[taneq]

As per the FAQ question "Why not make it more powerful?" (via Google Translate):

> Do not forget that it is a lowcost car, it has a sporty look, yes, but it is not a sport, hence its price.

My main worries for it being a "sports car" are that the transverse engine suggests front wheel drive (unless there's evidence to the contrary?) and the lack of any discussion of the gearbox other than specifying it as "mechanical" (which hopefully is a mistranslation of "manual"?)

Also it's not THAT low cost, given that its main competition seems to be the Toybaru BRZ which is only EU 3k more and has 200hp to this thing's 130hp (and the primary criticism of which is STILL "it's underpowered".)

Edit: I misread. As pointed out below, the BRZ is actually a fair bit more expensive.

[namdnay]

It's basically a "warm hatch" (FWD - "traction" in the description - with a small turbocharged peugeot engine), but with the body shell of a sports car.

For that price you can get a real pocket rocket e.g. VW Up GTI - 115HP (VW Hp, not Peugeot Hp...) and less than 1000kg, whereas this is more than 1200. But nothing with a bigger size

I confirm 16k is about half the cost of the Toyota/Subaru (before you consider the performance and emissions tax), they are clearly semi-luxury cars here.

+ Reading through the details, I see they have not passed Euro NCAP certification. Now I understand their reasons (cost), but I would be very very reluctant to sit in one

[joking]

The brz and the gt86 are around 30k in Europe, so the increase is a bit more

[andoriyu]

Mechanical means manual. That kind of transmission/gearbox is called mechanical in many languages.

[devoply]

My main issue would be fixing stuff if it breaks. Toyota dealer's got you. With this thing after a few years good luck, unless they have built it on a bunch of standard parts from a Japanese or German manufacturer or something.

[SnackFalcon]

The site states it has an EB2ADTS engine. That's a PSA group engine used in a bunch of cars such as the Peugeot 3008. So support/parts would be be pretty easy to obtain.

[ihalip]

But I don't think it uses PSA's EMP2 platform. Wikipedia says this car is a modified Tagaz Aquila.

[namdnay]

You're right! And MPM is "Mikhail Paramonov Manufacturing"... they've stuck a lot of French flags on their website, but it's a russian design

EDIT: something very fishy going on... https://en.crimerussia.com/oligarchs/versailles-mansion-of-t...

[will_deBerry]

the design is 100% Korean, the first project was produced at the Ukrainian border for 4 months in factories rented to the Tagaz group, then the group closed and the project was forgotten until we bought back the rights