Citroen Ami - Waddya Reckon?

[simonhill]

I tried to find its 0-30, or how it compares at that to proper cars. Couldn't find a figure. One review did say it accelerated well. It is limited to 30, that's not it's max possible speed. I imagine it could be chipped to go faster.

Weight carried will also be important. One skinny like me in it and it will zip along, 2 standard British adults and it might be more sluggish.

[Mick F]

He called it the Amm-ee .......... where I read it as Ay-me.

Why?

It's the common French word for "friend", and the a is short, as in the first syllable of amicable rather than amiable.

There's loadsa words in other languages wot we Brits pronounce differently.
No doubt you could list them.

It's an Aim-ee to me, as in amiable.
Do I care?
Not much.

[Jdsk]

I tried to find its 0-30, or how it compares at that to proper cars. Couldn't find a figure. One review did say it accelerated well. It is limited to 30, that's not it's max possible speed. I imagine it could be chipped to go faster.

Weight carried will also be important. One skinny like me in it and it will zip along, 2 standard British adults and it might be more sluggish.

Yes, when compared to ICEs the acceleration of EVs is way out of proportion to quoted power because of the shape of the torque curve. And the same would be true in relation to maximum speed... other things being equal...

Similarly for ascending hills, with a touch of relativity in the thought experiment!

And I expect that you're right about the effect of the second human's mass.

Jonathan

[Carlton green]

I tried to find its 0-30, or how it compares at that to proper cars. Couldn't find a figure. One review did say it accelerated well. It is limited to 30, that's not it's max possible speed. I imagine it could be chipped to go faster.

Weight carried will also be important. One skinny like me in it and it will zip along, 2 standard British adults and it might be more sluggish.

Without the built in 45 kph limit I wonder what its maximum speed would be? On the other hand how safe would this vehicle be at faster speeds and, even at lower speeds, what protection does it offer in the case of an accident? Generally I’ve been lucky on the road (trying to be sensible helps a lot) but other road users vary and their actions can impact on you. One major accident comes to mind when I was very glad of my car’s crumple zone and airbags: without them I’d have been either killed or likely crippled for life. Perhaps I’m mistaken but I was also glad to not have been in a smaller car and now remember making a mental note, on safety grounds, to avoid ever buying a small car. I would not wish to have then in excess but (appropriate to risk) safety features do matter and they need to be present. I can’t help but think that the Ami wouldn’t cope well in an accident.

When I was a youth a slightly older child that I knew of got injured whilst riding as a passenger in a Reliant Regal. The Regal crashed and she was left with lifelong brain injuries. Whilst I wouldn’t like to dam any car the protection it affords you in an accident is, when such things happen, very important. How often do accidents happen? Once I start to think about it this careful and cautious driver would say roughly every second decade. I’m also reminded that (roughly five years ago) without modern crash protection another driver would have killed or seriously injured one of my adult children. As they say ‘Sh1t Happens’.

[Mick F]

I can’t help but think that the Ami wouldn’t cope well in an accident.

That's the problem with modern cars.

Make them less safe rather than more safe. The safer you feel, the more risks you take.

[jimlews]

I do love French automobile styling. So aesthetically challenging. This one looks like an oversized 1950's toaster.

[Carlton green]

I can’t help but think that the Ami wouldn’t cope well in an accident.

That's the problem with modern cars.

Make them less safe rather than more safe. The safer you feel, the more risks you take.

Whilst I respect the logic in that perspective I really can’t agree with that sentiment. When I was a motorcycle rider I was aware of risk and modified my behaviour accordingly, but other riders on faster bikes took the chances that I refused to take and ended up in Hospital or worse. IME lack of safety features does not make typical drivers drive more safely, they just end up being mostly unused features on vehicles driven by the sensible. Also, any driver is at the mercy of other drivers; the accidents that I’ve been involved in have been down to fault with the other party and safety features have saved me from the results of their behaviour.

I wouldn’t agree that the average driver feels more safe with additional safety features around them. Most people get in a car and drive it without a moments thought about crumple zones and air bags.

[Oldjohnw]

In its original iteration the Citroen Ami was beyond ugly.

[jimlews]

In its original iteration the Citroen Ami was beyond ugly.

That would be all that Gallic charm.

[Oldjohnw]

In its original iteration the Citroen Ami was beyond ugly.

That would be all that Gallic charm.

Absolutely. I quite liked them. But then, i had a 2CV and two GS cars, one a hatchback and one an estate.

[Carlton green]

2CV’s, I’m uncertain how they would be regarded now but many decades ago a 2CV was a wonderful magic carpet in which driver and loved ones could go anywhere they chose. No hill was too steep, no road was to rough and so what if acceleration wasn’t great and 70 mph was both noisy and left you past by faster cars. Perhaps I’m completely wrong, or perhaps such cars have too little profit in them for dealers and manufacturers, but I’m of the belief that the basic - but still safe enough - affordable transport offered by modern versions of such cars is pretty much all of what the vast majority of us actually need.

As for the current Ami, well it falls massively short of the utility offered by the 2CV. The Ami will have its uses and market, but I really cannot see it being imported into the U.K.

[thirdcrank]

The 2CV and the avenues of plane trees which used to line main roads in France didn't mix, although the plane trees coped well.

In the distant past when, I lived and worked in school in the South of France, the caretaker bought his first ever car - a 2CV - and if I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times "There's only me and my wife so we only need one horse each."

[Oldjohnw]

I bought my 2CV new in, I think, 1974. Price figured significantly. I could fill the tank for £5.

[Mick F]

Most people get in a car and drive it without a moments thought about crumple zones and air bags.

I utterly agree, but if people actually knew that they were in an unsafe car, or a car which would hurt them if they hit something, they would drive more warily.

Imagine a car with instead of an airbag in the steering wheel, it had a long spike.

[Jdsk]

Most people get in a car and drive it without a moments thought about crumple zones and air bags.

I utterly agree, but if people actually knew that they were in an unsafe car, or a car which would hurt them if they hit something, they would drive more warily.

Imagine a car with instead of an airbag in the steering wheel, it had a long spike.

Risk compensation affecting the behaviour of drivers is contentious. Quoting it as an inevitable consequence of any intervention should be supported by the current evidence.

Jonathan