Saw a Smart car today!

[sparkydave]

Dang, didn't know they would be on the roads so quickly. Can we say itty bitty? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif So which is smaller, a Smart, a BMW Isetta, or a Bugeye? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[MGA Steve]

I think the Isetta has the SMART beat. There were 4 SMARTS at the Denver Auto Show in March. An RV company in Elizabeth, Colorado, imports them as gray-market cars and gets them EPA-sanctioned.

The one you saw may have been one of those gray-market cars. I don't think Daimler-Chrysler has them for sale yet, but they will be soon. They can't continue to let some small businessmen take away potential U.S. sales.

 

[PATR8]

We were at Gettysburg (my son and I) and in my Hummer H3 when we had a smart car pull up, all he could say was there is the car from Pink Panther (the new steve martin one) beside us. Last week end we went shopping and we found one sharing a parking spot with a motorcycle. They are tiny. Makes a Geo metro look full size. Might be a good city cruiser if you lived in town and never left town.

 

[swift6]

Wow, first I was working at a Saturn dealer when questions popped up on the SKY and now, as luck would have it, I'm running the service department at a dealership in Loveland that also sells SMART cars. Unlike the information on the local news reports, the RV dealership in Elizabeth is not the only dealer in Colorado. I've found out way too much, more than I want to know anyway in the background details. However, they are legally imported, bunchs of hoops to jump through though. Roger Penske is now actually getting involved with Mercedes for official importation of the vehicles to the US.

The dimensions are 8.33 feet long, 5.05 feet wide and 5.16 feet tall with a 76.5" wheelbase. I have an owners manual on my computer and I converted the millimeters to inches and feet. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

They only weigh about 1500lbs and have a 698cc turbocharged three cylinder engine making 60 horsepower. Inside of them they feel pretty normal as it's all cockpit. One huge safety cage. They actually have excellent crash ratings. They do have adaptive automatic transmissions that take a while to adjust to your individual driving style though. Another interesting note, if you happen to have an extra set of body panels for it in a different color, it takes about a half hour to change them out, to change colors or just get freaky with them.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[JamesWilson]

They've been here for a while.

I pass one that's parked on my way to work. Where everyone else parks parallel to the curb this character backs up to it. Can fit in a smaller space, and doesn't worry about opening the door into traffic, can make a quicker get-away both ways... And I think it drives the traffic wardens (issuers of parking tickets here) absolutely nuts- I don't think they like it, but it doesn't actually seem to be against the laws....

 

[R6MGS]

We've had them in Canada for awhile...Very popular here in the City actually, tons of them Downtown....Kinda neat, but I'd never drive one.

 

[Steve_S]

I've seen them here in So Cal for a couple years, but not very often. I only see a few per year and for all I know it's the same one over and over.

 

[jsneddon]

I'd take one. Especially if they bring over the convertible. My 110 mile daily commute only has a stretch of about 10 miles where I'm actually driving at highway speeds. Everything else is side streets or inching along at 10mph. 50-60 MPG would be a wonderful thing and I'd be the only person ever in it. In my line of work carpooling is just not an option...

 

[sparkydave]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd take one. Especially if they bring over the convertible. My 110 mile daily commute only has a stretch of about 10 miles where I'm actually driving at highway speeds. Everything else is side streets or inching along at 10mph. 50-60 MPG would be a wonderful thing and I'd be the only person ever in it. In my line of work carpooling is just not an option...

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, the one I saw was a convertible. So is that 110 miles round trip? I salute you. I'm not looking forward to being 47 miles from work instead of the 7 miles I've been driving (moving soon), but certainly there are worse commutes.

 

[swift6]

The Convertibles are sort of roll back tops. The cage is still up and over the top for safety. Similar to BGT's, bug or Wedges with Webasto type folding roofs.

 

[John Loftus]

[ QUOTE ]
I've seen them here in So Cal for a couple years, but not very often.

[/ QUOTE ]

There was a place in Orange County converting them to U.S. safety standards. They were changing out some of the plastic panels when I visited the facility several years ago. Cool little around town cars. I've seen plenty of them in Europe but only a few around here.

Cheers,
John

 

[Nunyas]

I've never seen one on the road in my part of town. I HAVE seen one in the window of some store though. However, I'm not sure what happened but it's no longer at that store. I'm not sure if that store closed down or what.

Over here, the most popular "fuel efficient" car is the Prius. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif If it came down to it, and I had to buy a hybrid, it certainly wouldn't be a Prius. I'd rather drive an Insight.

 

[MGA Steve]

[ QUOTE ]
If it came down to it, and I had to buy a hybrid, it certainly wouldn't be a Prius. I'd rather drive an Insight.

[/ QUOTE ]
The Hertz agency at a South Denver hotel rented us a Prius at the regular compact car rate for a trip to Scottsdale last fall. It had 200 miles on it and we were the first to take it out of town.

I don't care for the styling either, but liked the gas mileage. It was fun to play with the accelerator under different driving conditions just to see what the computer would do to respond--literally drive by wire. On the last leg of the trip--Farmington, NM, to Denver over Cumbres, Poncha, Trout Creek, and Kenosha Passes--and a week of driving it, I was able to average 57.1 MPG (best of the trip).

Where Prius leaves a lot to be desired is on open, flat Interstate at 75-80 mph--gets maybe 30-35 MPG, but even a slight grade drops it to 19-20. Prius seems optimally designed as an in-town car; on the road, I would take a turbo-diesel for mileage and power over a hybrid any day. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

You can get a hybrid from Toyota and not have to buy a Prius. They now have a hybrid Camry and even a hybrid, full-size Lexus.

 

[sparkydave]

[ QUOTE ]

Where Prius leaves a lot to be desired is on open, flat Interstate at 75-80 mph--gets maybe 30-35 MPG

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, that doesn't sound very impressive. My girlfriend and I visited my folks and got 34 MPG in her Subaru wagon driving on the PA turnpike.

 

[Nunyas]

being smaller and lighter I'd expect a Honda Insight to do better than that on the highway.

 

[vagt6]

Smart cars are everywhere in W. Europe. I saw many of them while in Italy this year. Saw my first one in France in 2003 and was immediately impressed withthe build quality and mechanicals.

They're a cinch to be a huge hit in the states. Especially when gas prices get up around $4 gallon (maybe sooner than later).

I saw 4 door models (which won't be imported here, I'm told) and convertibles recently. Very impressive, I think.

I wish I could invest in a Smart car dealership! A sure thing, IMHO.

 

[R6MGS]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd take one. Especially if they bring over the convertible. My 110 mile daily commute only has a stretch of about 10 miles where I'm actually driving at highway speeds. Everything else is side streets or inching along at 10mph. 50-60 MPG would be a wonderful thing and I'd be the only person ever in it. In my line of work carpooling is just not an option...

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow...110 miles,it that one way?(I hope not)....I thought I was bad at 100km round trip....Only I am in a Gas Guzzling Caddy and spend 70% of my travel time idling. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[Sherlock]

The Smart Cars are like weeds here in Calgary... Mind you good quality weeds though... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If I had the money I would definitely consider buying one, I live nearby downtown and a small car like that would be the perfect size for bombing around in. I would just make sure I had a larger vehicle for longer highway trips, although I've been told they are fine on the highway too, but I'm not entirely convinced of that fact.

 

[Steve_S]

No way I'm spending $30,000 on a new Prius to save $7 a week on gasoline.

Besides, you can drive a gross poluter for ten years before you release the same amount of toxic materials into the environment as building one new car.

 

[kennypinkerton]

Excellent point Steve.