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Smart Car for Two

GT182

GT182

Charter Member
I was shipping out a package Monday morning and a guy pulled in next to me at FedEx with one.... a convertable. What a wild little machine.... It gets appx 70 mpg according to him, with a 3 cyclinder gas engine. And will top out at 90 mph. 5 speed trans with paddle shifters on the steering wheel too.

Smart Car for Two
 
I wonder how the cute little thing would fare in an accident with one of the millions of SUVs on the road today? Although I would like the gas mileage, I sure wouldn't feel safe in one.

NC
 
just a heads up, even if theres a trace of snow on the roads it wont be going anywhere unless you push it :costumes:
 
they actually have a good crash test rating as far as surviveability goes, but if you have ever seen that youtube video, it appears you might survive but you'd be a cripple. that said, i would own one if i had need of a car. you should see what they are like when you swap out the engine for the one from a gsxr 1000. :running:
 
The guy that had the convertable said it pretty much a complete roll gage with hight strength steel. He wasn't afraid of getting out on the interstate with it. His only concern was hanging on in strong winds.

I had to laugh when he said it was the same size as a 4x8 sheet of plywood. And half the length of a Ford Focus.
 
They have a pretty loyal customer base. The diesel ones they sell in Canada are supposed to get incredible fuel mileage. They are built by Mercedes-Benz. They do well in crash tests actually, it's a full roll-cage almost like a NASCAR, in a sense. They don't do too bad in the winter.

I would never drive one on the Interstate, but I have been looking at one as a "To work and run around town" car, which is a majority of my driving, all under 45MPH. I would still hang on to my fun car and the SUV for the long trips. :kilroy:

They even make a version for Rednecks now....


[YOUTUBE]MDU5BU_qSJU[/YOUTUBE]
 
Dain Arns said:
They have a pretty loyal customer base. The diesel ones they sell in Canada are supposed to get incredible fuel mileage. They are built by Mercedes-Benz. They do well in crash tests actually, it's a full roll-cage almost like a NASCAR, in a sense. They don't do too bad in the winter.

I would never drive one on the Interstate, but I have been looking at one as a "To work and run around town" car, which is a majority of my driving, all under 45MPH. I would still hang on to my fun car and the SUV for the long trips. :kilroy:

They even make a version for Rednecks now....

Sheet farr, 'at 'ere's one fine lookin' mobile deer stand!:costumes:

Caz
Click to expand...
 
If you get a chance to rent the DVD 'A Good Year' with Russell Crowe, get it. He has a rental Smart Car in yellow and black. Brilliant looking car.

There is a couple near here that we see at Walmart all the time. Theirs is blue and metallic silver. I have seen it pass us on the freeway doing some good speed. Looks like a blast to drive. More like a toy or sports car then a normal car.

Clubs in England supposedly trade the color panels at the pubs on Saturdays. They unsnap and can be traded out in min's. (The rep from Smart showed Jay Leno the ease of this by taking the hood off by opening it, and unclipping it and it came right off, lol).

If Mercedes make it, you know its safe. They will not release a vehicle unless the dang thing is cannon proof.


Bill
 
Nothing wrong with the crash safety:

[youtube]ZX5uKvNs7rI[/youtube]


The first version wasn't much fun to drive though; because in early testing a car flipped over during a so-called 'moose test' (Where they test how a car reacts when it needs to avoid an obstacle) they built in so much understeer it would hardly go around any corner anymore. They've added electronic stabilty control too, making it even worse. At least the new model drives slightly better.
The older models also had a really tiny three cylinder engine that did well in the city, but if you would take it out on the freeway a lot it would need a new engine roughly every 50,000 miles or so. The automated gearboxes are good, but change gears awfully slow, nad gasmilage is no where near a s good as the manufacturer promisses unless you drive like a mobile chicane.
According to the first impressions the new Toyota IQ is a better car, and it has two extra seats without being much bigger. Looks better too.

:)
 
lefty said:
There is also, of course, the sporty version, as driven by - er, Bono ???
Click to expand...


Ooo, me likey. :jump: The car, not Bono... :costumes:

I think we may eventually see the Smart Roadster, here in the U.S. Who knows with the economy... :kilroy:

(I've always been any type of a roadster fan)
 
Smart cars are getting more and more common to see on the roads around here. I was actually quite surprised to see how fast they started showing up in small numbers. I wouldn't call them a regular sight but definitly not a rarity anymore.

The one thing I notice everytime I pull up next to one at a stop light, is how weel they look like they are built. All the seams, fitted panels and parts and pieces look very precise.
 
Dain Arns said:
I think we may eventually see the Smart Roadster, here in the U.S. Who knows with the economy... :kilroy:
Click to expand...

No you won't, because the Smart Roadster was a disaster in terms of sales and it was only in production for a short period of time.

:)
 
Well apparently it wasn't just the bad sales that killed the Roadster; there were quality problems which meant the average warranty repairs cost was about €3,000 ($4,500 in those days). Yet another reason to stop production after only two years..
 
We saw a blue one this morning on the way to the Post Office. The Warden wasn't crazy about it but did say it was cute.

I like the roadster. Too bad they quit production of it.
 
we've had those here for a while, and they move alrightin the scnow haha i do feel likeim in a golf cart every time i hop on haha

either way FORGET THE SMART CAR and LOOK ATT HE ZENN CAR!! way better all around IMHO haha oh and lucky you yanks... though its made here we cant buy it (yet) :isadizzy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M88k6Ipp3c

woo haha

o and before anyone says anythign about the 40kph speed limit is because the company has to sell it like that by law (beats me why)... the car can go faster :p
 
The preceding post was written by a New Guinean native after his first and only English lesson. (He ate the teacher)
 
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