TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
I'd love to see one of those things on the Turnpike! Have you ever?
Smart Car
- Thread starter TheLonelySquire
- Start date
I'd love to see one of those things on the Turnpike! Have you ever?
Yes, getting tailgated by a tractor trailer.
I've seen 'em on the 401 through Toronto. If they can handle that, they can go pretty much anywhere.
They are great for in the city, but only if you are single and shop for one person alone, otherwise you'd need a second car, If I was single, stayed in a city and wanted easy to park + wanted to save the earth I'd opt for the New Ford Fiesta with the diesel engine, they can return over 75 mpg and look so much better than the smart.
TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
I've driven through the great city of Toronto many times. I must disagree with you however. IMO, the Jersey Turnpike is really on a different level.
Well, look at what people have been saying in this thread so far:
a) It's good for parking.
b) It doesn't really have good gas mileage for its size and price.
c) It's very small so you can't put too much in it (groceries etc).
d) I wouldn't drive it on an interstate/outside of a city.
What do you get? A car for relatively rich or at least upper middle class people living in cities who do a good part of their driving in said cities which actually fits quite nicely as a second car.
I think that this car fits its target market quite well. The only question remaining is whether there's enough of a market to turn a profit and that's a completely different question.
Some of you are basically saying "this isn't the type of car I need or want."
That is perfectly fine.
Personally, I live in a city where a bridge is the highest elevation you're going to get in a hundred kilometers and it snows on average five days a year. For example, why would I need a 4x4 SUV?
I don't say that an SUV is a car no one would ever need because I do not, so I do wonder why some of you can't seem to accept that there may be people for whom a Smart car makes sense.
If there aren't enough of those people, Daimler will stop making them. Free markets and all that. Simple, no?
In late May, I saw a Smart Car get hit in a minor accident, under 25 mph at an intersection, and the fucking thing bounced around like MILF titties at a Jimmy Buffett concert.
It got hit in the ass, bounced off, went into oncoming traffic, got hit again, bounced back, and keeled over on its side.
The driver climbed out, holding his arm. The funniest thing was, as traffic drove past, you could see the same reaction on the faces of most: lots of heads shaking, laughter, pointing, jerk-off motions, etc.
Joe, Oldsmobile Aleroed
It got hit in the ass, bounced off, went into oncoming traffic, got hit again, bounced back, and keeled over on its side.
The driver climbed out, holding his arm. The funniest thing was, as traffic drove past, you could see the same reaction on the faces of most: lots of heads shaking, laughter, pointing, jerk-off motions, etc.
Joe, Oldsmobile Aleroed
Btw. as far as I know, the Smart is quite safe. Size isn't everything in crash safety - not a very accurate comparison, but Formula1 cars are extremely safe too although they have practically no crush zone at all.
I strongly question the veracity of the story anyway, the way he tells it one might think Smart Cars are made of rubber and just bounce round like a ball. You hit a smart car at 20mph it's just like hitting any other car, it would trash anything that hit it just the same as any other car crash.
I highly doubt if this thing got hit by from behind hard enough to knock it into oncoming traffic and then hit again by an oncoming car everybody was just standing around laughing having a jolly old time
TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
Oh. I don't deny it may make sense for some people. I just think it's hideous and people look silly driving them.
Oh, believe you me. If my wife and i didn't have to kids we'd have one. we both live less then 5 miles from work. Hell i'd take a full EV if i thought i'd have a place to plug in at work.
I strongly question the veracity of the story anyway, the way he tells it one might think Smart Cars are made of rubber and just bounce round like a ball. You hit a smart car at 20mph it's just like hitting any other car, it would trash anything that hit it just the same as any other car crash.
I highly doubt if this thing got hit by from behind hard enough to knock it into oncoming traffic and then hit again by an oncoming car everybody was just standing around laughing having a jolly old time
Is it really astonishing and impossible that a car of that size would react differently during an accident? Wow.
West 96th Street in Indianapolis, near Ruth's Chris. Late May, around race time.
The car got hit in the ass. The impact, which would have moved a mid-sized car 15-20 feet, moved the Smart Car much more because it doesn't have the mass of a mid-sized car. Common sense. (If he had been driving a semi, he would have moved less, see.)
The Shriner-imitator had his wheel turned left as he waited to turn left, which smart people don't do. When he got hit in the ass, the force propelled his clown-car forward into the traffic he had been waiting on to pass.
The force of that impact knocked him back the other direction, and because of the angle, his widdle go-cart tipped over.
And the only people laughing were driving by, laughing at the douchebag. The only ones "standing around" were the Earth-Saver with the sore arm and the filthy teenager who hit him.
Joe, witness
Yeah, traffic accidents are hilarious. Haha, that douchbag's car got hit in he back so hard he was forced into the incoming traffic. Without any fault of his own - hahaha. What a douchebag.
oddly, i wonder who would be at fault? the guy who caused the whole thing?
Really? I'd like to see how you get a 5m vehicle into a 4m parking place.
There's someone in my neighbourhood who owns a Suburban - that stupid car can't even get into diagonal parking places around here without standing half a metre into the sidewalk because it's just too long, and good luck finding a parallel parking spot that's big enough...
Thats interesting. Parking spaces in the states have never offered me an issue. Then again, I do not drive a large SUV I have a 4Runner. It's very easy to manuver.
Not true. I frequently parallel park my 4Runner on city streets. I have no trouble with it. I know how to drive, unlike some. But as I said, it's NOT a full size SUV.
Or, the standard American parking space is considerably larger than elsewhere, and the streets are much wider.
Well, thanks for clarifying Joe.
I must say, I don't really understand all this hostility towards people just because they find a small car suits their needs. It's all quite petty really.
