New Mid-engined RWD American Car Revealed

[Slicks]

You Yanks gave the world the Hummer, consider this a partial payback.

The H1 was good for what it was made for.

[mehrshadvr4]

Yeah, I just made it up
It was an an autoextra or autotrader, I remember specifically because I thought that price was so outrageous.
And according to this site:" http://www.asmartcar.com/specifics.html " the base price for the fortwo is $30,000, so with options and dealer markups you think it maybe, just maybe get to $40,000, like what I saw? Yeah, I think so...

lol who ever buy that car for that much price is an ediot.

[___]

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...mart+car+crash

Safer than some of u think but keep in mind that u would still have die becaues of the G forces not form the car crushing u...
its topics like this that we get to see how insecure and ignorant some ppl can be.(manliy sepo's )

[mehrshadvr4]

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...mart+car+crash

Safer than some of u think but keep in mind that u would still have die becaues of the G forces not form the car crushing u...
its topics like this that we get to see how insecure and ignorant some ppl can be.(manliy sepo's )

yea i know they are safe.i saw couple video of that car,but all people won't see those videos.

[blackcat77]

I'd love to have one *as a second car.* It wouldn't be practical for long trips, but for just tooling around town at 30 mph, what's the point of driving some huge gas-guzzler.

[drakkie]

Just some proof that the Mercedes engineers did an incredible job The links are both to the website of the euro-ncap testing centre. it is a centre created and supported by all major motoring organizations in Europe. Testing methods for each car are exactly the same. The Jeep just benefits it is slightly older and new stuff have been invnted.

MCC Smart:
http://www.euroncap.com/content/safe...p?id1=1&id2=29

Jeep Grand cherokee:
http://www.euroncap.com/images/resul...asheet%202.pdf

As you can see the both cars are only 4 points from eachother. This means the Jeep just fits into the 4 star rating(25+ points) and the Smart is a reasonably well car in the 3star rating... But remember the cars are 6 (!!) years apart. Many new things were discovered and applied.

Now you people go and see for yourself.

And if anyone could care,the high price is because of the safety cell. It is made from special kinds of steel,they are stronger but more expensive. The Smart has in the meanwhile gotten a familiar sight around here,although there was a lot of criticism in the beginning.
That has gone away and now the Smart is seen as a funky city car,which it is !!! IIRC i even read something about a second generation not too long ago This clearly proves the idea was viable and DaimlerChrysler wouldnt have started that,if it was no good.

Just my 50 eurocents

[lightweight]

They are perfectly useful both inside and outside of the city.

It is perfectly usable inside the city.

Outside the city it is just usable. The top speed of the 45 hp version is less than 150 km/h, so the car will be abused if used on the highway. The noise levels are really high and the car is not really stable due to the high center of gravity and short wheelbase. That isn't to say that it is unsafe, though!

[clutch-monkey]

Since power isn't the selling feature, adding more isn't likely to make a big difference in sales. It's like trying to sell a GT3 RS by adding a bunch of cupholders.

i agree with you on that point - power is not that useful in this car, it would only unsettle it and highlight any dynamic problems imo (besides in traffic/city driving you don't really need any power)

edit: on the cupholders thing, it took me 18 minutes to find the cupholders in a standard GT3, i shit you not.

[Egg Nog]

It is perfectly usable inside the city.

Outside the city it is just usable. The top speed of the 45 hp version is less than 150 km/h, so the car will be abused if used on the highway. The noise levels are really high and the car is not really stable due to the high center of gravity and short wheelbase. That isn't to say that it is unsafe, though!

It's fine on the highway. Your standards are way too high. Do you seriously think anyone in the market for a Smart would opt not to buy it because it could only go 135km/h? (Which is electronically limited)

135km/h is plenty fast enough for the highway. Again, if someone wanted a fast car, they wouldn't want a Smart to begin with.

[lightweight]

135km/h is plenty fast enough for the highway. Again, if someone wanted a fast car, they wouldn't want a Smart to begin with.

I think that the problem is the way that the performance (or lack of it) is delivered: The car takes ages to accelerate to a decent speed. It becomes irritating, because you have to push the engine to its max, which increases NVH, consumption etc.

So, the car obviously can cruise down the highway, but with limited comfort for the occupants. Because few people will own only a smart, I think that the solution is to get your other car for the highway trip

[whiteballz]

I think that the solution is to get your other car for the highway trip

even if you had to push the engine to its limits it would still be more economical to the point than almost anything general american users would choose to drive.consumer whore

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Yeah, I just made it up
It was an an autoextra or autotrader, I remember specifically because I thought that price was so outrageous.
And according to this site:" http://www.asmartcar.com/specifics.html " the base price for the fortwo is $30,000, so with options and dealer markups you think it maybe, just maybe get to $40,000, like what I saw? Yeah, I think so...

you mean the wholesaler of the older model - something which wasn't available through a dealer network - and thus was an import - charges more to ship the car?

Never.......let's see how much Mercedes Charge for the beasty.

I foresee it going the way of the segway, though, in the us.

[Coventrysucks]

Outside the city it is just usable.

Maybe you'd have a point if all that existed outside of cities were "highways".

There are however, towns and villages, and a huge expanse of minor road networks, on which the speed limit is reduced considerably, either by law or by the layout of the road itself.

Conditions which the Smart will cope with.

In fact the Smart makes just as much sense in more rural settings as it does in an urban centre.

[nota]

I think that the problem is the way that the performance (or lack of it) is delivered: The car takes ages to accelerate to a decent speed. It becomes irritating, because you have to push the engine to its max, which increases NVH, consumption etc.

So, the car obviously can cruise down the highway, but with limited comfort for the occupants. Because few people will own only a smart, I think that the solution is to get your other car for the highway trip

Those complaints could equally apply to heaps of other brand-new vehicles that congest the roadways; jouncy jap pickups, small slushboxes driven by senile senior sitizens, lugubrious Landcruisers with large yet lethargic 4.2 litre diesels .. the list goes on

Every car is a functional compromise, after all. I like those little Smart cars. For its intended application as a city/urban personal runabout they seems to offer considerable benefits (terrific convenience, unique style, decent safety, impressive economy, lotza fun) while imposing a lot less compromises than many far more average cars imho

Besides, as they say .. it's a lot more fun to drive a slow car quickly, than a fast car slowly

[Egg Nog]

I think that the problem is the way that the performance (or lack of it) is delivered: The car takes ages to accelerate to a decent speed. It becomes irritating, because you have to push the engine to its max, which increases NVH, consumption etc.

So, the car obviously can cruise down the highway, but with limited comfort for the occupants. Because few people will own only a smart, I think that the solution is to get your other car for the highway trip

You really don't get it. First of all, the Smart is not at its max on the highway. It's not even at its max going top speed, because it's been electronically limited to (I believe) 135km/h. [Edit: Looks like the new Smart is limited to 145km/h] They did that so it won't be working too hard at full speed, and so that it would still get good fuel economy. It doesn't really take that long to accelerate to highway speeds. The guy I know who owns one said its plenty fast enough to keep up on the highway, merging, passing etc. (Remember he's got a radar detector in his Smart. That says a lot.)

Again, what's with your standards? You're saying it'll have "limited comfort" on the highway - well look, if they wanted luxury, they wouldn't have bought a Smart. People buy them because they get great milage in the city and on the highway. They do that pretty damn well.