I was reading the review of this thing, and I am puzzled:
-it doesn’t get as good gas mileage as a Honda Civic
-it handles poorly
-it is dangerous to drive on a highway
-the little tires and poor brakes make it bad for stop and go driving
Obviously, this thing is meant for short trips in the city. But it is so dangerous to the occupants-I can’t imagine it would survive a head-on collision with a Hummer.
Plus, it sosts big $$.
So, is this the next automotive flop?
What will survive a headon with a hummer./ That is a high bar. head on with the biggest stupidest car on the road. Why not head on with a loaded semi/
I saw a study years ago about small car safety. You have to include stopping distance and maneuverability in the equation.
It’s only $12,000 and it gets better mileage than the Civic. Not sure where you got contrary info from.
What Cisco said. Also, from the Smart car website:
and
That’s all well and good, but F still equals M times A.
The 2007 Smart forTwo got a four star Euro NCAP rating… that’s very good. That’s the same rating as a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 2007 Honda Civic.
Cite
And those are against stationary walls. 10 tons will beat 1 ton no matter how well the 1 ton is padded.
True, but that alone is not a reason to consider the car any more of a potential deathtrap than, say, a Miata, Fiero, Z80, or even a Boxster.
. . . as assholes in their Nimitz-class SUVs luuuurve to point out. Actually, they usually just say, “I like to know that if I get in a wreck, I’m gonna win.”
Dunno about the Civic, but it does get worse mileage than the Prius. From Wikipedia:
However, there’s also an all-electric version in the works. Range 62 miles.
For a few thousand more, I can get a Mini Cooper. Similar mileage plus a functional back seat.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Well in the sideimpact test the “stationary wall” is moving at 30mph.
A few thousand more? More like double the price once you add a few options.
My wife and I are in the program to get a SmartCar–most likely mid next year. They are reasonably priced and for our commute perfect. However I should wait for a few years when their diesel model is available here. It is supposed to get something like 70 mpg. Sweet!
http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/smart_car_models/green_smart_cars/smart_diesel_powered_car.html
I’m not sure what the main reason is to buy one?
Cost? No. You can get comparable compact autos for the same price or less. Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, etc.
Gas milage? Far from impressive. 33/41.
Besides a smaller physical footprint and the cutesy factor what other justification outweighs the drawbacks? (can’t drive in snow, no cargo space, no highway speeds, etc.)
I saw that they were very popular when I was in Paris, and I could definitely see the advantage they have there. They could fit in parking spaces no other car could possibly squeeze into. In that city, that’s a big deal.
I could imagine it would hold the same advantage in North American in other dense, parking-limited cities such as New York.
Ed
The smaller size means a great deal more for city driving than snow or highway speeds.
I fell in love with the Smart car when I was in Paris about 17 months ago. They were all over the place (I’d guess fully a quarter of the cars I saw on the road) flitting around.
When I came back home to the US the car had made such an impression on me I began Googling my fingers off to learn all I could about it, and found that a company called G&K imports was importing and converting original Euro-marketed versions of the Smart car for US street legality. That’s when I found that (a) the Euro version is slightly smaller, yet slightly heavier than the one currently being marketed by Mercedes Benz, with different styling, (b) it had a more efficient and powerful engine and higher average MPG rating, and (c) the selling price started at approximately $17,000. Upon further investigation today I found that G&K has met their quota of 1026 Smart cars they could import for conversion and sale in the US market, so you can no longer get a spanking new original Euro version of the Smart in the US, but perhaps you can find a used one on the local market, or contact G&K is you’re really interested.
“Smart” refers to the marketing guy who managed to sell you the thing
Actually they do make sense in a crowded European city. They seemed to make up every second car in Rome - the only thing there were more of was scooters - and the Romans seemed to assume they took up no room and could be parked anywhere.
That actually is impressive since the EPA changed their standards. You might find a few non-hybrid/non-diesel cars that beat it, but not many.