Get Surfshark VPN at surfshark.deals/DRIVETRIBE - Enter promo code DRIVETRIBE for 83% off and 3 extra months FREE.

We've had a couple. One of those was a project car. More boost, bigger intercooler and better radiator, coilovers, MGB wheels with 185/55 tyres. Most fun car I've ever had. One of those epic "Wish I'd never sold it" stories.

Putting a bike engine in there (Hayabusa probably) would be great content and interesting to see. Also have to rename it to "espresso" afterwards!

That's quite the change but it is refreshing to see a totally different car, I'm excited to see what it can amount to. PS: I can see May totally loving this car, Clarkson crushing it with his Lamborghini, but Hammond, I can't put my finger on what he may think of it

you won’t have much problem making 100 hp out of the F6A. The Cappuccino guys have cracked them to 200 hp a couple years ago. 200 hp from a 660cc 3 cylinder, absolute insanity 😅

A basic sense of spatial awareness, it’s amazing how many drivers don’t possess that simple must when given a license to drive.

Still waiting on that V10 MX-5 *WE HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN*

I've loved these for a few months now and wanted one, but the problem is they're so expensive compared to MX-5's due to the fact they are all imports so there aren't that many in the country.

Love it! upgrading the front mount intercooler is a big improvement as well.

From one Cappuccino owner (Widebody Track build in progress) to another, this has to be the best Cappuccino introduction videos I have seen. Accurate information, quality video with proper editing, and a clear presentation 👌 I have a lot to learn 😂 in terms of outputting quality videos like this.. I look forward to seeing where your build goes.

Best thing about a Cappuccino grey import is that you should leave the speedo in kph - don't convert it to mph. A car that small feels a lot faster than you're actually going, and leaving the speedo in kph reinforces the sensation!

As an owner since 2010, believe me when I say the only modification you will need to the brakes is better pads. Combined with proper tyres, this is all you will need in this department. I would also recommend a Cusco LSD. This was one of the best modifications I did. The open diff likes to spin an inside wheel because there is no weight over the rear wheels. Just be careful on the damp roads because you'll need a quick steering input. Can't wait to see the progress. 👍

That was the most entertaining ad I've yet seen for Surfshark. Well done Mike 😃

Love the Cappuccino. Have wanted one for years but missed out on when they were cheap. They've just been going up and up to a point sellers here in Australia are asking $30K+ for them. There were several great body kits for them in Japan from some of the photos I've seen, including a couple that make them look like a mini FD RX-7. Interested to see what you do with it.

production quality on this channel is looking proper since I last dropped in, love to see it

Absolutely loved these when I was a kid in the early 90's. Just so different and the proportions look perfect! Look forward to seeing what's achievable with it.

Thrilled to see this! I've lived in Japan almost 15 years, and you still see these little Cappuccinos around, along with their Daihatsu rival the Copa. Not too long ago I was chatting with a 20-something man about his dream car, and he said it was one of these! Great choice, everyone here seems to love them.

Seen as it already revs to 9300, if a camshaft upgrade is available then go for that. A nice big front mount intercooler. Full custom exhaust (decat/race cat) but not obnoxious looking or sounding. CAI for a little more intake growl.

Love it! Just got my AZ-1, I'll be taking notes from your approach. I'm tempted to pursue a single rotor 13b to still classify as a kei car but hit power numbers alike to what you were describing here, but some of that motivation comes from wanting to be the most mazda car possible.

I am much more excited for projects about stuffing lots of power into a tiny car than anything else, so this'll be an interesting project to see!

I love this kind of car. Simple, super fun but not ludicrously fast. Character is where it's at, not lap times or any other number value.

Love a kei car and how popular they are in Japan, love seeing all the new parts and kits at auto salon. Should be every drivers entry into cars and how to drive. Lots of choice for modifications too

Great idea, all sounds fun. Not sure you can topple the MX-5 as all the mods you are planning can also be done to an MX-5 and that is starting from a better base.

This may very well be my favourite project so far! Absolutely love Kei cars, and this is going to be a blast!

Brilliant. I’ve Smart roadster with similar credentials. Not quite the same, but with some tweaks (suspension, wheels and tyres, brakes, inter cooler, remap and some other small stuff), it’s hilarious to drive and can embarrass all manner of traditional sporty cars. Gearbox remains the Achilles heel, but with 110bhp at the wheels and 740kg… it’s huge fun. Your targets are spot on. Will be following along closely.

Had one as my first car in 2020, still have it now. Excellent car in which to learn about driving, not enough power to get into a sticky situation but just enough to push the limits and figure out what to do in a RWD car with no traction control or ABS :p

Drivetribe have finally learned to put a limit on Mike's company card...

Years ago working for Ford here in Australia, one of the other engineers had one of these. I still cant believe he fitted as he was 6'4" or 6'6" tall. He bought it when living in NZ and then brought it to Australia. He later went back to NZ and took it back with him.

As a Smart driver, I can only gasp at the enormous amount of space wasted by this aircraft carrier. Ostentatious is the word that comes to mind. You go through gaps that make other people wonder? I've been on bike bridges that had barriers in place, turned around on single lane roads in two strokes...it's awesome! Ever since my Fortwo with its glass roof, quick heating and cooling, nice economy and sweet rims had his service and is back to mechanically sound status, it's a perfect little thing to get around if you don't have kids, no big luggage and no fixed parking spot. I ALWAYS find one near my home, the Stadium, the shops, Downtown...the passenger compartment isn't small at all, so it's really liveable for two and does 80mph smoothly. What more do you really need? I answered nothing.

Love it. It's definitely something a bit out of the ordinary. I am looking forward to see what will become of it. Maybe let Bim have a go at roasting it when it's done.

Ahh yes, just what this channel needed, Not going to complain at some Japanese Nuggetry going on! Love the Cappuccinos, always wanted one but never had the chance to get one, intrigued to see how this one turns out after the Drivetribe treatment - Also I bet Hammond makes that look like a normal sized car

Love it, remember loving this little thing in the original Gran Tourismo and lamenting why we never got any of the quirky fun stuff from Japan here in Canada. Can't wait to see the progress with it!

I had never heard of the Cappuccino when I fell in love with one on a garage forecourt, half way from Tokyo to Kyoto. I then bought a UK car some years later, in silver. There are two things to know, first that the joy of a petrol engine is the ratio between top revs and lowest pulling revs. This engine pulls from two thousand and something to 9k. Second thing to know is that this is one of the best chassis ever put in a car. I know that sounds incredible, but remember that it was designed on a cost-doesn't-matter-but-size-does basis, and kept to well below 700kg with such a tiny unsprung weight at each corner. It drives beautifully and you can go flat-out all the time because flat-out is not beyond the legal limit as it is in almost all other sports cars. Try and find another car from its era that has an alloy bonnet or roof, projector headlights or indeed a high-level brake light (which was illegal at the time!) or any car that's 1.4m wide but comes with a valet key! Finally, it maybe saved my life. A car pulled out on me and I threw the cappo into the other lane, so instead of me t-boning the Kia, the Kia t-boned the Suzuki. I doubt any other car could have done that. As Chapman said, add lightness.

I do love the Cappuccino, one of my all time favorite cars. It is on my list for "Dream Garage".

From what I remember hearing, 150hp is about peak for the Suzuki's drivetrain. SO. I think 100HP is an ideal number to hit. Room for error/wear basically. Absolutely in love with these cars. For sure on my bucket list of cars I'd like to own. Maybe even a "dream car" as well as the Alto Works.

I love the Honda S660. One of the best looking “sports” cars of the last decade. Richard should buy one for competition.

I love Kei cars and trucks. Awesome little characterful buggers. So glad you went this direction, Mike!

Brilliant plan looking forward to it

I wonder how hard a rotary swap would be for this Suzuki?

The joyous thing about this little boi is that because everything else about it is so piddly it makes that engine bay look positively large in comparison, giving it proportions closer to those of a big inline 6 or something of the sort

Always, always wanted one of these. I've driven a few Kei cars - they're all amazing at what they're intended to do - but this one is a lots of smiles out of very little quantity of car.

Those are getting quite hard to find and expensive. Suzuki or any other manufacturer could make a car like this today and it would sell like mad. Yuki (雪) means snow in Japanese by the way.

I love how Mike is really coming into his own as a presenter (we yanks call them a host) on the channel.

Always respect a man who will sell out his respectability for a random sponsor. I applaud you sir, that is the spirit of your three founders/owners. 😂

I’ve always wanted to see one of these with a Honda B16B in it. Almost triple the horsepower and almost double the torque while still being a small, high revving motor. Or for a lot more money throw a super bike motor in it 😅

Could you not find anything smaller ? 😂 I’m sure there’s a peel P50 knocking around on eBay somewhere.

What happened to the JUDD V10 MX5?????

Great little car and project and a bit more subtle on the ads. Thanks Mike, watching with interest!

Had a Honda Beat back in the 90s. Grey import into Hong Kong where I was working at the time. Brought it back to the UK, then sold it on to a chap from Hamburg. Many shades of grey Kei car... Awesome fun.

My dad used to have one of these in silver, lots of fun but not the most safe 😅

Great episode! I once had a 90 PS 600cc Yamaha bike. Quite impossible to think that is enough to power a car :) But you prove it works haha! LG&Namaste

I'm a huge mini fan and a Mazda racing version of this has been my dream car since I could drive. Thanks for showing it off.

It would be cool to see it with a rear spoiler , front splitter and stainless exhaust.

"Hold off on the obvious jokes though, they're not that funny," "we've been using them forever to help build the channel but don't use them anymore because we said so".

2:23 those gullwing doors actually look awesome 🤣

Still better than a Tesla

I always enjoy Mike's presentation style and enthusiasm. There seemed to be a bit of a peak crazy period in the 90s when the Japanese manufacturers made some amazing Kei sports cars. As well as the Cappuccino, Honda made the Beat, Mazda the Autozam AZ-1, and Daihatsu the Copen. I'm not sure that it is possible to turn the Cappuccino into a MX5 beater, but the Kei sportscars always looked like a fun alternative way to get your driving kicks. I'd imagine that something that small in amongst the giant SUV's that dominate the road these days could be a bit intimidating, so maybe the first mod should be a mast and warning flag like trike users often have.

Ive been liking Mike content a lot lately! This one was great. He is a great presenter

I'm into the cappuccino! I'm already looking online to see what's available in my area. Looks like a great time! Can't wait to see what you guys do with it.

We had one in our Suzuki showroom for a few months up here in Inverness. Utterly brilliant wee machine!

Those roads are near where I live in Wales. Great for an early summers morning blast when no grockels are around.

Love wee cars like this. I recently got myself a 1.3 Copen and absolutely love it.

Hi Mike, long time no see, hope all's well with you. I shared this video with a friend who owned one of these and amazingly this was his car, which he bought new. If you want I can put you in touch with him if you want to know its early history. He has sent me some pics of it when it was new which I can pass on to you. Cheers, John Hunter

I think the MR2 Roadster done extremely well against the MX5. It's a brilliant car. Even better with the 2ZZ-GE

that was the best ad ever, actually had me stay to watch it LOL

Glad to see it, looking forward to the results

A welcome surprise build. I've always wanted to see someone build this or an Autozam. 100 HP should be relatively easy to achieve with a bigger intercooler, more flow out of the injectors and a tune. It's not unheard of for aftermarket AZ-1's to make about 100hp the same way

I look forward to seeing how this project pans out!

If I recall correctly, the Cappucino uses an F-block engine, as did the Kei-variant Suzuki SJs. The SJ410 used a 4 cylinder F10A, and the 16 valve fuel injected F10D from a Suzuki Alto more or less bolts into an SJ410, you just have to contend with the electrical side. The F10A and D are both free-revving and very tough little engines that make for a fun driving experience, even driving around in a four wheel drive washing machine from the early 80s. SO, if you can make space in the engine bay, you might be able to fit an F10D from an early 2000s Suzuki Alto. The extra capacity would spool the turbo sooner. The F10D makes around the same power without the turbo so you might be able to bump it up to around 90 or even 100hp.

Yes, light, narrow nimble cars are brilliant in town. Mine was a Mini 1000 in 1973. I could flick-flak through a small roundabout, at a steady 30 mph, but the police 1800 land-crab behind me could not. The driver was not pleased. 🤣

I know where that video started! thats my neck of the woods in Wales. its so cool seeing my little valley showing up in such a big youtube video!

Such a cool little car. Needs a full clean and detail doing, ECU tune and a decent but not over the top exhaust on it.

I'm the same size as Richard, but I beg to differ, the jokes still ARE that funny 😁

There is another meaning to Yuki as well, it's Japanese for snow, which I randomly learned when hearing about a yokai/monster/legend from there called "Yuki Onna" which translates to "Snow Woman." But also, fun to see a kei car project! and something new, as most I see tend to go for the Daihatsu Copen as it's newer, or other Daihatsu kei cars that look more like hatchbacks, with a sprinkling of Honda Beat, and Mazda AZ1 here and there. (That said though, my favorite one is the AZ1, I wish I could get one in Norway, but only if I knew I could fit inside one as a 6'0" guy.) So it is cool to see a Suzuki kei car getting some love, and a Cappuccino at that, looking forward to seeing what ya do with it! (There was actually a Suzuki version of the AZ1 as well, the Suzuki Cara, but it's a lot rarer than the AZ1) Will it mostly be doing cheap upgrades to be a realistic option against a MX5? Or will ya maybe go wilder once ya have tried reaching towards 100hp? as I could imagine trying to put in a more modern 3 cylinder engine to achieve more modern power.

Nearly bought one of these 16 years ago. Still wish i we did but at 6ft i found it a bit of a tight fit but the mrs loved it.

"Can we make this the new go-to entry level sports car over an MX-5?" People need to be able to actually buy one before you can ask that question, my guy. 😂

Love this! That quite abit info out there on these, same engine as quite a few other kei cars such as autozam az1 & the autoworks. Iirc you can upgrade to the Suzuki wagon r turbo, all the supporting mods and you’ll be at your 100bhp

Convert it to full electric. Bet that would loads of fun.

I'd love to see Yuki reimagined as what a 2024 Cappuccino might be. Have the little guy loaded with screens and tech that would be comfortable and comparable with its more modern rivals. Things like, driving modes, fancy start button, LED progressive lights, and ABS brakes. Have it make use of modern materials like carbon fiber, and titanium. If you want something young people would choose, I'd say you need to start there.

Dropping a triple engine from something like a Triumph Speed Triple in it with a sequential box would be a great shout, not only keeping it as an inline 3 cylinder, but carries a British vibe with it emulating the whole design brief that the MX5 was engineered to mimic and improve on in the first place. Would be a decent hike in power yet approachable through the whole rev range as a daily, without being ludicrously unwieldy like every other Busa swapped kei car is.

Better intake and a header with better exhaust along with your Ecu, suspension and brake mods would go far... Those rims don't look bad, but it's the weight that's the concern. A friend has a Suzuki her in the states that's a little hotrod. It's a 4 cylinder with twin carbs and all the suspension you mentioned Yuki has. It handles amazing and will throw you back into the seat. I love this new project...

I'm actually excited about what you all will do with this thing!

Noriyaro was sliding one of these around a few weeks back. There is a whole range of body kits available in Japan

I have one which is currently undergoing restoration, due to rust issues. Look forward to seeing yours up close at some point. Maybe take Yuki to SCITP? Saw it for sale.....

You’re gonna make the k car nearly unattainable once people see they’re a hidden gem of today

I was literally looking for one of these a few days ago because I wanted to dip my foot in the modding scene. The thought of one of these with a motorbike engine would be nutty

I'd imagine they're super rare in the UK but Suzuki did some 'A-spec' OEM performance parts. (going of memory, I think that's the name) It would be awesome to get some of those to spruce up the build a little!

Funny to see you guys driving up the Bwlch, this car must have been purchased in South Wales.

Looking forward to this A LOT

I've wanted one of those for a while but now it's been on here it's gonna become a collectors item 😅

That's a great new project car and I love the roads you have chosen as they are my favourite localish driving road's 👍

Get Clarkson squeezed into that thing, always fun watching Jeremy in a tiny car.

Love the Cappuccino excited to see what comes next of the little peppy road rocket 😁

I love kei cars they are so much fun and always make me smile when I see one.

SO EXCITED FOR THE CAPPUCCINO BUILD

I had a look at getting one last year, the biggest problem is rust if it's been driven in winter in the UK.

A friend of mine imported one new, back in 94, we loved it, lady magnet back then lol

I drove a couple of these, such a great driving experience. Everything people say the MX5 is supposed to be.

Always fun to spot these round here in Mumbai. Although I've only seen one moving on the road.

Seems like Yuki deserves a bumper sticker that says, "No - you WON'T fit through this gap!!".