I've been interested in kei trucks for years, trying to get something by early spring, and I've got a few friends interested as well. I'm going to japan over winter on vacation so considering figuring out how to ship some back to the US. Anyway, I know these arent highway cruising machines, but it'd be nice if they could maintain a decent speed on the highways near me that are all 75, im not going to be doing big road trips in it, but doing trips under 2 hours that see a bit of highway use might be common. I think its the sambar that was available in a supercharged 6 speed? that sounds like a good start, or any trucks that respond well to simple mods to get a little more speed out of them? Also looks like a lot of these 25+ year old ones are carbureted? any that came fuel injected?
The ones 99 and up I believe are EFI, potentially some sooner. You can get a Samnar supercharged which would definitely help on highway from what i've seen of other posters here. I would say a Sambar is the best for highway as it is a 4 cylinder as compared to the others. I drove a Suzuki and a Daihatsu before deciding on a Subaru and they had a much harder time going above 90km. My 1991 carburated Sambar will hold 100-110km/h depending on road conditions on flat-ish ground, so I imagine a supercharged one will have a bit of an easier time. You will slow down going up a hill no matter what. I have made three 400km(4hr highway trip) trips so far in mine and had no issues, one with 700lbs on the back still holding 100km/h without being full on the throttle. They're extremely reliable and handle well, but they aren't made to be fast. I assume you mean 75mph as the speed limit, you may have a problem hitting and maintaining that. If you have any questions about a Sambar particularly or just using/owning the trucks in general I may be able to answer, however I will add that i'm not a mechanic.
To echo what Kody indicated, many people on site also indicate that the Subaru's and Honda's are somewhat quieter at highway speeds due to the mid-engine design.
I think he may have meant that the Subaru and Honda are rear engine and the rest are mid under the seat/front of the box. My Subaru it's at the very back kind of on/behind the axles.
You are both right, and both wrong. Honda Acty is Mid-engined (engine exists between the wheelbase) Subaru Sambar is Rear-engined (engine is at the rear wheels) If the engine is under the cab, then it is front engined, because it is at or before of the front wheels. As for highway capabilities.. I would stick to any truck that has a Turbo or a Supercharger. Those generally have a more favorable gear ratio for highway use. My 92 Supercharged Sambar cruises right along at 65mph all day long with no issues. I do suggest that no matter what brand of truck/van you get, if you are going to use it a lot on the highway, that you should install an external oil cooler, so you do not cook the oil.
My hijet has no problem doing 110 on flat ground if I let it rev out and have even gone over 120 downhill that was scary like sitting on a grenade. The truck actually loves to go 80-90 that has the engine revving around 4500 rpm.
