Quote:
Originally Posted by RWood
I drove one of the new Smart Cars (a friend bought one.) It was smaller than a Kindle and twice as ugly.  The inside was constructed of cheap feeling materials and there was barely enough room to squeeze my 6' 5" frame into the seat. Other than that, it had little or no power. The gas mileage was the about the same as the Honda Civic that has more room and more power. You could put the Smart Car in the carry basket of a Vespa as an emergency vehicle.
In short, I was not impressed with the car. I think there are many far better choices out there at about the same price point. |
You knew I
had to answer to this, did you?
I think , obviously, that it's all a matter of personal choice. Why more power? It's got loads more than any small car I've ever owned befor 15 years ago. Even that civic I had was more anemic, and it blows the Austin Mini hours back. Owning a Smart car has to do with other choices than what salesmen want you to believe in. That power thing is a phallacy. Heck, the main power reason of being able to accelerate onto the highway doesn't bother the owners of more powerful vehicles one can curse at! If it's faster than a bus it's fast enough!
What I see in it is that this little design dreamed up more than fifteen years ago still stands out, that it is one of the greenest on the market and that it pretty well fills the niche of the needed personal car that can take the place of a motorcycle during winter... for now. Of course I'd prefer a slower EV but that's a deliberate mature green choice.
Of all the cars Mercedes sells, the Smart has the safest crash test. (some people would gladly crash'em all)
There is also a consideration everybody forgets. To move a definite mass a certain distance you need a definite amount of energy. Ergo to save, the only way is to go small. The Smart is the smallest available on the north american mass market fer now. Could you imagine a hybrid Smart? Salivating again...