They are a very good car for an urban environment, but scary as hell on the superhighways. They are not yet available in NY and Cali because they are diesels. MB is switching to gas engines in order to sell in those high volume markets.
Go to youtube and search smartcar crash test. They are incredibly rigid.
Go to youtube and search smartcar crash test. They are incredibly rigid.
Had a smart car pass me ont he HWY the other day, I was doing about 118, it was likey around 125,, and yes, they perform really good in crash tests.
anon1 said:
When I first saw them I thought: death trap...until I saw that video of one run into a K bar at 100 kph and you could still open the doors. I honestly don't think you'd be able to do that with my F150.....
BTW: an extremely rigid body isn't desired. One too stiff to absorb the impact would just transfer the energy to the occupants and kill them.
To answer the question: yes, I'd buy one for bombing around in the city in. Hell you can't beat the gas mileage and it'd beat the hell out of my 4 x 4 for trips to the grocery store.
I'd rather drive one of these just for the "cool" factor:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/0...-design-and-build-100-mpg-three-wheeled-road/
Dani said:One can always hope
GRRRRRR
where's that PM????
BTW: why aren't you "naked on your balcony" today???? The chilly air give you a bad case of "nipsicles"???
my needs are a top speed os 70 MPH plus. Given that if they could deliver milage plus speed I would look at one.
They are great cars. i had one for a day driving around Berlin last summer. It does get a bit of getting used to not having a big hood infront of you. But great runabouts in the city. Parking is a breeze. I was going 140km on the autobahn foot to the floor.
goodtime
Travelaholic
I prefer this version http://www.cars-of-europe.com/smart/smart_roadster_coupe_brabus_ktb1357.shtml
drove behind one on the Autobahn doing 185 km/h
http://www.cars-of-europe.com/smart/smart_roadster_f256.shtml
drove behind one on the Autobahn doing 185 km/h
http://www.cars-of-europe.com/smart/smart_roadster_f256.shtml
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I always shake my head when I see one, I think what a waste of money...I'm sure you can get much better for the money.
Here's a review from a while back....
Smart cars are not new; only new to North America. They were originally developed as a joint venture between the Swiss watch company, Swatch, and car-maker Mercedes-Benz (the double entrendre name "smart" is derived from "s" for Swatch, "m" for Mercedes, plus "art"). After Swatch pulled out, smart became a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler. The company is now a division of the Mercedes Car Group, along with Mercedes-Benz and the ultra-luxury Maybach.
So the car's not a Mercedes, just so you know. It's a smart (spelled officially with a small "s") that will be sold through Mercedes-Benz dealerships. Consequently, don't expect Mercedes luxury and doors that close with a thunk in a smart. Yes, it's well-built, and it features snappy Jetson's styling, but its (estimated) $16,000 starting price (for the coupe) is commensurate with the level of product you're buying.
Here's a review from a while back....
Smart cars are not new; only new to North America. They were originally developed as a joint venture between the Swiss watch company, Swatch, and car-maker Mercedes-Benz (the double entrendre name "smart" is derived from "s" for Swatch, "m" for Mercedes, plus "art"). After Swatch pulled out, smart became a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler. The company is now a division of the Mercedes Car Group, along with Mercedes-Benz and the ultra-luxury Maybach.
So the car's not a Mercedes, just so you know. It's a smart (spelled officially with a small "s") that will be sold through Mercedes-Benz dealerships. Consequently, don't expect Mercedes luxury and doors that close with a thunk in a smart. Yes, it's well-built, and it features snappy Jetson's styling, but its (estimated) $16,000 starting price (for the coupe) is commensurate with the level of product you're buying.
Until these Hummer's and other oversize SUV's are off the road, driving a smart car is too risky in my book. But I rather see them on the road than a Hummer, sure both are just as "fast" -or could be with a little bigger motor- but the smart car would be easy to park and safer for the others on the roads.
Its just a matter of time before its the other way around, right now its SUV's everywhere and few smart cars but 20 years from now the way gasoline prices are I can't see why it won't happen.
Its just a matter of time before its the other way around, right now its SUV's everywhere and few smart cars but 20 years from now the way gasoline prices are I can't see why it won't happen.
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S
superman
looks better than the crap from Detroit, I mean Canada, I mean Mexico, I mean Korea, I mean Looks good.S.C. Joe said:Looks like a "real" car
Hmm, you don't like the G8 ? But yeah, wheres that from, but GM owns the company since the 30's, Holden motors I think its called.
tboy said:
I think I saw that video. They mentioned in it that the G forces of the crash would have killed the occupant. If the force of the impact is translated to the passengers then they will sustain serious injuries or death. Doesn't matter if the doors still open. The one I saw was a BBC program. They tested some equally small british piss pot with similar results (Potentially dead occupant). I would like to see how the crash data sizes up to larger vehicles such as a crown victoria sized car under the same crash conditions.
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