  "Porte" is the French word for "door". Choosing a French word as the name of the car is quite interesting. It makes you wonder if it is a copy of Peugeot 1007. The French car is the first hatchback gambling on electric powered sliding doors. Both cars are all about electric-powered sliding doors. The French car has two of them, one on each side. The Japanese car with a French name has only one such door at the passenger side while the driver access via a conventionally hinged door. The power sliding door is a merit for congested cities like You might ask why the French need twin-sliding doors while the Japanese need only one. The answer is: the Japanese car wants to cut costs. Power sliding doors are not cheap – this explain why Peugeot 1007 is seriously overpriced. To save one door could save hundreds of dollars, or tens of thousands of yen. So how can the driver get out of the car in tight parking space? The answer is through the passenger side door. This is easy in the Porte, as it has a flat floor free of transmission tunnel, or so-called "walkthrough capability". The door opening is very large – some 1165mm tall and 1020mm wide. The front passenger seat is mounted on rails. It can slide back and forth for 750mm. Slide it to the rearmost position allows the driver to get out easily. Slide it to the frontmost position eases rear passenger access.    The Porte has a spacious cabin, thanks to the exaggerate height of 1720mm – an Opel Meriva is nearly 100mm lower than it ! it has a long wheelbase and width to match the Opel multi-activity vehicle, so it is a class bigger than 1007. As you expect, there are a lot of storage cubbies and thoughtful features in the colorful cabin. The seating arrangement is reasonably flexible, what a pity the rear seat can only flip up but not fold flat. Moreover, the tailgate aperture is small. While it is a good people carrier, it is not as impressive as a cargo loader. As you would have guessed, this car is not designed to go fast or corner flat. It is underpowered (biggest engine is the familiar 1.5 VVT-i) and automatic only. Its tall body and comfy suspension setting work against handling. This car is all about doors. Everything else is not important. It is sad that our motor industry has developed to this stage – cars are no longer cars, they are doors, they are music box, they are living rooms… Fortunately, the majority of car buying public still prefer conventional cars. This mean Porte is only a niche in the Japanese market. |
| The above report was last updated on 21 Jul 2006. All Rights Reserved. |