The worst thing I've ever driven? The Aixam Mega Van thing
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- Опубликовано: 20 фев 2023
- A throbbing twin-cylinder diesel producing roughly no power, a wasteful CVT drivetrain, flimsy plastic panels and SO MUCH NOISE! Surprisingly likeable, but this is HubNut. #aixam #microcar #awful
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Had the displeasure of sitting in one of these, was like being in a porta-loo with a narrowboat engine
Priceless description!
Fantastic comment !!. Love it.😂
I believe the engine is made by Kubota and sold under license by Yanmar in the boating world, so you are technically correct.
This should have been put out for your 100k sub. On the upside, you found some interesting Nissan.
It's a portaloo without the convenience! 🚽
It appears to have the noise, refinement and road performance of a cement mixer...what a fantastic machine!
as clean inside as one too
Noise, refinement and road performance of a cement mixer? Yep - From inside the mixing drum itself!
I've been wracking my brains to compare this to something and you've nailed it.
Not a great cement mixer though, but ok 😁
cement mixer probably can move faster...
"When you press the horn the fuel gauge works"
You just made my f*cking day mate.
Now this is the type of vehicle I want to see HubNut take on a European trip.
That would be a VERY long series! 🤣
@@moonhogg try the old Topgear trio lol
carson be absolute pissed off with it
Don’t think I’ve laughed so much at a road test before, great stuff Ian
It was up there with the TWC, shorts and storm combo
How the hell can this thing even get an MOT? (rhetorical)
@@VauxhallViva1975That's a VERY good question
How can it even get an MOT. Difficultly.
A truly terrible thing, in so many ways... really only leaves 1 question... when you getting one? 🤣
Put a camper body on the back, and your away, not very quickly though.
@@johndilloway9762 I think adding extra weight is the last thing it needs 🤣
@@Richard_Turner I totally agree, probably be to much for it with a tent on the back😂
You can tell it's only got one horse power, you can hear it neighing in excitement everytime you set off. 😳😲😁
Or it had one horse power when new. Then the horse got married to a donkey and produced a mule, the horse and the donkey got a divorce and the horse took the mule with her and now theres only a donkey left in the house. At least that's what happened to my lawnmower tractor, and this thing is quite similar to it.
I think they have more, they are allowed to have 6 kw (8.2 hp) in Sweden and I can never believe that the UK has stricter rules.
@@tangfors Context: 125cc bikes are allowed 11kw
@@tangfors here they are treated like cars needing the same licence so there wouldn’t be a maximum as such. I guess that is somewhat stricter
Stop being such a neigh sayer.
That was great filming the CVT , I kind of understood the method but seeing it made all the difference.
Cheers Mr Chops. Here's another demo. ruclips.net/video/j2jkyCaard0/видео.html
@@HubNut I know it crappie but a love it 🤣👍
It looks like you could adjust that belt to squeeze a little more mph out.
@@blacksquirrel4008 yes you can adjust the variator or you can get a race or modifyed one.👍
It's the same as a scooter variator if you have ever seen a shooter one only bigger 👍
That is the most honorable car you have tested in a long while. How ultimately Hubnut!
With the passage of 12 month's time, this vehicle still has not grown on me.😢
I bet someone has dropped a hyabusa engine in 1 already 😂
There's an elderly couple with one of these in our area (in France) who seems to spend all day every day going backwards and forwards along the same 30 mile stretch of main road just to see how long a traffic tail they can build up. Oh, and they're also limited to about 27 mph here by law...
Lool, sounds like a fun way to spend retirement.
It can barely do 27Mph anyway with the wind behind you.
I love how that belt problem makes it sound like its wheel spinning every time it takes off 😂🤣
Yeah that's hilarious.
the aspirational audio system. Standard on all vehicles with decimal point horsepower :)
Adds 50 horsepower, you know.
I just love those , that one seems like it isn’t maintained very well , the cvt belt appears to be upside down and is slack , it has a centrifugal clutch but belt slip is letting it down , should be restricted to 50kph ( 30mph ) and however bad it is it’s still better than walking
@@dizzy2020 could be, but some people need to carry more than just there lunchbox...
I'm a car nerd and a hardcore driving lover yet I found out walking is great when I lost my licence to drifting, now I do walking voluntarily, weird. Believe me, I'm not a fitness person in any shape or form
But a Japanese Kei truck is still better in every way.
I walk everywhere and I still prefer it to one of these shitboxes. You can still walk with a bit of dignity at least.
In the UK they aren't speed governed, but the transmission doesn't cope well with high speeds. I used to be on a Yahoo group for Aixams and similar, and the transmissions were a constant source of trouble.
My nearly 2 year old sat and watched every second. He imitated Ian's juddering "whoaahh-oh-oh" everytime it pulled away. We really enjoyed this one 😂
Well this is the Little Tikes commercial range, so the appeal is understandable :)
The first time Ian pulled away I thought the sound was the tyres screeching with the raw horsepower 😅😂🤣😅😂🤣😅😂🤣
God, this thing running makes a fiat 126p sound like a luxury car.
The belt slippage makes it sound like you are peeling out everytime you take off
There is a Mega you should drive: the Mega Ranch/Club/Tjaffer (depending on the market where it was sold), which is a pickup truck based on the Citroën AX 4x4. There is one in a barn close by but the owner doesn't want to part with it, despite sitting there for over a decade.
Quite impressively it managed to fail it's first MOT at 3 years old with only 2500 miles on it! Wowser... Fun quirky thing though, and looks like you had an "interesting" time trying to film this one!
You'd probably be surprised just how many cars fail their first MOTs.
@@ferrumignis I'm well aware they do, but usually having done at least 30k miles not just 2.5k, and then it's more often tyres, bulbs, maybe drop links etc. One of the failure points on this Aixam was a poorly installed brake hose which was likely like that from the factory.
Wait, this thing needs MOT in the UK? In Hungary, these are exempts as far as I know. Probably because they'd fail anyway... :D
@@ferrumignismy BMW did apparently they’d failed to wire up the brake lights now yes I should have checked but you get so used to the dash lights reporting such things but according to BMW they only tell you if a bulb has blown!
I think it looks quite sweet lol
I own one! I’m in Kent and have a hobby farm. Mine is a slightly later 2007 model sort of mk2 with a little longer bonnet. It’s got a caged back and it’s nickname is the Lambalance. We use it to cart the newly born lambs and ewes to the lambing shed from the field. The only rubbish bit is the turning circle. It could have been so much better if it had a tighter turning circle!! It’s like a cheap John Deere gaiter that nobody would ever steal. We love ours.
Looks dope to me haha seen one in my lil town.cheap, no cops issues, and no bitchz issues either. 10/10
Awesomely bad is still awesome! The burnout sound effect from the slipping belt...also awesome.
I like how the crumple zones are your knees, great bit of safety design there.
At least it means the driver will do everything in their power to not hit anything.
Passive safety...?
@@johnbaron5871
Yes good point
It insures your the first one on the scene of the accident
The best way to avoid injury in this thing in the event if an accident is to avoid having an accident.
@@FM60260 Avoid getting in it would be even better.
I drove an Axiam mini car ( can’t recall the name) but it was the scariest thing I’ve ever driven, it also had hand control. Being overtaken by a bus was very unnerving. When I got it too the garage I worked at, four service tech lifted it on too the MOT ramp
Crossline?
@@FM60260 Yes ! Thanks
This video made me smile from start to finish. This truck reminded me of my little Honda LN360 which was equally as much " fun," especially driving down the Zambezi escarpment into the Chirundu valley in Zambia.
I'm sure others would agree with me Ian that one of the big attractions of your channel is your ability to see the positive in whatever your are testing no matter how challenging. Bravo.
Not this piece of crap though. Nothing positive about it.
When something is so crap its appealing....
Looks like one of those which you can get by mail order from China.
The noise at tickover is reminiscent of a two cylinder Lister.
I was thinking thwaites dumper!
I was thinking there's a lot of similarities to Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels' dumper, Humpty
The design language of the cabin is definitely Little Tikes Cozy Coupe meets Wish.
The sound it makes when it sets off made me think you were spinning the wheels 😂 those doors must have been nicked off a portaloo 😂😂
That engine reminds me of the noise building site dumper trucks used to make years ago.
I was just thinking the same thing lol. A Thwaites dumper with the exhaust that looked like a revolving gun 🤣
It made me hear the music theme from 1980 Gods Must Be Crazy.
I once saw a van version for sale and thought it would be fun.. lucky for me I came to my senses and didn’t buy it. Problem is now I have seen this I want one again!
Maybe you need to get one so it’s out of your system and you can move on with your life.
FIND ONE AND BUY IT
Never seen the pickup variant before, but the front-end treatment & horrific noise I recognise from around my parents old place in France. Even worse, there were significant hills in the area, so Axiams of both electric & diesel varieties were mobile chicanes
All the sans permis are mobile chicanes, I live in France. . . . . . . . . . . .He mentioned the quadricycle rules but failed to really expand on that, some 14.5hp Diesel 500cc max, two seat limit, under 750kg and auto gearbox are mandatory in France.
I wonder how many here do know it is a VSP (Voiture Sans Permis) in France, shortened to just sans permis and you can drive one without a driving licence - sans permis !
There's two classes IIRC, 8.5hp absolutely no licence needed and a designed max speed of 30mph and the more usual 14.5hp needing a theory test only and IIRC 38/40mph max.
It might be terrible, but it has the happiest face of anything on the channel in a long time.
Also, nice Lush reference there.
Every time you pull away that belt squeal sounds like a bad sound effect in a 1970s car chase...brilliant!
"I'm not sure the ride is actually that bad......CLUNK" How very HubNut! I genuinely LOL'd at that!
The way it jolted as you left the golf club was utterly hilarious, even if it was a noisy and awful drive, the experience was certainly entertaining! 😂
Love the fact that it sounds like its charging off with wheels spinning, because of the belt squeal, when its actually going so slooowly
The slipping belt sound is rather amusing as it sounds like tyres squeeling in cartoons.
They do serve a purpose though. We had a very similar one made by Tata. It had a two cylinder diesel engine and sounded very similar to yours. Dead cheap, simple and reliable. And where we were using ours there was a blanket 10mph speed limit so really it was just the job!
I think these are pretty cool little things.
Very basic very light weight and very good at doing what you want them to.
It’s like reviewing a ride on lawn mower for not being refined lol
You can’t have driven one then buy a piaggio ape instead
@@mikehunte2087 I had 3 of them loved them. Apart from the fact that two were electric.
I should have had all diesels
I drove my Aixam Mega Van - professionally converted to a coffee van - for 6 years on and off...Fully loaded with a heavy coffee machine, 10kg coffee grinder, 2 x 23kg gas bottles, a fridge, 100 litres of water, 20 litres of milk, 5kg of coffee plus cups ,spoons, lids, biscuits and me and my daughter (trainee barista!). We drove 100s of miles around the South of England and the Mega acted like a real star. She never let me down but on hilly A Roads we would see the speedo go down to 11mph! We prayed it would keep on going to the top and it always did!...When i sold I gave a prospective buyer - a woman- a test drive and after five minutes she got out in shock! ....she was expecting it to be refined as a Vauxhall Astra van! Also I accidently drove it up to the axles in a flood - but after waiting 5 minutes she started and we went on to serve coffee...46mph was maximum downhill but it swayed around so much the prayer beads came out again!...I never tried it again. .... Don't want to ever repeat the marvel but the engine (Kybuto) was as strong as an ox and the van was a tiny marvel really! 😎
Brilliant! The belt squeal sounds like tyre squeal😆
That has to be one of the funniest Hub nut videos I've seen. Even the wife was laughing and she's got covid. That squeeling belt made some of the shots look like Starsky & Hutch pulling away.
Maybe you should find a newer one for a comparison 😀
Thanks. Best wishes for your other half. It isn't fun.
2004 ? - It sounds like something from 1904 ! - I like the look of this micro truck - Great shame they didn't drop a 1.9 XUD engine from Peugeot in it - if they had dropped a 1.9 Diesel in it, I would hate to imagine the amount of belt slip at the CVT lol - Great video man.
Those vehicles are designed in France to fit in the motorcycle category, thus they are limited in power and speed. But they also can drop several safety requirement like airbags, crumple zones. etc... I'm not even sure that safety belts are required?
@@LeSarthois I guess in France anything goes ! but you're quite right, there does not seem to be much protection in the way of safety... !
I had bought a french Ligier microcar; I returned it after a few days, it was so terrible it was unbelievable!
The pedal positioning was totally to one side, the plastic roof caved in with water when in rained forming a puddle, the exhaust was under the driver seat so if you opened the windows the fumes would get in, and it would shake SO MUCH especially when idle that it felt like the engine was bolted straight to the chassis.
I replaced it with an Italian Grecav from about the same year, and it was like stepping from a lawnmower to an actual car; no weird rattles, aluminium frame and panels, all the features worked and were reachable instead of being bolted wherever they happened to be when they chucked the parts inside a Ligier.
Mind you, these things cost pretty much the same, which is an absurd amount, but at least the Grecav had some quality behind it and someone test-drove it before approving the production plans!
I miss that little bean!
They even made a pickup version...
That ending is gold, what a comedic vehicle. You'd definately want to drive it with ear defenders though.
Absolutely priceless review if a worthless thing. Terrifying and fun in equal measure. You finally found something that is scarier than TWK!!!
100k video suggestion: "I drive an Aixam across Europe"
Respectfully, no...
Very enjoyable road test of a venerable machine. I like the idea of disqualified drivers pelting around in these!
Now, this is the Hubnut content I really love! Something hilariously bad tested with lots of humour. I lost it at "when you press the horn, the fuel gauge works" :D
Fine French electronics...
This is the spiritual successor to those old Piaggio Apes, or the IFA Multicar. Very small, very sparse, barebone runabouts for tight spaces. But I bet even the Italians or the East Germans put more effort in their versions than the baguette people... the same people who made the motorized tin can 2CV (no offense, I love them) in parallel with the space age high tech DS for decades. There must be something in their wine...
Amazing work as always♥ love from Ireland!!
I'm not sure if this is the antithesis of everything I love about cars or something I really need! Probably the former, but I'd still like to have one, even for a month!
I like how from the front it looks like a thing someone thought about (for a minute) and the rest is just like "off to the pub".
Looks to me like it was designed after going to the pub.
I owned 2 Aixam cars with 500cc Kubota single cylinder industrial diesel engines. 80mpg under all conditions and top whack 70mph, the steering was a little hairy at that speed. Drove them from South West Scotland to Dublin and back several times. I actually have fond memories of them.
Makes a Smart car looks luxurious
I don’t usually comment on videos ‘Nut, but some of the wagons you’ve been in that’s saying something! 😂
Water and soap as anything stronger would melt it?
Your best video yet! Challenge is can you find worse?
I think the tow ball is only for rescuing the truck!😂
I own one of these and am quite happy with it. It's a newer model though, from 2007. I have a compartment below the drivers seat. It doesn't sound as much, none of that banging and screeching, and no shaking. Instrument panel is more modern and better placed. Car doors are still ridiculous.
I have it because I only have moped license (was quick and cheap) and because I don't have to pay road tolls, as expensive insurance and no need for annual inspection. It's perfect for summer during garden season.
The transmission looks like the inside of a cheap record deck. Has it got a 3 speed gearbox, 33, 45 and 78?
Only 16 I suspect....
That was absolutely hillarious! 🤣😂🤣😂😅 I love the styling of these (Has the same cute but attentive look as a jumping spider!) and never miss the opportunity to sit in one, when I see them at car or motorcycle fairs - almost impossiblre to fit inside, hahaha. It appears this have seen some extensive useage, despite being so awful, judging by the state of the interor - or maybe it was never cleaned - ever? Also - if I had to guess what era of car it was, just listening to the engine noise it makes, I would more likely guess 1904 than 2004... Proof that awful cars make for awfully good entertainment! More awfull cars, please!
Now it must be time for a testrun in a Piaggio 150 Ape, - the amazing 3 wheeler that built Italy 😊
Your climbing-aboard and driving away footage at the end is just hilarious! Thanks for thoroughly cheering up my evening, HubNut gold!
How would it cope if you put a load in the pick up? What a lovely and relaxing drive. Loved the video.
Ha Ha.
It wouldn't
Just think how uncomfortable it would be without that Dynamat fitted to it?! 😉
More than that: it's a structural integrity element.
A friend of mine only has a motorcycle license so for the past 45 years he has had mainly reliants but did delve into quadricycles.
The ligier ambra made a smart car look huge and he also has had numerous aixams. The diesel one he had was the same engine as the truck and could manage around 50mph with a lot of determination and stupidity.
The last one he had was an aixam crossline gtr Evo ( I'm being serious about that name!) With the petrol engine and fuel injection. Capable of around 70 flat out. That came fitted from the factory with remote locking, electric windows and rear parking sensors!
My late elderly neighbours had an Aixam car. It was their only chance of transport after their Reliant 3 wheeler died. It transported them from home to their tiny caravan on the Northumberland coast until dementia slowly drew the curtain on their lives. Aixams have their uses.
This was absolutely hilarious. Thank you for giving me such a great laugh :)
Ian your a brave man I can’t believe anyone would admit to owning that shed let alone offer it for a test drive 😂😂
people today are too fussy, getting financed up to the eyeballs for a Merc or an Audi...,
Hey, free advertizing is free. If they have a vehicle like this they either have an eye on economy, or just a great sense of humour. Either way it's a good look for a company, looking generous without associating their specialist work with this very goofy "pickup".
@@thedarklandsmusic I have an old 2005 Skoda Fabia 1.2, it's a rolls Royce compared to this and probably costed me 10x less than this heap
@@greatbritannialine I'd have one of these pickups
@@thedarklandsmusic fair play mate, i get the appeal. Tho there is one on market place (57 reg) for 7500 quid. Quite afew pennies
0:52 the Disabllity sticker on that "car" is hilarious 😂
I didn't think THIS would be the -car- autocycle that best helped me understand the action of a CVT
I think I want one.
I think you need looking at !!😂😂
On the websites, the Aixams and Liger cars look quite sophisticated these days. Compared to say the 1970's version.
It certainly looks well used!
Brilliant.
I just know you want one! 😄
I love the irony in the choice of name: "Mega"...! That screeching indicator beep is exactly the same as the one on an ancient Optare Solo bus operated by my local bit of Stagecoach.
Pure HubNut brilliance !!!! Surely someone was being ironic calling that a Mega, mind you the 60s getaway car screeching sound effects are pretty impressive........
What a machine complete weapon 😅
Safety first, you will hear it (or the driver) long before it reaches you. Personally I think it has a lot of err... character. It's sort of reminds me of my old (now long deceased) cat, he would hide and attack at every opportunity but I loved the poor old sod as nobody else would put up with him so he had many years more fun than he might not have had. It might be a terrible car but it is still on the road, it would be sad however bad this not to be able to see it. Just a thought, have you thought about trying another oddball such as a Renault Twizy? Thanks for sharing.
Commonly known as drunk cars here in France. If you los your licence due to a DUI then you can drive one of these. They can be driven at 16. Max speed 30 mph.
Next week... Hubnut buys a Mega van! 😂🤣😂 13:00 The fake wheel spin noise is so funny.
Hilarious video, thank you. This is the sort of vehicle you park out on the street in order to bring property prices down.
What a heap. Funning thing is down here in New Zealand back in the 70"s the Japanese "Keitora" mini trucks were popular and surprisingly quite enjoyable. I had a Daihatsu 660 cc Hijet.
Yes, a few kei trucks have even made it to the UK.
"Kind of reminds me of an LDV in many ways." - That made me chuckle.
In finland you can drive those aixams and ligiers and whatever else brands there are when you are 15 and there is a pretty healthy basshead culture around those. It looks and sounds hilarious when the whole car is moving with the force of subwoofers
I’ve just got back from 5 days at my mates in rural France and Aixams were there a plenty. Mainly driven by old men nipping to the local shop. Yes I’m sure they are terrible but I’m fascinated by them for the age old hubnut mantra that they are unloved, simple, different and cheap. I’d take one of these over a mobility scooter every day of the week!!!
Get one with box van and you have the ultimate Hubnut Merchandise carrier
That was hilarious. Even more so with the subtitles on: sans-permis becomes "song for me" and the belt squeel and engine noise is captioned "(MUSIC)" 😆 I'll watch again with the sound on. ..
In the "Plus" column - No triangle of doom!! In the "Minus" column - EVERYTHING else!! 😆😆
That is by far the funniest video I have ever seen but at the same time strangely I want one. Its like someone put a cab on top of a rotavator and added a pickup rear. Bizzare. I remember many years ago when I worked for Jaguar we used to test cars at the Nardo test track in the heel of Italy. Most of the land around the track was farmland. You would see rotavators rigged up with wheels and a bench seat and trailer so the farmers could use them as transport for them and their produce (and families sometimes) My friend used to call them 'Engine on a stick'. This Axiam is basically a far advanced engine on a stick lol
Good to see how much you've grown since last time I watched guys. Well done! 🤙
Very popular class of vehicle here in France,mostly for folk that don't have or have lost their driving licence for various reasons.Also good for youngsters!!
They should have a flashing light on them a la agricultural machinery...which,if you think of it,is what they are!!
How very brave of you to take one on road!!Great reportage!!
How very hubnut. It's pure character, and your "enthusiasm for creations" like this is heartwarming.
I think you secretly loved driving this and you'll end up owning one.
Bets are on that you announce your purchase within this year.😉👍
I was feeling a little Blue. But that Drive had me Giggling. So thx Ian..!!
Cheers All. Kim in Oz.😎
Watching the cvt in action was fascinating, normally everything is sealed away.
The lights and indicator test at the end was hilarious!
The asthmatic horn is hilarious 😁😁
Hahaha that belt noise is hilarious - sounds like cartoon tyre squeal!!
This video nearly played to the end but my PC became unresponsive and I had to switch to that screen that says "Aw, snap! Something went wrong, would you like to re-load?" The engine sounded like a two-cyclinder version of the sturdy three cylinder Kubota engine that powered the Ransomes Triple, ride on grounds mower. There is me thinking that a Commer Karrier lorry was the absolute worst vehicle that I haver ever driven. Excellent video Ian.
Love this vid 🤣 The belt making it sound like you're wheel spinning moving off & you looking terrified even after driving Twc thru a storm 🙈
All the refinement of a “Thwaites Dumper” 😁🤪…… still want one 🧐😎👌🏻
A CVT can go backwards as quickly as it can forwards. As I proved one day in my Dad's year-old Daf 44.
Sadly, the brakes were not as efficient, and unluckily, the fence stopped any further progress! 😳
I have the same Aixam Mega but in the electric version, its a year 2002. I cant really say if its slower or not because it doesnt run at all right now.
Just a small fact about this little truck, the entire structure of the cab is made out of fiberglass so basicaly the front shocks, the rollcage and everything else is attached just to that thin fiberglass and it likes to crack a lot at the points where its attached to the chasis. this also causes the windshields to crack because in that case the cab twists a lot.
When i get my Aixam driving again im probably gonna cover the entire thing with sound insulation
Wonderful truck a much needed irritation , yet 100% functional live in Australia's 2nd largest city , get letters from authorities for my 37 yr old kombi , noise and flat 4 ocasional fumes , I would love to test the social fabric with a little French truck .
Great vid including unusual footage of the CVT 👍