Have you ever been concerned about the position of the engine in a kei truck?
When I explain this to customers who come to the store, many of them say they “didn’t care.” For example, in the Suzuki Carry truck series (including the current Minicab and NT100 Clipper T), it’s located under or slightly behind the seat, in the Daihatsu Hijet series (including the current Sambar T), it’s slightly behind the driver’s cabin, and in the Honda Acty truck, it’s near the center of the loading platform. The old Sambar T is at the very back.
For example, if the engine is under the seat, the engine noise will inevitably escape into the cabin, right? The current model is much quieter than the previous model, but depending on how you look at it, is this type the first to notice if there is a strange noise coming from the engine?
On the other hand, the old Sambar truck is the furthest from the cabin (the last pure Subaru model). According to customers, even when there is no luggage, the engine is at the back and heavy, so it’s strong on slippery roads. The engine is quiet because it’s at the very back. However, I think that many of the kei trucks that run at high revs without shifting gears are Sambar Ts (this is just my impression).
If the engine was right under the rear, it wouldn’t rev up that much.