This one had a tire blow out. Luckily, there was no passenger.
How are these things in the snow?
[QUOTE=kferr]
So, yup, punted like a football is about right. I also found this cute interactive advert: http://www.truthaboutsmart.co.uk/
[/QUOTE]
Wow, is Caroline single?
Marc
[QUOTE=Liberal]
This one had a tire blow out. Luckily, there was no passenger.
[/QUOTE]
Well now that bothers me. Just looking at the car it looks like it would roll easy. It’s height compared to length and width make me think it won’t slide well in a skid (thus rolling). Can’t really say until it’s tested. As I pointed out before the lack of roof would not do well in a roll and the picture proves it. The shell bends back below the seat. I’ve never been a big fan of convertibles for this reason.
This Video, which seems to have the blessing of Smart Car, shows a head-on collision with another small car. The other car drove it backwards and flipped it on its top and side. It does show it skidding normally when they’re raced. Not sure if it’s the same suspension but it can skid.
The punting football analogy appears accurate.
For the Smart Car driver who has trouble insnow. (has to be an American car).
[QUOTE=LouisB]
Smart cars are like teenage girls: they’re cute and there ain’t no other reason to get one. No other reason is necessary. I’m not gonna get either one.
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It’s hard to argue with fuel economy, though I agree with you on the unrelenting cuteness. Only, I would say rather that they are cute in the way of small scruffy dogs, which often melt the heart to begin with but may soon tire you with all the yapping.
Not many tiny cars escape the cute trap, but I think the Cooper does, and, to a lesser extent, the Beetle, especially the convertible. The former has heritage and panache, the latter is, well, it’s a convertible!
It’s a shame…I think the Smart Car, although eminently practical for fuel economy, is just a bore otherwise.
Anybody driven one, or ridden? What’s the noise factor like?
[QUOTE=Magiver]
Not if it transmits the energy to the occupant. Which is discussed in the video. It clearly shows more damage to the Smart Car. The leg room is gone.
[/QUOTE]
Thus my 
. 
Wow, Lib’s videos tell me how practical a Smart would’ve been for me this past winter. They were stuck in a piddling 4 inches of snow!
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
Not many tiny cars escape the cute trap, but I think the Cooper does, and, to a lesser extent, the Beetle…
[/QUOTE]
I drive the aforementioned Toyota Echo. Uglier than Eleanor Roosevelt.
Dude, my affection, respect, and desire to hang out with Mrs Roosevelt (she seemed like more fun than a patrician should be) helped me manage to work around her appearance. I mean, not for sex in her later years, perhaps, but she had many other desirable qualities. The Smart is more like Goldie Hawn: Quirky-cute but if you spent more than a one-night-stand with her you might be forced to kill either her or yourself.
[QUOTE=Shalmanese]
Did you scroll down to Deaths/Million Cars? The safest car was the Toyota Avalon and SUVs were in the bottom half.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, SUV’s are actually not very safe. Few accidents are head on with another car.
[QUOTE=Magiver]
My scenario of getting hit from behind by an SUV into a Semi is a real possibility. In a 20-mile stretch of road through a major city that scenario is almost guaranteed at some point…
“ When a small, lightweight car collides with a big, heavy one, the crash forces are always higher for the people in the small car,” Rader said. .
[/QUOTE]
Really? I drive 40 miles a day thru a major city and have not been rear-ended by a SUV or Semi yet. :dubious:
*When a small, lightweight car collides with a big, heavy one
- Yes. But not when a bg heavy one runs into a pole. Or rolls over. Or is hit by a train. Or the small light one dodges the accident.
Again, over all, per mile driven, a compact car is safer than that big SUV (the Hummer).
Becuase whenever high MPG cars are brought up, someone always mentions diesels, I thought I’d share the following.
I just got then new MotorTrend and there’s an article about diesels. A few things:
-
There are no diesel “commuter cars” or family sedans in America.
-
Only one is planned for next year- the VW Jetta- but the same tech will go into an Audi Q7 and VW Touareg.
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The Mahindra Mhawk
is planned for 2010 and it might have a diesel hybrid. :eek: -
Several are on the LT drawing board.
-
Diesel fuel has around 11% more energy so you can expect 11% or so better MPG. But in America, Diesel costs around 20% more, so it’s a net loss.
[QUOTE=ManiacMan]
I can’t wait to scrape one off my shoe.
[/QUOTE]
Nice. I’m sure you feel the same way about pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists and basically anything smaller than you. How very American.
[QUOTE=DrDeth]
Really? I drive 40 miles a day thru a major city and have not been rear-ended by a SUV or Semi yet. :dubious:
[/QUOTE]
So do I and I hope that streak continues for the both of us. But if you see the video of the Smart car hitting a small car you’ll understand what would happen as the vehicle size increases. The car was drivin BACKWARDS on impact. The crush zone is minimal in the Smart Car so all that energy is transmitted to the passengers.
As I’ve said before, I hit a stopped car at 65 mph and walked away unscathed. The crumple zones of both cars dissipated the impact.
I think even the Smart detractors could get behind this version and this. 
[QUOTE=levdrakon]
Nice. I’m sure you feel the same way about pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists and basically anything smaller than you. How very American.
[/QUOTE]
Umm…
Basically I was saying that the “smart” car is a piece of shit, and like a piece of shit I would scrape one off of my shoe that I had stepped on (thus proving my point in a gross way that they are pieces of shit). Lighten-up, oh non-American.
This car wouldn’t work where I live, and I detest the idea that other people want to have this idea that EVERYONE should drive one of these cars. It’s not the silver bullet that people make it out to be to solve our problems. So maybe people here should stop tossing off over it?
It’s not even all that original. Automobili Cyclops SpA has been building virtually the same car for decades.
[QUOTE=ManiacMan]
Umm…
Basically I was saying that the “smart” car is a piece of shit, and like a piece of shit I would scrape one off of my shoe that I had stepped on (thus proving my point in a gross way that they are pieces of shit). Lighten-up, oh non-American.
[/QUOTE]
Exactly. You’d step on it. Because it’s smaller than you. Look out motorcyclists! ManiacMan is coming in his larger vehicle! Better get out of his big ol’ way! He’s bigger than you! Run, run!
When I lived in Germany Smart cars were all over and you can cram a lot more of those into parking spaces than you can big ass 'Mericun cars. The local equivalent to Dominoe’s Pizza had a fleet of them, and they struck me as pretty “smart.”
Heck, let’s try another “real world” example. Let’s put a mini behind a Hummer behind a semi. The Hummer smashes into the back of the semi, the mini stops short, offers aid and fills out a witness report. :rolleyes:
Seriously, I drive a mini, not much bigger than a smart. You don’t have to stay between the hammer and the anvil, so you don’t. In the remaining situations, the smaller, more maneuverable car is much, much better off.