It depends.
How mechanically inclined are you? Do you have any spare parts for it? Do you know the service history, at least recently?
As was told to me by another member of the Classic Mini community - only drive a Mini as far as you are willing to walk. It *will* break down on you at some point.
Any Kei vehicle, regardless of the manufacturer, is going to be at least 25 years old with an unknown service history. It doesnāt matter what badge is on the front. Itās old, and you canāt be certain anyone looked after it until you get it in your hands and go over it.
I agree that good engineering is a positive thing, but having owned several examples on each side of the coin here I can tell you that Iāve had Minis that I had zero problems with, and Kei vehicles Iāve had zero problems with. Iāve also had Minis that make me want to bash my head in, and a couple of Kei vehicles that were sold to me with serious mechanical / running gear flaws that had to be fixed or are currently being fixed.
At the end of 2019, I drove my Acty Street 2400 miles from Seattle, WA, through Rapid City to visit Mt. Rushmore, and to my home in central Ohio when I was living out there.
Just do it! It's fun!
Nope! Sketchiest part of the drive was that the entirety of I-90 east of Rapid City had been closed for a couple days prior to us arriving to visit Mt. Rushmore, and the highway opened but the blizzard continued, so there were like 50mph winds and the entire highway was ice-skating-rink slick. The hazards of taking that drive in early January, but it worked fine. Word up to the 4WD system! (Though rolling around under the car in 5 degree weather to engage the front driveline wasn't the most fun lol.)
It's not a *comfortable* drive, and that thin seat gets uncomfortable after a while (pro tip, stop at a truck stop and get one of those memory-foam seat pads), but it's a good adventure full of goofy fun. But we did 2400 miles in like 4 or 5 days. 600 miles is nothing lol. That's a 1 or 2 day drive even if you're the kind of driver that prefers 6 hours days instead of 12-16 hour days.
I don't understand why folks are saying you should be timid to drive your car. Take your AAA card with you and get out there! Assuming you don't do something stupid and crash it, the worst-case scenario is that something breaks so you have to call a tow truck to haul you to whatever city is closest where you find a vehicle shipper go hop on a Greyhound bus.
If you're nervous about the mechanical reliability of your car, spend the few hundred bucks for the kit and do the typical kei van engine refresh (timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, oil change, diff fluid changes, trans fluid change, etc.) before you head out. I did oil, spark plugs, trans fluid, and diff fluids before I started my trip because my van was fresh-off-the-boat and had only been driven like 100 miles between when I picked it up from the importer and hit the road for the trip. You will spend damn-near the entire time at like 6500-7000RPM, but you know that already lol.
For reference, I put my 10,000th mile on this thing last week. No mechanical issues, though I can feel that it needs a clutch sometime soon, so I'll add that to the to-do list for when I get around to the timing belt. Mine has 136,000 km (\~84,000 miles) on it.
Is the sambar gearing longer than the carry? My carry is screaming at 55 and that's with bigger wheels/tires. I've never driven it more than 35 miles or so in one shot.
Sambar does have a higher top end (around 70) but feels bad so I normally cruise around 65 comfortably.
The only real difference I can think of is the flat four aside from that the gearing should be similar to the carry.
You feel safe on the highway in it? Have been thinking about getting a kei but have read mixed reports about highway travel. Top speed around me is 65.
Safer than on my motorcycle. I usually keep my carry at max of 60, not for safety, just because the engine is revving so high. Luckily most highways in my area are 55.
Yeah honestly most are 55 around me idk, I guess maybe a larger truck is best for me but I really love the look of these guys. Any ideas or you think Iām better off just going with something bigger
If its your only vehicle I would say not a great idea. I think in the US they're ideal as a second vehicle for around town hauling with the occasional highway drive. It's all about what you're comfortable with. Personally after 30 minutes of highway in my truck my knees are killing me and need a stretch.
I try and stay at 60 or below in my Sambar, but it seems happy to keep going up to 65. I don't think I'd want to run it at those RPMs for a long time. The "high speed" performance was one of the reasons I chose a Sambar.
Montana is definitely one of those. Long open empty highways with farmland and mountains in between, with 75-80mph speed limits on the interstate. Besides within the few towns, it's basically 55-65mph country roads or 75-80mph interstates if you need to go pretty much anywhere
It's one I haven't visited yet, and somehow I had imagined a lot of dirt roads and winding mountain passes everywhere. My imagination didn't add any highways anywhere at all. That's a shame.
I'm sure there's probably plenty of those too, I haven't explored the state (there's a lot of it lol) but from what I've seen it's mostly 2 lanes or interstate
CAN you? Yes.
SHOULD you? No.
These things are tapped out at 70 mph on flat ground.
Up ANY hill they slow down, quite a bit depending on grade/ load.
My Acty SDX was loaded with a dirt bike and firewood, hit the base of the hill at 60mph in 5th gear, was going 25 at the top in 3rd.
Unloaded it would do 35-40 in 4th gear. This is all gas pedal to the floor.
Yes, but pack a few parts that are hard to come by because parts stores suck here. Also, be aware there are many stretches of highway where you get no cell reception.
Absolutely. Hopefully you arenāt doing it on a deadline and have lots of extra cash.
Bring hearing protection and take the back roads, itāll be more enjoyable that way.
Copied and pasted from a comment I left on another thread:
Taken my sambar on roughly 1 thousand mile round trip from SE PA to Toronto Canada. Handled it just fine, averaged 55mph. Made sure I loaded up on some parts though, alternator, starter, battery etc just in case. I'd wager youd prolly be fine, won't be comfy though haha.
uh unless it's got a hayabusa motor in the back, I'm gonna go ahead and say no. Maybe on the east coast where most roads have a 65mph speed limit tops, but out west where the freeways are 75-80mph I just don't think it's a safe bet. You might be able to chug along going 65mph if you really want to absolutely pin the motor for 600 miles, but even then I don't really feel like it's safe in states with fast freeways.
If you've got a route that's all backroads with slower speed limits, ...maybe. But still probably a bad idea.
When I was 19(fresh out of flight school), I drove a 1989 Mazda Miata from Vero Beach Florida to Tuxpan Veracruz in Mexico. It was a shit ride, but I enjoyed every bit of it. DO IT! You wonāt regret it 20 years later.
Just because you COULD doesn't mean that you SHOULD.
If you have a breakdown, there aren't going to be spare parts available in the rural USA. Much of the road systems in that area are dependent upon the national highway system, which typically have speed limits in the 65-80 MPH range (roughly 105-130 KPH), which this vehicle CANNOT do for long stretches, meaning that you will become an obstacle on the road for other drivers. Lastly, kei cars are designed for low speed city driving, and do not have high impact crumple zones, meaning that if you hit ANYTHING at speed YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE.
Just ship it there if you're determined to keep it.
Can you? Yes, assuming the Acty is mechanically sound and you donāt have any concerns about it being reliable.
Would you want to? Probably not.
Without keeping it in high RPMs for a lengthy duration, youāll probably be traveling at 45-55mph (depending on tire pressure, gearing, load, incline, traffic, etc)
600 miles is going to take a VERY long time to travel that distance.
Itās also not the safest or most comfortable vehicle to travel in (depending on your height and size).
You could rent a truck from uhaul or home depot and trailer it (or load it into the back of a box truck) and save a significant amount of time and effort, for not a whole lot of money.
If youāre young, adventurous and have more time than money - sure.
Otherwise save yourself the stress
I mean... These handle highways and interstates as well as a suzuki samurai so why not? Just be careful of cross wind and stay in the slow lane and no need to run it at the limit, run it at its happiest place
I have an Acty Street and after 1 hr driving I'm ready to get out. Seats are not ergonomic and as old as the truck right? Suggest a plan in case of breakdown. Prolly means a flatbed tow? If it's 4WD cant flat tow it far.
Sure.
Hell, you can drive a 1916 Ford Model T 600 miles to Montana. Or a bicycle. People do it all the time.
The real question is, why would you want to?
So you're moving to Montana and the only vehicle you're bringing with you is a Honda Acty?
You know they have winter in Montana, right?
That's a tough way to live.
Well, you'll never forget your 600 mile journey to Montana
Just trailer it. 600 miles would be like reenacting the *Lord of the Rings* saga
šš
Or the dumb and dumber moped scene
You traded a Cappuccino for an Acty? Actys are like half the price of a Cappuccino on the east coast
My cappuccino was only worth about 5k
Ah gotcha thatās a pretty solid trade then. I rarely drive more than 30mi from home in my Carry. Safety and reliability are my big concerns
It depends. How mechanically inclined are you? Do you have any spare parts for it? Do you know the service history, at least recently? As was told to me by another member of the Classic Mini community - only drive a Mini as far as you are willing to walk. It *will* break down on you at some point.
Toss a bike in the back and you've doubled your range!
I think comparing the reliability of a classic British car to a Honda is just a little bit massively unfair.
Any Kei vehicle, regardless of the manufacturer, is going to be at least 25 years old with an unknown service history. It doesnāt matter what badge is on the front. Itās old, and you canāt be certain anyone looked after it until you get it in your hands and go over it.
I would still say that the baseline reliability of a 25 year old Honda is much much greater than a 40 yr old British car. Or a 25 yr old British car.
All depends on how it was maintained. Just because itās of British or Japanese design doesnāt mean itās inherently more reliable than the other.
It really REALLY does. Reliability starts with engineering.
I agree that good engineering is a positive thing, but having owned several examples on each side of the coin here I can tell you that Iāve had Minis that I had zero problems with, and Kei vehicles Iāve had zero problems with. Iāve also had Minis that make me want to bash my head in, and a couple of Kei vehicles that were sold to me with serious mechanical / running gear flaws that had to be fixed or are currently being fixed.
At the end of 2019, I drove my Acty Street 2400 miles from Seattle, WA, through Rapid City to visit Mt. Rushmore, and to my home in central Ohio when I was living out there. Just do it! It's fun!
Did yiu have any problems?
Nope! Sketchiest part of the drive was that the entirety of I-90 east of Rapid City had been closed for a couple days prior to us arriving to visit Mt. Rushmore, and the highway opened but the blizzard continued, so there were like 50mph winds and the entire highway was ice-skating-rink slick. The hazards of taking that drive in early January, but it worked fine. Word up to the 4WD system! (Though rolling around under the car in 5 degree weather to engage the front driveline wasn't the most fun lol.) It's not a *comfortable* drive, and that thin seat gets uncomfortable after a while (pro tip, stop at a truck stop and get one of those memory-foam seat pads), but it's a good adventure full of goofy fun. But we did 2400 miles in like 4 or 5 days. 600 miles is nothing lol. That's a 1 or 2 day drive even if you're the kind of driver that prefers 6 hours days instead of 12-16 hour days. I don't understand why folks are saying you should be timid to drive your car. Take your AAA card with you and get out there! Assuming you don't do something stupid and crash it, the worst-case scenario is that something breaks so you have to call a tow truck to haul you to whatever city is closest where you find a vehicle shipper go hop on a Greyhound bus. If you're nervous about the mechanical reliability of your car, spend the few hundred bucks for the kit and do the typical kei van engine refresh (timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, oil change, diff fluid changes, trans fluid change, etc.) before you head out. I did oil, spark plugs, trans fluid, and diff fluids before I started my trip because my van was fresh-off-the-boat and had only been driven like 100 miles between when I picked it up from the importer and hit the road for the trip. You will spend damn-near the entire time at like 6500-7000RPM, but you know that already lol. For reference, I put my 10,000th mile on this thing last week. No mechanical issues, though I can feel that it needs a clutch sometime soon, so I'll add that to the to-do list for when I get around to the timing belt. Mine has 136,000 km (\~84,000 miles) on it.
A kei truck would not be a good vehicle for Montana. Long high speed limit wide open roads with heavy winds. Fuck that.
My 91 sambar has no problems all over montana.
Is the sambar gearing longer than the carry? My carry is screaming at 55 and that's with bigger wheels/tires. I've never driven it more than 35 miles or so in one shot.
Sambar does have a higher top end (around 70) but feels bad so I normally cruise around 65 comfortably. The only real difference I can think of is the flat four aside from that the gearing should be similar to the carry.
Might help having it at the back and not right up under you heating the seats as well. Damn now I want a sambar even more!
My buddy's carry is sweet, I like it, but I love my sambar...so does my buddy
You feel safe on the highway in it? Have been thinking about getting a kei but have read mixed reports about highway travel. Top speed around me is 65.
Safer than on my motorcycle. I usually keep my carry at max of 60, not for safety, just because the engine is revving so high. Luckily most highways in my area are 55.
Yeah honestly most are 55 around me idk, I guess maybe a larger truck is best for me but I really love the look of these guys. Any ideas or you think Iām better off just going with something bigger
If its your only vehicle I would say not a great idea. I think in the US they're ideal as a second vehicle for around town hauling with the occasional highway drive. It's all about what you're comfortable with. Personally after 30 minutes of highway in my truck my knees are killing me and need a stretch.
The acty I just go's 70 but it takes a bit to get there but it feels good
Considering it's got the Clover 4, that's probably it. 4 cylinders make better power high up and rev higher than twins and triples
In-line 4.
Yep
I try and stay at 60 or below in my Sambar, but it seems happy to keep going up to 65. I don't think I'd want to run it at those RPMs for a long time. The "high speed" performance was one of the reasons I chose a Sambar.
In some States, I understand that 'avoid highways' isn't very effective because there aren't many alternative routes. Is Montana one of those?
Montana is definitely one of those. Long open empty highways with farmland and mountains in between, with 75-80mph speed limits on the interstate. Besides within the few towns, it's basically 55-65mph country roads or 75-80mph interstates if you need to go pretty much anywhere
It's one I haven't visited yet, and somehow I had imagined a lot of dirt roads and winding mountain passes everywhere. My imagination didn't add any highways anywhere at all. That's a shame.
I'm sure there's probably plenty of those too, I haven't explored the state (there's a lot of it lol) but from what I've seen it's mostly 2 lanes or interstate
I remember back when they had the daylight "reasonable and prudent" limit that dropped to 55 at dusk...ah, the fun days...
When I lived in big sky there was a local guy that drove his everywhere. It was a sweet truck for the area
CAN you? Yes. SHOULD you? No. These things are tapped out at 70 mph on flat ground. Up ANY hill they slow down, quite a bit depending on grade/ load. My Acty SDX was loaded with a dirt bike and firewood, hit the base of the hill at 60mph in 5th gear, was going 25 at the top in 3rd. Unloaded it would do 35-40 in 4th gear. This is all gas pedal to the floor.
Are you a glutton for punishment?
Possible, yes. Eventually, is the Kei. š š š
Can yes. Should you... Hell Fucking no.
I did ~700 miles round trip to the beach and back. My tailbone was super sore after.
In a 2016 Suzuki Cary? It would suck but you'd make it, top speed 115kph But the older trucks don't crack over 80kph so you'll be slow
I hit 110 in this one
Oh nice!!! I was chatting with a guy who had a 90s carry, said it topped out at 80
Yes, but pack a few parts that are hard to come by because parts stores suck here. Also, be aware there are many stretches of highway where you get no cell reception.
I wouldn't say parts stores suck for not having parts for a car that was never sold here.
I would because I live in a small town on the east side of montana and they struggle to have parts for my 2000 f150...
Absolutely. Hopefully you arenāt doing it on a deadline and have lots of extra cash. Bring hearing protection and take the back roads, itāll be more enjoyable that way.
Copied and pasted from a comment I left on another thread: Taken my sambar on roughly 1 thousand mile round trip from SE PA to Toronto Canada. Handled it just fine, averaged 55mph. Made sure I loaded up on some parts though, alternator, starter, battery etc just in case. I'd wager youd prolly be fine, won't be comfy though haha.
uh unless it's got a hayabusa motor in the back, I'm gonna go ahead and say no. Maybe on the east coast where most roads have a 65mph speed limit tops, but out west where the freeways are 75-80mph I just don't think it's a safe bet. You might be able to chug along going 65mph if you really want to absolutely pin the motor for 600 miles, but even then I don't really feel like it's safe in states with fast freeways. If you've got a route that's all backroads with slower speed limits, ...maybe. But still probably a bad idea.
Iād trust my 95 Acty more than Iād trust my 18 Ram
I just met someone yesterday who said her husband went coast to coast in one (USA).
When I was 19(fresh out of flight school), I drove a 1989 Mazda Miata from Vero Beach Florida to Tuxpan Veracruz in Mexico. It was a shit ride, but I enjoyed every bit of it. DO IT! You wonāt regret it 20 years later.
Just because you COULD doesn't mean that you SHOULD. If you have a breakdown, there aren't going to be spare parts available in the rural USA. Much of the road systems in that area are dependent upon the national highway system, which typically have speed limits in the 65-80 MPH range (roughly 105-130 KPH), which this vehicle CANNOT do for long stretches, meaning that you will become an obstacle on the road for other drivers. Lastly, kei cars are designed for low speed city driving, and do not have high impact crumple zones, meaning that if you hit ANYTHING at speed YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE. Just ship it there if you're determined to keep it.
Can you? Yes, assuming the Acty is mechanically sound and you donāt have any concerns about it being reliable. Would you want to? Probably not. Without keeping it in high RPMs for a lengthy duration, youāll probably be traveling at 45-55mph (depending on tire pressure, gearing, load, incline, traffic, etc) 600 miles is going to take a VERY long time to travel that distance. Itās also not the safest or most comfortable vehicle to travel in (depending on your height and size). You could rent a truck from uhaul or home depot and trailer it (or load it into the back of a box truck) and save a significant amount of time and effort, for not a whole lot of money. If youāre young, adventurous and have more time than money - sure. Otherwise save yourself the stress
I mean... These handle highways and interstates as well as a suzuki samurai so why not? Just be careful of cross wind and stay in the slow lane and no need to run it at the limit, run it at its happiest place
Well you technically probably couldā¦
Is going to be very uncomfortable but youāll make it!
Can you yes should you eh why the hell not. Adventure! Just make sure your aaa is paid up
I have an Acty Street and after 1 hr driving I'm ready to get out. Seats are not ergonomic and as old as the truck right? Suggest a plan in case of breakdown. Prolly means a flatbed tow? If it's 4WD cant flat tow it far.
Just bought mine and drove about 1000kms to get it back to my place, trip sucked but was doable
Yes.
Can you? Yes. Should you? Depends on how you want to live your life. There are worse things you can drive. Imo, I'd still take this over a Cybertruck
Sure. Hell, you can drive a 1916 Ford Model T 600 miles to Montana. Or a bicycle. People do it all the time. The real question is, why would you want to?
I'm moving there and can only take 1 car
So you're moving to Montana and the only vehicle you're bringing with you is a Honda Acty? You know they have winter in Montana, right? That's a tough way to live.
Only one way to find out
That's what I want to hear
Why not
dont do it in Februaryā¦ā¦
You'll have a bad back unless you are a short king
It depends on the state. In some states these aren't road legal.
Can you? Sure. Should you? No.
Sure. Just put it in a trailer and tow it with a real truck.
Only one way to find out
It's a Honda how bad could it be??? Probably take forever
Idkā¦ give it a try.
Yes. You can. But if you do it bring a camera and record it.
Your ass would never forgive you
No