The Smart ForTwo isn't so much a small car as a short one. At just eight feet from stem to stern, it’s by far the shortest car on the market. What's the difference between small and short? A small car can stay low to the ground to achieve excellent handling and fuel economy. A short car only excels at one thing: unmetered parallel parking. The first-generation Smart proved the point. As reviewed on TTAC, it was a noisy, slow, poor-handling, stiff-legged, bouncy and crashy car with meh mileage. So, Daimler says it’s rectified the first-gen's faults. Is Version 2.0– headed stateside in 2008– ready for prime time?
The new ForTwo maintains its Tonka-toy proportions and look at me I’m wearing designer glasses (without a prescription) unconventionality. There’s now a painted parenthesis around the driver’s compartment: a clever if unsuccessful attempt to reassure drivers that Smart’s got their back (as there’s nothing much behind them). From certain angles, the slash-marked Four Two looks like a Pokemon with weird sideburns. Anyway, there’s no denying that observers (especially women) fight the urge to muss the ForTwo’s metaphorical hair and pinch its figurative cheeks.
The ForTwo’s new cabin uses shapes, textures and fonts with a bit less originality than before. The dash is now monolithic in the mighty Mercedes manner. And it's a shame the signature twin periscopes (rpms and clock) aren’t standard issue. On the positive side, the interior is still remarkably airy and spacious: a haven for a brace of art loving urbanites. The materials quality and fit and finish surpass Ye Olde SMART’s by a wide margin. Better yet, the ForTwo’s trunk can now swallow a full 58 gallons of luggage. One more Tumi for the road?
The stateside Smarts are motivated by a one-liter, three cylinder engine. The erstwhile powerplant is a revvy little beast, even at idle. Annoying stationary vibration aside, the mini-mill certainly gives its all– 70 horses– to the cause of forward momentum. Guide the tachometer needle to the 6500rpm redline and you just might accelerate (if that’s the right word) from rest to 60mph in 12 seconds. The ForTwo will also cruise relatively comfortably at 70mph. That’s provided you can wait that long and surmount the recalcitrance of the FourTwo's passion killing gearbox.
The original SMART was rightly and roundly criticized for its hesitant transmission. The new box still changes gears sequentially (when you request) or automatically (when it feels like it). Gear change times are reduced. But sadly, the new ForTwo still shifts the way Frank Costanza talks. Driving softly, the box swaps cogs smoothly. But hard acceleration will make you and your passenger look like diehard (one hopes) headbangers. Even worse, if you need a burst of oomph for emergency overtaking, the Smart ForTwo will pause for a moment or two before summoning more shove– while you contemplate a messy and untimely death.
The ForTwo’s suspension is also improved– but not by enough. For a city car that’s shorter than an NBA player carrying a midget on his shoulders, the ForTwo v2 rides pretty well. For any other type of car, the suspension sucks. You'd have to be a fan of sadomasochism lite to enjoy the Smart's hard not to say buckboard-quality ride. If potholes mar your local landscape, well, a smart Smart owner will have his chiropractor on speed dial.
The other downside of a hard-sprung car: you can be fooled into believing it handles well. Yes, the ForTwo corners flat. And it's true: my tester’s unassisted steering was as meaty as a cauldron of Texas chili. But the ForTwo's limits are lower than snake hips, and the ESP handling nanny is always on duty. Not to put too fine a point on it, an aggressive driver can put the ForTwo into any handling attitude they like– as long as it's an understeer slide.
So the Smart is an unpleasant-to-drive, one-trick pony. And yet there are plenty of people– some 30k American early adopters at last count– who couldn’t care less about its dreadful driving dynamics. To wit: on a three-hundred mile mosey along the Moselle River, my girlfriend fell in love with the ForTwo. She was charmed by the friendly questions posed by rural Belgians, and amused when the driver of a twenty-ton truck honked and gave us a thumbs up as we passed on a twisty mountain road (I was frozen with fear).
I reckon the Smart ForTwo is the automotive equivalent of Maxwell Smart's Cone of Silence: a great idea in theory, a laughable device in practice. Then again, the ForTwo is a statement. And it does bear a striking resemblance to the Porsche 911: a patently ridiculous concept made drivable by obsessive-compulsive German engineers. But while the Porsche has almost always made money, the Smart never has. Judging from v2, it probably never will.
105 Comments on “Smart ForTwo Review...”
Back to TopLeave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You can also login using Facebook Connect.
I still think it is sad that the original Mini set a mold that other manufacturers can’t even get close to.
Can it be. The first too post a comment! The Fourtwo is a greenies wet dream, a car so ridiculous and impractical that you'll wish you had a horse and buggy instead.
I wouldn’t even want to be hit by that thing.
Why do I get the impression there are those in high places that are considering imposing these types of vehicles on the rest of us?
The Fourtwo tries to be a lot of things and doesn't really succeed at any of them. I noticed that any talk of cost was conspicuously absent from the review. A car that is billed as an around town grocery getter for urban environments shouldn't cost more than a mid-sized sedan, not if you want real people buying it.
I can't see who would buy this joke except someone trying to make an environmental statement, "Look at how environmentally conscious I am, driving my economical Fourtwo to the airport to catch a flight in my private jet." It's a smaller, less economical Prius in a clowns outfit, screaming look at me, look at me.
The Smart is a wonderful little city car, especially in Europe. And, by the way, the rural Belgians you talked to about the car on your trip along the Moselle were either on vacation or they were Germans, French, or citizens of Luxemburg.
The styling/proportions alone make it work. I expect American consumerism will meet or exceed Smart’s sales goals.
That said, the owner might as well tattoo a Bow Tie, Blue Oval, or Ram on their forehead: it’ll be there anyway once a truck/SUV runs a red light and mows that little thing down.
What? No stated real world MPG figures? It would seem this vehicles main benefit is 50+mpg minimum. What was the mpg during the test?
Am I really the first person to call BS on the “striking resemblance to the Porsche 911″? Striking? Does the location of the engine and drive wheels a striking resemblance make? Does the Crown Vic bear a striking resemblance to a Ferrari? Does a Chevy Malibu bear a striking resemblance to the 2CV? That’s the laziest comparison I’ve ever seen this site make.
Now if by resemblance you meant some other English word that does not mean especially similar in appearance or in external or superficial details, then perhaps, there is some comparison to be made between the level of difficulty involved in improving the two very visibly different cars.
Cheers.
This makes sense for a true city vehicle. Say, a Chinese food or pizza delivery vehicle…in Manhattan. That is, it does one thing better than any other vehicle-you can park the little fucker anywhere. Other than that, almost anything else makes more sense. The Prius gets better mileage even though it’s much larger and faster. Any of the now numerous subcompacts is a better compromise between mileage and parking ability and usable space, acceleration, ride, etc. My understanding is also that it costs more than many/all of said subcompacts as well.
Of course, style over substance may sell a few of these, although I predict very few. I also that after the early adopters get thiers, sales will soon fall off a cliff very quickly.
I think the version for sale in Canada got around 40mpg, which is about the same as my Hyundai Accent. Also, I think it retailed for somewhere around $16-20,000, which is quite a bit more than an Accent.
I read a letter to the editor in a local newspaper. The writer, a Smart driver, said he was upset at all the polluters driving SUVs and honking and gesturing (negatively) during rush hour at the Smart car. The next day, another letter came in from an SUV driver. He said “If you’re car could go the speed limit, we wouldn’t have to honk and gesture at you.”
Great review, Martin.
I guess the Smart comes down to an issue of horses for courses. As a city car competing for parking spots, this works nicely. Otherwise, the mini is probably a more realistic choice.
I live in Berlin, and there are quite a lot of those on the streets around here. Since Berlin on the whole is very, very leftish-alternative, I can only conclude that the Smart is made for people who hate cars, but need one for everyday life. I’ve driven one, and oh boy, if I’d to put up with that heap of junk, I’d burn it in front of the factory and get myself a bicycle with a small trailer. Same cargo space, better transmission, even less problems finding a parking space. Would suck if it rained, but then I wouldn’t advice anyone to drive a Smart in bad weather, since those tiny wheels offer no grip whatsoever.
By the way, the only reason I drove one was a promotion they offered some time ago: “Test drive a Smart for 30 minutes, and we give you 25 Euros!” I should have demanded hazard pay on top of that.
I think automakers would really help their cause if their few environmentally-friendly-statement cars were fun to drive. That would hook many of them.
Hell, it worked for me… my $300 82hp penalty box from my poorer days had a stickshift and manual steering full of feedback, so I fell in love with driving. But give a car hater a Prius or smart… and they’ll never understand what we see in these things.
Its so cute, i cant stand it. Its like the anti-SUV! No wonder SUV owners hate it. It does the same things as most SUV’s (transport one person to and from work), at speeds that hover around 15 miles an hour at rush hour, like here. Wow. Imagine being reminded that you are not rock climbing with your hyped up fat wheeled 500 hp 4wd apartment sized monster, by an itty bitty tiny car. HAHAHAHA
And so what if it gets as many mpg’s as a hyundai accent? I wouldn’t be caught DEAD in a hyundai accent.
I can’t wait to buy one! In red, cabriolet please.
Brandon D. Valentine:
Am I really the first person to call BS on the “striking resemblance to the Porsche 911″? Striking? Does the location of the engine and drive wheels a striking resemblance make?
No, you’re just the first one who didn’t read the rest of the sentence. The part that says “a patently ridiculous concept made drivable by obsessive-compulsive German engineers.”
A little reading comprehension goes a long way.
hansbos, let me complement you on your knowledge of European geography. Having done that, I also have have to praise the editor-in-chief at TTAC, who transformed a convoluted sentence about how our trip went from Aachen to Liège, then through the Ardennes (where we met the Belgians), through the Eifel, alongst the Moselle — into something readable.
jerseydevil… you can say the same thing about a bicycle, a golf kart, a pogo stick, an old geo metro, or a pair of new balance shoes. For the money, I would take any of the above over a Smart.
We actually have one at an antique auction in Roswell, Georgia during the last few years. It IS a good runabout (nay car) for NYC traffic but all things being equal I would rather ride a maxi-scooter.
Since Daimler makes the Smart, you can also be pretty much assured that the economic pollution related to the vehicle will probably be far higher than most other small vehicles that are fun to drive (Miata, Mini, Civic Si, etc)Daimler’s quality has a bigger question mark on it these days than that nice purple asterisk on Barry’s 756th home run ball.
26theone: I drove it like if I stole it and got 38 mpg. Yeah lousy, I know, but that was pushing 100 mph quite often. The official EU rating for the version I had was 50 mpg. Judging from experience, 45 mpg should be easy to get under civilized driving conditions.
Steven Lang, your scepticism about Daimler products is justified. However, these Smarts die hard and are remarkably robust (which they should be, given the punishment they deserve). 200k miles without major incidents is considered normal when they are used in courier operations.
To my southern neighbours who buy one-
Welcome to the world of constantly changing gears and driving a pogo stick. Bow to your Mercedes technician when you need work done.
Well..tt least it’s priced somewhat competitively in your country.
I’m surpised that this thing is so expensive. For the money you can get a car with a lot more utiltiy (Focus, Sentra, etc…) than this, and not much worse fuel mileage. At $8000 or so this would be a huge hit. At $16000 it is a joke.
Safety wise, no thanks. I shudder to think of one of these blowing through a red light in front of my Crown Vic.
58 gallons of cargo volume…how many gallons in a cubic foot? Seven and change? Still not much cargo volume.
I’m looking forward to taking one of these for a test drive, if only because I’ve never driven anything remotely like it.
Why can’t Honda just bring back the CRX?
Very enjoyable review. Also loved JerseyDevil’s comments, above, although assuming the review is accurate, it would never be on my shopping list.
But point of confusion from later comments: MS, if the thing can’t go above 80mph, how could you be pushing 100mph a lot of the time? Did I miss something? Also, I suspect my ‘77 Toyota Corolla was probably a bit more solid than the Smart, but driving that thing over 65 made me nervous, and 75mph made me extremely nervous (I did that maybe once or twice in 8 years, and for very short periods. I must say though, that unlike the Smart, the Corolla’s 1.2 liter 4-banger was pretty smooth, even at those speeds).
I have seen one of these in one of the more affluent suburbs of Boston. It would be a good car for Boston proper, where street parking is extremely scarce and lots can set you back $20 in the first hour.
My guess is that it would be very hard to design a decent non-active suspension, just because (I’m guessing) the car must be extremely light (how much does it actually weigh?).
Three models will be available in the first half of next year: the pure; the passion and the cabriolet. the approximate costs for these are: $11,590; $13,590 and $16,590, respectively.
when my wife and i drove one earlier this summer during smart’s cross-country roadshow, we waited in line almost two hours for the privilege. the place was packed – literally hundreds were on hand – while, at the same time, the enormous showroom at mercedes-benz of san diego appeared practically deserted. we heard from current owners whose gas mileage approached 55-60 mpg on the freeway. one woman said she went from spending more $80 a month on gas down to around $20. and the response from everyone we personally spoke with was enthusiastically positive.
i initially got very interested in this car after watching a video clip on the web where one was crashed into a dense concrete barrier at 70 mph. the car did look mangled, but both its driver and its passenger emerged from within its trideon safety cell without incurring any sort of injury. it was a fairly amazing and very convincing demonstration. and these vehicles contain an entire page of active and passive safety features.
so, considering where the cost of gasoline is going, and just how crowded san diego freeways are during the morning and evening commutes, we both believe this car makes a lot of sense. so much so that we just sold our pristine 2001 slk320 this morning, in preparation to purchase one.
the only unknown remaining, as far as we are concerned, is the actual highway driving experience and we look forward to sampling that just as soon as the first shipment arrives. if its good, we’re getting one [already reserved and configured under their promotional $99/fully refundable program].
of course, it will not be our only vehicle – we’re also keeping our new cayman and my vintage boxster.
let the good times roll.
http://www.smartusa.com/
I test drove the older version a couple years ago, and was pleasantly surprised. Much bigger inside than I expected, solid and stable on the road, kept up with city traffic easily. The ride was fine, shifting was different but easy enough. Strangely it felt like a much larger car, there just is no back to it!
Most importantly it felt fun, like piloting a go-kart around. I drive a motorcycle mostly in the summer, and has the same feeling. Of course I have acceleration greater than almost anything on four wheels with that bike, but when can I use it?
I see this thing like a motorcycle with a roof, cargo capacity, and air conditioning. Same agility, same ‘drive for the fun of it’ feeling, same ‘gas prices are irrelevant’, and ‘parking is fun’, not a PITA.
The big differences are:
a)I can drive it all winter
b)if some old f*cker does a left in front of me I am belted into a virtually unbreakable roll cage surrounded with airbags
Rather it was built and serviced by Toyota, but still looking hard at getting one next year, and keeping my truck for whenever I need to haul loads of stuff.
David:
You got me there — “pushing 100″ meant indicated 100 on the speedometer. In other words, I took it to the limit. Actual top speed, however, is beyond the point, because the Smart quite obviously does not like to be driven at more than about 75 mph (unless you are on a completely smooth and predictably sidewind-free road).
Officially, Smarts can weigh as little as 700 KG. The Smarts that I drove weighed 800 and 1020 KG (in the case of the softtop). Light weight does not automatically determine a hard ride; I have driven numerous tiny French cars that were both softly-sprung and safe-handling. But when you have a rear-engined, narrow, tall, short car, what are you gonna do?
(By the way, the softtop/semi-cabrio works very well, and seems to be of excellent quality.)
About the various comments re: crash safety. Let’s be fair, please. The Smart achieved a crash-test rating of four out of five stars (Euro NCAP). That is better than many a SUV from five years ago. As such, that’s an excellent achievement. The Smart’s poor driving dynamics are actually a result of this focus on passive safety. Nowadays, in order to get good side-crash test results, a car needs to have a certain height. I wish it were not so — I would strongly prefer a “really” small car, such as the Loremo concept. But Daimler figured a Smart has to be tall in order to prevent the average SUV bumper from smashing your head in a sideways crash. It’s an odd and sad world in some ways.
philipwitak:
You have a point that U.S. prices will be lower. However, we cannot quote U.S. prices when we test a Euro-spec car. If Smart of North America should allow TTAC to test a U.S.-spec car, I am sure the resulting review will include American prices.
You are right that at a steady 70 mph, fuel consumption should be great. But this applies to all modern small cars, even more so when they have better aerodynamics than the Smart. Of course I agree with you that for a daily, single-person commute, the Smart is far more sensible than a large vehicle. It rides no worse and is no less safe than the average pickup truck. It’s just that, being European, I have a choice of so many other cars that are vastly superior in most driving (as opposed to parking) conditions. Please check out my review of the Toyota Aygo for an example.
We do want to be fair, so I quoted my girlfriend’s impressions without reserve. She enjoyed the SUV-high driving position, the flat cornering, the exuberant engine noise, the space, the great seats, the good visibility, the interior quality. But for me, those factors alone do not make a desirable car.
“”Its so cute, i cant stand it. Its like the anti-SUV! No wonder SUV owners hate it. It does the same things as most SUV’s (transport one person to and from work), at speeds that hover around 15 miles an hour at rush hour, like here. Wow. Imagine being reminded that you are not rock climbing with your hyped up fat wheeled 500 hp 4wd apartment sized monster, by an itty bitty tiny car. HAHAHA
And so what if it gets as many mpg’s as a hyundai accent? I wouldn’t be caught DEAD in a hyundai accent.
I can’t wait to buy one! In red, cabriolet please. “”
hope you don’t have a accident in one of these if you do, you might be caught dead in a smart! i would just as soon go in a hyundai!!!!!!
How's the acceleration with the A/C on?
I would not even dare to take one of these up a highway on-ramp with semi-trailers approaching from behind at 70+ mph. I predict that these will be banned from certain American highways, much as mopeds and scooters of under 250cc engine replacement; they represent a hazard due to their slow 0-60 times.
And, you can have as many air bags as you like, but they can only go off once, so there had better be some real integrity in that body shell, as the "smart" owner gets bounced around like a soccer ball in the chain-reaction crash that they will likely cause by pulling out in front of tons of hurtling semi-truck equipped with drum brakes all around…
I think MB is doing a mis-service to any customer by even suggesting that this thing is "highway capable". I'm willing to bet that Consumer Reports will echo that assessment, much as they did with the Subaru 360 (back in the 1970's)
Martin: Depends on the driver’s judgement, I suppose, but on an uphill grade, I’m willing to bet a 0-60 in the 15-18 second range, and I’ve seen enouugh on-ramps (especially on the aged PA Turnpike) that would challange this car severely.
Also, I’ve also just had three cups of coffee, FWIW ;-) (So, I’m a bit “strident” this morning)
I recently followed a Smart in the left lane from Oakville to Toronto along the QEW/Gardiner Express Way. Our average speed was about 80 mph. I was impressed by the little Smart’s performance, but worried that at any moment it’s drivetrain might decorate my windshield.
PJungnitsch: “Rather it was built and serviced by Toyota…”
It is. It’s called a Yaris 3-door.
Unless being able to park in the smallest place possible is a paramount consideration, the similiarly priced Yaris is an infinitely better choice than the ForTwo.
I can’t imagine anyone other than those who live and work in New York City buying a ForTwo. That’s quite a limited market.
What’s with the poor acceleration? 70hp should be plenty of power in a vehicle this small.
It’s still a pointless fashion statement. If they want to take it to the next level, make it a hybrid. It won’t matter if it gets worse milage and has less cargo room. Buyers of this thing don’t care, just put a panda bear on the side of it.
The arguments against the Smart are similar to arguments against a motorcycle. Motorcycles have all kinds of disadvantages, getting wet in the rain, blown around by wind, no place to store stuff, tires every 10,000 km. Plus they are cheap, but not that cheap. Dollar per pound it makes much more sense to buy a Yaris, or hey, even better, a Dodge Caravan.
But people drive motorcycles anyway because piloting something that small makes every trip fun. With a motorcycle I notice I drive for the trip. In a normal four wheeled vehicle I drive for the destination. Very hard to explain to a cage driver.
I think motorcyclists will ‘get’ this better than car drivers will.
I’m glad it’s here. Is this car the answer to everything? Of course not. But there are certainly people for whom this car makes sense: urban commuters with no public transport options, people who want a second car for errands, people who just want something cool and different. Parking in Brooklyn, a Golf can seem huge and you never go over 60 mph (if that on the Belt!) so why not? If this one sells, maybe we’ll get a diesel or hybrid down the line. What would be really cool is if this opens the door to the world of ridiculous city cars you see in Europe and Japan. Bring the keis!
PJungnitsch, motorcycles have one very distinct advantage over the Smart. They can accelerate, and for some motorcyclists, their great acceleration makes riding a bike fun. A car that gets to 60 when it gets there simply is no fun.
I think any avid motorcyclist would be insulted by likening this car to any motorcycle.
I drove one of these several years ago in Rome and on the autostrade to Florence crusing easily around 75mph. It wasn’t that bad! The odd shape makes it very airy and has a wide-open feel on the inside.
I can see this being a huge hit in certain communities. In many of the “golf course” communities in California and Arizona and the island communities of (for example) Florida tend to have narrow roads and not a lot of parking. Some locals have purchased golf carts but there are a lot of them who clog the roads in their Land Rovers to go 1/2 mile for milk and bread. It would make perfect sense to have one of these as a “run around the island” type of car – maybe gas it up once a month and use it especially when the heat/humidity/downpours make walking difficult.
If their goal is 30,000 cars, open the dealers now in NYC, South Florida, South Texas, Phoenix, and Boston and they will sell themselves.
Anyway, I doubt Smart will go the PT Cruiser/New Beetle route and will go the route of the Mini – keep the numbers produced down, make them special, and know your market. I can see some major markets having a few to rent anyway. That’s how I drove that one in Italy – they rented Smartcars and Vespas. (For the nervous types – Vespa + Roman roads and drivers = sheer terror!)
For those who worry about the Smart’s acceleration: at least here in Europe, there is a turbo version on offer. I didn’t drive it, but its data looks pretty OK: 84hp @5,250rpm; 120Nm torque @3,250rpm, 0-60 10.6 seconds. With a decent transmission, it sounds like nippy performance.
(That said: with a decent transmission, the basic Smart would also be quick enough for me, for its purposes. I simply cannot comprehend what is so difficult about driving a 0-60 in 14 seconds car.)
Well someone hit the nail on the head with the motorcycle comment. My Fortwo will be parked in the garage next to my CBR600RR. Black/silver exterior, red interior passion coupe.
I drove a Honda Insight for a number of years and the Smart is a very similar idea. I live in a dense, urban area and agility combined with parking ease far outweigh driving dynamics for me now.
At the moment I have a current-gen Miata, which I love dearly, but I’m lucky if I can get it out to have some fun even once a month. 99% of the time it’s just in gridlock like any of my other cars were, burning premium fuel to the tune of 23 MPG.
I specced my Fortwo all luxed out with a bunch of toys for $14,000-ish, half the price of the Mazda. And the Yaris may be a dead-reliable transport pod but the Smart has something that everyone here bitches about Toyotas lacking: character.
I have sold hundreds of these cars in Canada and I need to explain there are only 2 other cars in the same league of mileage as the new smart and those are the prius hybrid and civic hybrid.
The car comes with many standard safety features, esp,abs 4 air bags and more. I can vouch for the fact these cars are incredibly safe. I have had several customers in sever accidents where they were not even hurt. One of my customers rear ended a buick that had come to a complete stop going 60mph and was un-injured and there car was not written off as the frame was not bent. However the buicks trunk was in the back seat. I have also had customers get t-boned and I can assure you there is no small car out there that even slightly compares to the smart when it comes to safety.
We have problems with air pollution and a high demand for gas this vehicle is great for reducing those problems.
Here in Canada the federal government pays people $2000 to buy them as an incentive. Someone else said something stupid about it probably having high emmissions well as usual they were wrong the smart is the global Co2 champion.
The new smart car is plenty quick in fact it is much quicker than a vokswaggen bug for example. There is no problems taking this vehicle on the highway and it can keep up with all traffic. The transmission is also a tricky subject, it takes skill to properly shift this car…a bit of practice smoothens the car out and makes it quicker. By feathering the gas pedal like a clutch as you shift you will increase the performance.
I just hope all these writters realise the smart is here to stay and also the claim of never making money is not totally true as they are on the verge of making profits now especially with the us launch.
Ah and one more sunject Chrysler has nothing to do with smart and never did the company has always been owned and opperated by mercedes and a road test in europe showed a smart getting 546,000kms before failure. So these little cars will hold up much better than many would think.
The smart car makes sense in every way, it is the way of the future and it is here now.
A smart is the ideal “commuter car” and everyone should have one to commute,as well its an excellent short distance car to run errands.
In Canada the diesel version do anyhwere from 4L to 5L per 100 klms, in an urban setting its 4L on the highway its 5L.
Yes, they are twitchy in side winds, yes they are twitchy if you are passing a semi and there is a side wind, yes you need to pay attention the directional stability is delicate, especially with a narrower track than most other vehicles.
The Canadian diesel versions cruise nicely at 110kph which is approx 70 mph. The Tridion safety cell with a double floor makes the passenger compartment very safe in an accident, the safety aspect of a smart is as good or better than most other vehicles.
The sequential shift transmission is a little rough and takes some getting used to to operate it smoothly. The softouch option shifts by itself and its a good way to go, the car even holds itself on a hill for a few seconds when you release the brake.
The rear compartment is quite roomy, adequate for a few bags of grocery, in the old version the passenger seat back folds forward which give a lot of room.
In most commuter applications, on average there are less than 2 passengers, its the reason the smart has only 2 seats. For one person the car is very roomy, with 2 its gets comfortable.
In stop and go traffic the car is as fast as all the other vehicles, keeping in mind that the diesel version in Canada its mostly pedal to the metal most pf the time.
In snow and icy conditions the short wheelbase and narrow track requires additional attention on the part of the driver.
Do you need a commuter car? Do you want a commuter car? Get a smart, the cabrio version is a lot of fun.
In large metro areas most folks that commute are alone in a full sized vehicle using additional fuel, creating additional pollution, using more space, and travelling at 40 mph in traffic.
Especially in a suburban setting how often do people jump in a vehicle for a 5-6 mile round trip to get milk?
Yes, motorcyclists do get it better, for them a smart is an all weather motorcycle. If you have a bike, do you get a BRP Spyder or a smart? A Spyder is unsettling the first time you ride one, especially in turns, and no brake lever on the RH side, only a foot pedal.
Small businesses love smarts, they attract a lot of attention and are ideal for local advertising of the business.
Do you need a commuter car?
So the question REALLY is- can I spend 13-16K for a single purpose vehicle – which then necessitates an additional car for the occasions on which I need to entertain clients, take my family out- suppose my work involves toting large quantities of books around? And the question really becomes: can you live with buying one car for “everyday” use and another car for “weekend” use, trips with the family & so forth.
Odd how this car is successful/marketed in areas with the best public transport systems in the world. If public transit is inadequate/reviled in places with no parking and $8-$9 gas, I wonder why people think public transit will work here.
As a car, it fails the Roger Smith test; not a better value than a two-year-old Buick. As a fashion statement, it’s great for the type of person who has a Cayman and a boxster and can afford to trade in an SLK on it. In America, This is what you buy when your rehab took and you lost your taste for coke, yet you still have more money than you know what to do with.
Thank you, AGR and smartspecialist, for your contributions.
I think we can agree that the Smart is certainly not for everybody. We can also agree that it is a fine car for some people.
That’s the beauty of our system — that even niche demands get fulfilled. Let’s not diss the niche demands; let’s just make sure that we know what we are being offered, with all advantages and disadvantages that every product has.
Two words…buy a real little car, a Honda Fit or Mini Cooper. Smart car makes even the crappy Toyota Yaris (USA) look like a…uhmmm…a good car. These toys will be just be a passing fad, and anyone one who buys one will deny they ever did 10 years from now.
Absolutely a smart is not for everybody, if a regular car is a need a smart is a cross between a need/want, where a motorcycle is a want.
If an individual has a budget for only 1 vehicle a smart is not the answer, a Fit or a Yaris will do a better job.
In Canada smart sales mirror Mini sales.
I don’t see any cute in this car. It looks like it came straight out of 1990; that flavor of chintzy post 80s styling where things stopped being as boxy, but the gaudiness was still there.
Unfortunately, It doesn’t have to be a good car to sell. It has image, which is all you really need.
smartspecialist :
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
We have problems with air pollution and a high demand for gas this vehicle is great for reducing those problems.
Here in Canada the federal government pays people $2000 to buy them as an incentive. Someone else said something stupid about it probably having high emmissions well as usual they were wrong the smart is the global Co2 champion.
Local air pollution is not caused by CO2, it’s caused by the things diesels typically produce larger quantities of, like NOX and soot. The ones sold in Canada up to now would produce more of those per mile than any gasoline-powered SUV on the road. A 2004 TDI Volkswagen, for example, has a lower “EPA Air Pollution Score” than a 2004 Chev Suburban, despite getting more than double the mileage of the Suburban.
I don’t know what the emissions standards are for the ’08s. I’d have to assume they’re higher since they’d be meeting the new U.S. standards for diesels, but I doubt they’re as good as any compact gasoline-powered car.
I believe that Smart USA limited the appeal by not offering a diesel version (did it fail emissions?). Many subcompacts get similar mileage to the petrol version with at least twice the utility. I have a feeling that sales will plateau quickly if the mileage can’t be improved. If I have to drive a car with that many limitations, it better be getting at least 50mpg city(like the diesel version).
savageATL Odd how this car is successful/marketed in areas with the best public transport systems in the world. If public transit is inadequate/reviled in places with no parking and $8-$9 gas, I wonder why people think public transit will work here.
Just because Smart can sell in places with great public transit doesn’t mean public transit isn’t extremely useful in those places. There are always going to be people who, for one reason or another, can’t rely on public transit even where it is good, just as there are always people who can use public transit even in places where the transit system stinks, because even the worst transit systems are convenient for those who live near one stop and work near another.
Again, great editorial, some very interesting comments. I’m glad to know a lot more about this car than I did before. I bet Zipcar and Flexcar will buy them (two car sharing companies which have just merged), and I bet they will see a lot of sales in the more crowded cities, mine (Boston) included. Given the high mileage, I will be very happy to see people driving them.