What do a Porsche Boxster, a BMW 528i SE, a Jaguar XF 3.0 V6 diesel and a London Taxi TX4 Elegance Automatic have in common? That’s right: they all cost around £36,000.
If this has you spluttering into your tea, you are not alone. The TX4, lest we forget, is based on a 15-year-old design, with a sub-100bhp proprietary four-cylinder engine from VM Motori at one end, and a live rear axle at other. It has thrived not least because it is able to meet the 7.6 metre turning circle requirement for a licensed Hackney Carriage.
I’ve been surprised it’s taken so long for another manufacturer to try and steal the TX4’s virtual monopoly. Excluding private hire vehicles and illegal moonlighters, there are 22,000 licensed taxis in London alone and a car optimised for our capital would doubtless do well in other major cities around the world.
Finally it has happened. Nissan has converted its NV200 into taxi specification and expects to get final certification before the end of the year. We should not get too excited about how this vehicle might revolutionise the taxi-riding experience: in its other life the NV200 is a van and its 1.5-litre diesel engine, while likely to be smoother and quieter than the rattler found in TX4s, has even less power.
However, there are other features that will benefit passengers a little and taxi drivers a lot. Most immediately obvious are the sliding rear doors. The TX4 doesn’t even have the old suicide rear doors that could be opened by the cabbie without leaving the driving seat. The NV200 promises unparalleled access for wheelchair users and the prospect of not having to open the offside door into the flow of passing traffic for the rest of us. Those who’ve been knocked off their bicycles by someone thoughtlessly opening a car door on them will like them too. Nissan claims the NV200 will also offer “more comfort, space and convenience”.
The attraction to the driver is clearer still. Modifications to the front suspension have provided the all-important turning circle while Nissan promises it will be “competitively priced below the TX4”, suggesting a sub £30,000 ticket for the basic product, undercutting its long-established rival by at least £2000.
But Nissan’s big pitch to the taxi drivers will be the NV200’s running costs. It says the NV200’s combined fuel consumption of 53mpg compared to the TX4’s 35.3mpg will save drivers almost £700 per year in fuel alone and points out that were all London taxis NV200s rather than TX4s, that would result in 2.2 million fewer gallons of diesel being burnt. It also says that almost 38,000 fewer tonnes of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere (though somewhat disingenuously calculates this figure comparing the CO2 emissions of the thirstier automatic FX4 to the NV200 with the manual transmission that no one will buy). But it’s enough to earn the official endorsement of Boris Johnson, disability groups and the London Taxi Driver’s association.
Time will tell whether the NV200 will replace the TX4 in whole or in part, but if it does and unlike some who’ll go all misty-eyed and make comparisons to the death of the Routemaster, I won’t miss the TX4 at all. To me it always looked like a poor pastiche of a London taxi and when its TX1 parent first came out in 1997 I made the mistake of driving one and have felt sorry for London cabbies ever since. I’ve not driven an NV200 but it would be hard to see how it could be worse. So if the new cab really is cheaper, cleaner, more comfortable and quieter than the old one, I’ll be happy to see it filling the capital’s streets.
Ugh – Our famous black cabs replaced by bloody Nissans. Same in New York where the yellow cab, proper old style Crown Victorias, are also due to be replaced with a bloody Datsun. Cabs are an integral part of these two great cities and the fact that the Nissans are “better” is not the point. Lets tear down St Pauls and replace it with a “better, more efficient” pre fabricated “worship experience”!! Bloody philistines!…..and yes it does **** me off to see all those damn BMW “Olympic mobiles” in London – nice Jags would be much more appropriate
A wake up call for the manufacturer of the classic London cab. Yes it is an iconic sight but it must be possible to adapt modern mechanicals to fit this “proper” shape. Surely they have not been resting on their near monopoly laurels. Hybrid/electric etc… must be on the cards soon. Zantimisfit is right – we need tp preserve these symbols of a city’s identity. As for BMW – good but not very GB are they? Then again, McDonalds and Coke hardly shout UK. Obesity: official medical condition of the games!
I have nothing to add to Zantimisfit’s comment apart from :
“Taxi for Mr. Frankel please !”
With regard to the comments about Andrew’s article, have any of the authors actually driven a LTI TX series taxi ? Come to that, have they driven one for 10 hours a day/night, 5/6 days a week ? I have and do !!! Can’t wait for the new Nissan cab. I work nights, and my customers couldn’t give a monkeys what shape the cab is.
Oh, by the way, who made the engine that powered the old Fairway and TX1 ? Nissan …..
re tx4 you would be lucky 25 mpg
TX4,Engine needs to be changed,problems after the warranty runs out,Good new engine and afew more tweeks,by the way the nissan is having a renault engine fitted not a nissan
I echo Greg C’s comments. Anyone driven a TX for many hours a day/night? day in day won’t miss them. They are like driving something out of the 70′s. You can’t straighten your left leg it has to be bent all the time. They crash into the smallest pot holes. A long shift in a TX leaves you feeling like you have just got out of the ring with Mike Tyson. They drink fuel like an alcoholic, they need constant repairs and attention. The dealer network treat you like you are nothing but a nuisance because you might actually want your cab that you paid £36k for to work. Good ridance.