the 4 foot measurement, but I know the 8 foot long part is definitely wrong. It's much closer to 11 feet. All he had to do was measure the one next to him. I don't know about the downtown city reference he speaks of, but the KEI (pronounced like the following letter, K) class does get some preferential treatment regarding registering and taxing, though Japan has reduced some of these advantages in the past few years. At one point you didn't have to prove you had an off the street parking place for them because of it's small size. This car is from the end of the bubble economy, back when people had money, and car companies were bold enough to try fun things that maybe didn't need to speak to almost everyone to justify building them. I'd love to have one, the 4WD version if possible. A nice video.

[@CarGuyFridays]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@svavel7678]

I love the Suzuki Alto and the Honda Today, and it´s a shame they are not around but i understand because of the safety and whatnot nowadays. Love my Volvo s60, but this would be enough really when i think about it with the driving i do around town, and it would´ve been perfect. It´s so cool i just sat here with a big grin watching this little car!

[@milliedragon4418]

So amazing that you can park like that but I would imagine these kei cars might be expensive to replace parts. I kind of wish the United States would be on the bandwagon with these types of micro vehicles. I can imagine American styles as Kei vehicles.

[@CarGuyFridays]

I mean if we are realistic they wouldnt sell anywhere in america because it's such a big open space. I can see why no company would sell one here. They are basically perfect so a super crowded city dweller though

[@samsignorino7778]

Pretty cool little car. I had never heard of them.

[@CarGuyFridays]

We only knew about them because of gran turismo on ps2. Lol.

[@mosthated863]

I've been looking at these altos for a week now and I want to sell my sv6 manual ute just to get one. But I want to put a cbr1000rr with a tune in one of these. I love how if it ever breaks down you can just throw it in your backpack but that one looks super nice 👌🇦🇺 if you want to race just do downhill racing in it the bigger cars will be forced to brake heaps and some over steer but that would be like a go-kart

[@CarGuyFridays]

You'll enjoy the tiny, get it!

[@blackheavyblans]

Deamn I love those 3 cylinder sounds😍

[@CarGuyFridays]

Get you one!

[@TheHorselemonade]

What a O'Kei video

[@CarGuyFridays]

Lolol, thanks. ✌️☮️

[@spencerpatrick8166]

Kei cars in Japan have a smaller engine and size so they are cheaper on taxes. In addition, they are cheaper for the "Shaken' and inspections required every few years to make sure they are road worthy. You rarely see a broken down care on the side of the road in Japan.

[@CarGuyFridays]

Agreed

[@tennsaitakesama]

thank you from japan

[@CarGuyFridays]

No problem!! We apologize in advance for mispronouncing "kei" and we understand it it's "k" not "key". Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the comment!

[@someonedifferent6374]

Redline is 9000 rpm on the k6a motor. Fuel cut off is 10,000 rpm. This car has had a rev limiter delete

[@CarGuyFridays]

Thanks for the info! Hard to find good info when you dont read Japanese on these things

[@xJyzr]

Currently trying to find one for sale and having no luck, very unfortunate but I’ll have one eventually

[@CarGuyFridays]

Don't give up, they are out there

[@Charsept]

Damn, I want one of those

[@CarGuyFridays]

They are super cool little nuggets

[@ocallaghan3865]

What about when its next to a Subaru vivio rxr Stock subaru vivio rxr 1,500lbs 9k Supercharged All wheel drive Can rally

[@CarGuyFridays]

That Subaru sounds sick.

[@nipponjim7815]

Sweet video sir! I love the Kei's

[@CarGuyFridays]

We do too! Thanks for watching

[@hapwilson9108]

pronounced K" not Key haha but great vid chap!

[@CarGuyFridays]

yea we realized that after we made the video haha.

[@TCHHCTN]

They should make stuff like this with more HP and bigger wheels in the future imo

[@CarGuyFridays]

It's possible. Kei cars are still being sold in japan last I looked

[@TCHHCTN]

@@CarGuyFridays Yeah but I think the HP is still limited, but the alto works and the daihatsu mira are such good looking cars! If they were the same size and power as regular cars i wld 100% get one

[@CarGuyFridays]

The smallness is part of the fun though!

[@pullenmotors7290]

Love it 😍

[@CarGuyFridays]

Awesome thanks so much!!! 💜☮️✌️

[@08vtec6]

Euro beat intensifies

[@CarGuyFridays]

running in the 90s its a new way i like to be.

[@delcosspdfreek]

I want one!

[@agjr18]

Gran Turismo 3 brought me here

[@CarGuyFridays]

That is some old school gaming you are doing! The Gran torismo series has always been great for showing us cars we had no idea existed.

[@NismoDJ20]

wow man! dead even with a stockish NB. props!

[@CarGuyFridays]

Nb has a intake /exhaust. I think if he had not missed 3rd on the first race the Alto might have pulled a car

[@ShipyardWelder]

How tall are you guys Im wondering if I would fit? I am 6'1.

[@CarGuyFridays]

At 6'1 youd fit! The owner is about that height. Its surprisingly roomy inside for such a tiny car. That being said being that tall doesnt leave room for peoples legs in the backseat

[@XxBlazeheartxX]

How does this car do on the highway in the states? Im soooooo tempted to buyy one D:

[@CarGuyFridays]

It gets driven all the time. It's certainly not going to be the ideal car for taking 12hr trips, but in general it's fine. Just remember it feels small, because it is

[@XxBlazeheartxX]

@@CarGuyFridays oh snap! Thanks! A guy is selling one in dc in MINT condition with under 50k miles, under 7k too!

[@CarGuyFridays]

Go check it out!

[@TheFANTA5757]

Maybe I didn’t hear it, but how’s much room is there? I’ve been dreaming about one of these for so long but I’m 6.1

[@CarGuyFridays]

The owner of this car is very tall too. 6.1 or 6.3 I believe. He fit and it worked. Its surprisingly roomy in there compared to the size.

[@TheFANTA5757]

@@CarGuyFridays thanks that’s great to hear !

[@wrxdustin0590]

There's an unbelievable amount of room. This is my car and im 6'3 and around 200lbs. Ive had myself, my wife, then my buddy who is near identical to my size as well as his wife all in the car together. We were all pretty comfortable as insane as that sounds!

[@kasamago]

Suzuki best Kei Car

[@CarGuyFridays]

It's certainly a pretty cool little thing

[@AFellowDoktuh]

Imagine a Suzuki Alto Works with awd and 276hp, that would be a frightening experience.

[@CarGuyFridays]

Sure would! Connect us and we can do a fun video on one :)

[@michaellandis2144]

Where do you get parts for it?? Is it legal to drive in all 50 states??

[@CarGuyFridays]

Largely import from Japan or someone who does import from Japan! Yep legal to drive on public roads

[@anotherstar8125]

What's the difference between this and the RS-R?

[@CarGuyFridays]

I think one is AWD but I could be wrong

[@anotherstar8125]

@@CarGuyFridays ...and the there's an RS-Z... hmmm...

[@MRMAN-wb1tv]

*What is downtown Japan???*

[@CarGuyFridays]

Tokyo I'm sure!

[@rw5482]

It has power steering or not?

[@CarGuyFridays]

You really don't need it on such a small car

[@jdmholland2855]

RX7-ish sound haha

[@CarGuyFridays]

Ish!

[@samcolonius2566]

What's the life span on this car?

[@CarGuyFridays]

Do you mean age or miles?

[@samcolonius2566]

@@CarGuyFridays miles👍🏼

[@CarGuyFridays]

From the owner: "The alto currently has 140xxxKM on it. They're pretty reliable. Timing belts every 75k mikes. Basic maintenance keeps them alive. They can last well into 100k mile with nothing but maintenance services. Parts are also still available for engine rebuilds."

[@samcolonius2566]

@@CarGuyFridays and do you know anything about importing cars? Or where a good reliable place to do it is?

[@CarGuyFridays]

No personal experience with importing. This car was bought already having been imported into the states. There are several big names for importing cars on google though. Supposedly they handle everything for you except paying them.

[@markbroad119]

Miata needs a passenger to make it fair

[@CarGuyFridays]

Are you saying our camera guy is fat??! :)

[@cmunky2941]

Put a single rotor Mazda Wankel in there.

[@CarGuyFridays]

That would be wild

[@tatankahanska120]

Kei is not pronounced key its kay

[@CarGuyFridays]

Duly noted!

[@user-hk3lf2xs8w]

The 90's was a wonderful time for the Japanese car industry.miserable

[@CarGuyFridays]

It really was! Like a second golden age of automobiles globally because of it too.

[@schlomoubermann]

I liked this car until it was driven. Shit sounding exhaust and poor acceleration. My 1.5 Yaris TS goes better.

[@CarGuyFridays]

Sorry you feel that way, thanks for checking it out though.

[@schlomoubermann]

@@CarGuyFridays thank You very much. This car looks cute but I cannot accept the exhaust note. The 3 cylinder engine sounds cool and shouldn't be obscured by loud farting exhaust.

[@wrxdustin0590]

If your Yaris is stock I highly doubt it goes better. They have around the same power and the alto is significantly lighter.

[@c.varela]

Your Yaris TS is not a kei car. 🤷‍♂️

[@schlomoubermann]

@@c.varela I am sure Yaris TS is not a KEI car. But it sounds like a car, silent.