# Smart cars may come to the U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 28, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430 "2006-06-28T01:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430/61 "2006-07-03T17:04:31Z")
Smarts are the car du jour for the London Boroughs. They are small, nippy and great at getting through heavy traffic. They are also noticeable enough that other drivers are aware of them and very economical. Having spent the last few months driving about 100 miles each day in a Smart I’d say they are the ideal city car (not least cos you can get two of em in one parking space 😉 ). One caveat: because the vehicle is so small there isn’t really enough space to put in good suspension. If you are driving on rough roads then you really need to slow right down. Other than that, they are great little cars which i’d highly recommend. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430/62 "2006-07-03T17:10:09Z")
Forgot to say, it’s also surprisingly roomy inside. I’m only 5’4" so i was very aware that the inside was designed for tall people. I like to ride passenger side with the seat right back and it was quite a stretch to touch the footwell with my toes or reach the window controls. If the seat were in a more normal position it would be fine for taller people. Plenty of headroom too! ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430/63 "2006-07-19T14:38:20Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] IIRC, the A-Class and the Smart are **nearly** (note the use of the heavily emphasized qualifier) the same thing, much in the same way a Camaro and a Trans Am are. [/QUOTE] Ummmm… I think you recall incorrectly. The A-class is a fairly normal-sized small car, about four metres or so long, with the engine at the front. The smart is about 2.5 metres long and has the engine at the back. They share a similar construction of plastic body on a structural safety cell, I think, but I may be wrong about that. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430/64 "2006-07-19T16:56:22Z")
I’ll take your word for it. [Smart cars may be tougher than we thought.](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1389729.html) > [@](#): > > A lorry driver shunted a tiny Smart car two miles down a busy German motorway because he didn’t know it was wedged to his truck. > > Klaus Buergermeister only stopped, allowing the Smart car’s terrified driver to escape, when he was flagged down by police. > > The trucker, 53, pushed the tiny car driven by Andreas Bolga, 48, along the busy A1 after pulling onto the autobahn at Leverkusen. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430/65 "2006-07-21T14:49:50Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] I’ll take your word for it. [Smart cars may be tougher than we thought.](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1389729.html):eek: [/QUOTE] Damn. > [@](#): > > he had hit the Smart car and its bumper had wedged on the truck’s radiator grill. Snerk. Heh. BWUAHAHAHAHA! Now I have an image of it being pried loose with a tootpick, like a stray bit of spinach… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430/66 "2006-07-21T15:04:57Z")
“I tried to drive away but couldn’t. I looked up through my sun roof and could see the driver, but he didn’t notice me.” I know what any decent action hero would do in that situation… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-cars-may-come-to-the-u-s/362430.md?page=3)