has anyone driven one? When I said they are retarded to drive i meant they feel retarded. The shifting crap is useless in my opinion, should have just made a normal 5speed tranny
Its rwd stock.
Apparently there is a big problem with them in Europe. People are getting tanked and flipping these things over on their side. In Amsterdam, they’re having an epidemic of people flipping them in to the canals.
Like it was said, we’re naive to the rest of the world about a lot of things. Cars this small and weird looking are the norm in the rest of the world.
But I’d never own one. I’ll be happy running mid to high 12’s and then driving home in a nice car that has some space and comfort to it.
the rest of the world moves here to get outta there and here we have actual distances that require saner and safer cars. :dunno: that… & the gayness
If the rest of the world moved here, they’d all be here. Last I checked Europe and Asia are pretty damn big to drive across, too. Plus. they’ve got some roads over there with shear cliff drops and no guard rails, and some speedy highways with psycho drivers that require a safe, sane car as well.
Won’t touch the gayness factor, because I wouldn’t know.
I don’t like Smart cars, myself. Just would love to see one spank some American muscle.
Actually i have driven one. We bought one for my wife to use as her DD last Sept. She has wanted one ever since our oldest son spent a month in Germany in 2000 and brought back pictures of the original smart(the 450). When we heard they were going to be sold here, she put down a deposit and ordered one in Sept 2007. It arrived at the end of August 2008. What we get here is the much improved second generation smart(the 451)
So far it has a little over 10K miles on it. I put about 1,000 of those miles on it, so i have some behind the wheel experience. I will address some points made in this thread based on that experience.
Shifting: The smart uses a Getrag built 5 speed automated manual trans. The computer controls the clutch engagement and shifting. It defaults towards economy, so if left in “automatic mode”, it will shift early for max economy. To some it feels "retarded’ becasue they expect it to feel like an auto tranny when it shifts. It doesn’t because it’s a manual. I prefer to drive it in “manual mode”, where i can use steering wheel mounted paddle shifters to up/downshift myself, while modulating the throttle to smooth it out. I would have preferred a regular manual tranny, but since this car is used mostly for urban stop and go in europe, Daimler decided this tranny was the best compromise for that.
Styling: As always, styling is subjective. The reaction i hear most about the smart is that it’s “cute”(mainly due to it’s size, approx 8.5’ long). But different people have different tastes. For example, i find the Honda Fit to be fugly. Others love it. A large component of the styling of the smart is functional. It looks the way it does for safety and space utilization.
Safety: Mercedes engineered this car. It has earned crash ratings equal or superior to cars in its class(which are all larger). As subcompact cars go(as a category), the smart is as safe or safer than any of them. They cannot change the laws of physics. If you get hit head on by an excursion doing 70 while driving your smart, you are going to die. If you get hit head on by an excursion doing 70 while driving your Honda Civic, you are going to die. I guess you could argue that you would be less dead in the Civic?:dunno:
POS?: Not so far as i have seen. It is a solid well built and well equipped car. No problems have appeared in the 11.5 months that we have owned it. It has a lot of features for the money. Side air bags, ABS, Stability control, traction control, brake assist, power windows, locks and keyless entry, AC, 6 disc changer MP3 stereo, alloy wheels, plus a bunch of other crap i can’t remember right now. You can tell this is a M-B engineered car when you close the door. Solid feel and sound. Same with the interior feel and materials. Not cheap at all.
Driving one: Lee brought up space and comfort. One of the comments i hear most often when someone gets behind the wheel of the smart is “damn, i didn’t think it would have this much room.” The car has plenty of head and legroom for two passengers. I am a big guy so the shoulder room is a bit tight, but for average sized people it wouldn’t be. The seats are very comfortable. Once you start driving the car, you forget how small it is. it doesn’t drive like you would expect. It doesn’t “feel” tiny. The ride is a bit harsh, mainly due to the short wheelbase. It corners well, but i wouldn’t try autocrossing it. Acceleration is what you would expect from an 1800# car being pushed by 70HP. It’s not quick. In mixed city/highway driving my wife has been getting 42-44 MPG. It does run well on the highway. My wife goes up and down 28 at 70+ with no problem. Car tracks smooth and stable and is not bothered by crosswinds any more than any other car. It can carry more cargo than you might expect. I took it grocery shopping once and put an entire cart full of groceries in the back with no problem.
Owning one: Pretty much everywhere you go, people will approach you with questions and want to get a closer look. 95% of the reactions are positive. This car gets a lot of attention and a lot of thumbs up. It can be entertaining. Park it in a mall parking lot, then whenever someone tries looking in the windows, hit the panic button on the emote and watch them jump. Great fun and cheap entertainment!
As for me, i wouldn’t want one as my only DD, but my wife loves it.
I have :eek4dance A local racer bought one for his daily. He lives on Mt Washington and works in Carrick, so for that commute & parking situation he said the car serves its purpose well. He brought it out just once to race it and see what would happen, and I got to do a fun run in the car. Whats really suprising is how bad the thing understeers. I’m sure MB tuned the car like this to because its NOT something I’d want having the tail end coming out on me. The apparent easy fix is to get another set of the wider back wheels and mount them on the front. I didn’t mind driving the car till I made a hard right. At which point a quick glance out the drivers window made me realize how much closer the ground was. Still that aside it wasn’t bad. The owner said he almost never drives it in automatic mode, otherwise the car won’t get out of its own way. In manual mode the car felt not much worse than your average run of the mill 4 banger sedan. The interior was surpising for such a small car. Fit & finish was good, car was quiet & solid, lots of features, etc. He drove it in the winter (with snow tires) and said it went fine.
And on at least 2 occastions while he was pumping gas, people walked up to him all excited and asked “Is it electric?”
Guy in my Audi club has one. He put a “performance” exhaust on it. He loves it, and posts his gas consumption on a graph all the time out of pride.
I’ve sat in it, and yes, it is roomy. I don’t think there is enough cargo space, but for a driver and passenger, it is more roomy than you’d expect.
This guy is doing a build on a bi-turbo Audi RS6. He is a gearhead. I wouldn’t think of him in a Smart car.
But it works for him. And all the points you’d mentioned are exactly what he says.
It just isn’t me. I’m stil in that “Yugo” mindset, but the more I hear, the more I’m swayed. But unlike some other cars that are common, even here on pittspeed, I don’t fault someone else for having one. There are some cars out there that not only wouldn’t I want one, but I chuckle when someone else does. They can be fast as balls, but ini the end, they still are a ____ or a ____. At least with the Smart, it’s pretty unique and will get plenty more inquires than the common ______ sitting next to it.
For cargo space:
The guy in the cubiicle next to me has one. He says he can fit a keg of beer in the back. I asked for pics for proof, so I am just waiting for him to go for a refill. I’ll post them up when I get them…
The front tires are too skinny, no doubt about it. It handles well for what it is, but putting some real tires on the front would be a big improvement. As with most manufacturers production cars, the car is biased towards understeer, to keep aunt Ethel out of the weeds and Ralph Nadar off their asses.
I get the “is it electric” question often. I forgot to mention, it’s a 1 liter 3 banger.
Lee, remember that the Yugo was built in a third world country and was based on Fiat 128, which was made from 1969-1985, so it was outdated when it was brand new. The smart was engineered and is built by Mercedes(Daimler Corp), plus it has already been in production for 10+ years and is on it’s second gen.
As a side note, i almost traded in my 83 GTi on a new Yugo in 1986. Thank god i sobered up in time…LOL
Keg of beer eh? Never tried it. The amount of space back there is deceptive, so i guess it could fit. One other nice feature is that the passenger seat can fold forward flat for more cargo space with one passenger. This video always cracks me up, even if its’ a bit contrived.
[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkjZtfgqC2w”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkjZtfgqC2w[/ame]
at least neons are american
take things literal? diaf?
Not at all… I’m just fuckin’ around.
pretty funny
back on-topic - smart cars are fucking stupid no matter how fast they are.
Why?
They are inexpensive commuter cars. They get great gas mileage, are well built, comfortable, and fun to drive. Why are they “fucking stupid”?
just look at it.
I just hate small cars
I hate big SUV’s. I don’t think they are ‘fucking stupid’. Well, as a DD for one person to go back and forth to work, i guess they are fucking stupid, but to each their own. It’s all good.
Below is a photo of a wreck in Jefferson Parish, LA (near New Orleans ) between two trucks and a Smart Car. Think I’ll pass on the Smart Car
its not one,look at the bolt pattern on the wheel!
Pewter is right, that’s actually a Ford escape