How Smart Is It

Open to all observations regarding the SmartCar (Fortwo) coming to US next year. How does it drive, how does it ride, how large a dog will fit in it, etc.

I’ve never driven one, but Motor Trend (I think) road tested one here in Oklahoma a year or so ago. They put a lot of miles on it covering the OK panhandle and were thoroughly umimpressed with it.

I have the magazine around here somewhere, offhand it seems the complaints were lousy ergonomics, no space for storage (2 sacks of groceries I think they said), gas mileage nowhere near as much as claimed (37 mpg and this is in the wide open spaces), and the worst complaint being the underpowered engine (no power band at all) which led to the transmission constantly shifting back and forth trying to keep up.
The trans was a REAL sore point with them.

I’ve never driven one, but Motor Trend (I think) road tested one here in Oklahoma a year or so ago. They put a lot of miles on it covering the OK panhandle and were thoroughly umimpressed with it.

I have the magazine around here somewhere, offhand it seems the complaints were lousy ergonomics, no space for storage (2 sacks of groceries I think they said), gas mileage nowhere near as much as claimed (37 mpg and this is in the wide open spaces), and the worst complaint being the underpowered engine (no power band at all) which led to the transmission constantly shifting back and forth trying to keep up.
The trans was a REAL sore point with them.

Not sure about driveability/mpg/etc, but I remember someone relaying to me a story about a crash that involved a “Smart” car…I believe they took the driver out in 8 pieces.

We’ve had them here in Canada for a while and they are very trendy but no thanks for me.

From what I’ve heard, it drives like a tiny, underpowered, overpriced car. It’s ride isn’t so hot, it’s slow, and you can’t put a dog in it. Essentially, the driver is the front and back bumpers in the car. It might be good for dense cities, since it is tiny, but if you ever go outside of the downtown core, buy a different car. My 02 Hyundai Accent regularly gets over 40mpg, and I can easily fit a dog, or cargo in it, and it has enough (barely) power to do anything and go anywhere. It also costs quite a bit less than a Smart car, and it a hell of a lot easier to maintain and repair.
As far as I’m concerned, a Smart car is not a smart choice.

Like everyone else commenting, I have not driven one yet. I’ve only seen a few around so far. I’m a little disappointed that they have not decided to import the diesel version to the U.S., I might actually be tempted by the diesel.

It is a very small, very cheap car, so I would not expect much in terms of interior finish, ride quality, noise, etc. (think early VW bug). I also do not know how extensive their dealer “network” will become, so I would have a few questions before I bought one. However, I was surprised by the various crash tests I’ve seen (there are a ton of them on the internet):

I still wouldn’t want to try that myself.

Honestly, it’s just to small to meet my needs (unless I was replacing my motorcycle) and fuel is still much too cheap to justify anything that extreme, but it may work for some people. I might reconsider if/when fuel reaches $6/gallon.

A dealer on South HWY 100 here in SE WI has a bunch for sale. Prices are around $25,000; not very Smart.

I believe all the cars that are currently available in the U.S. were imported by a third party. My understanding is that they will be closer to $11 to $14K when they are directly imported in 2008:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=117630

I wouldn’t be very interested for $25K either, but at $11 to $14K it might make an interesting toy.

My nephew has a souped up golf cart that will run about 45 mph. Wonder if they could have a drag race.

I think the main advantage of a car like this is its size. If you live in a crowded city, parking can be easier. And the lack of power is not an issue. It probably gets better gas mileage in the city (v. highway) because it is underpowered. The lack of power translates into high RPMs at highway speed. And I mean in the city, not the suburbs.

Definitely a city car, they list the mileage as 48 mpg city/ 67 mpg highway (if you can ever believe those numbers) with a top speed of 84 mph. It has a 600cc three-cylinder engine and a 5 gallon gas tank. Basically a motorcycle drive train.

The best MPG the magazine test drivers got was 37 and that was with about 98%+ highway driving.
If anyone has ever been into the OK panhandle then you know it’s all uncluttered open roads out there.
65 miles to WalMart; seriously.

I’ve seen a couple. This is basically for people in congested areas where a golf cart or handicapped 3 wheel scooter would be practical if legal. It moves and has a cover. In many cases you don’t need more than that. Haven’t driven one, but I think a Jeep Wrangler is inappropriate for traveling any distance in because of short wheelbase.

It is certainly smarter than this new board format. Everything is too spread out. This is the most irritating board format I have ever seen. I’m used to seeing 50 posts at a time that I can easily scan. Not something I would ever get used to. Time to find a new place to hang out.

Walmart tries; but, they can’t be everywhere. When their customer-base is their store employes…

As everyone else has pretty much said, it’s an expensive, trendy toy. Although it has advantages, namely ease of parking… and that’s about it. In Vancouver and Victoria, BC, they actually have Smart car parking spaces on the street - I think they’re smaller than motorcycle spaces. And no, you can’t fit a dog in it… hell, it looks like you can barely fit the driver in it. And it goes 0-60 much like the Yugo did - eventually.

The local chrysler/jeep/whatever dealer about 1/2 mile from my house has one sitting in front, so I assume they are selling them. I’m half tempted to go test drive one. I’m not serious about buying one, I don’t buy anything new enough to have a CEL. Personally, if I was looking for that type of toy, I would find a good Isetta.

When gasoline hits $7/gallon (or when they import the diesel version), I might reconsider.

This smacks of urban legend to me… sort of like all the guesome stories that came out with the first Volkswagens sold here.

The Smarts are actually pretty darn safe for their size. If you google video “smart car crash test” there’s a video of one crashing into a brick wall at about 70mph and, though the car’s pretty crushed, the dummy is basically untouched.

The version being sold in North America, however, lacks the two major advantages the SmartCar has in Europe. Firstly, they only sell the gasoline version here which isn’t much better than a lot of subcompacts. The diesel version, which is almost exclusively what’s sold in Europe, gets well into the triple digit MPG’s. Secondly, the darn things are so expensive, which is partly a function of new cars costing more in the States in general, partly a function of the weak dollar, and partly a matter of “green” cars being sold as a premium commodity here.

I agree they need to sell the diesel in the U.S., the gas version is cute but the mileage isn’t that much better than a TDI or some little gas powered ricers. I wouldn’t even think about one unless it was diesel.

However, they are very cheap, I believe they under $15K. It’s hard to buy a decent motorcycle for $15K, and there really aren’t any cars that you would actually want to own available for that price. They might be better off (in the U.S. market) with more creature comforts and a $20K price.

Yeah, they’re cheap as far as cars go, but in this country you can buy a cheap subcompact for what they want for the FourTwo here, whereas in Europe they’re closer to competing with a nice scooter.

… a very cheap subcompact. Nothing I would want to buy.