Foreign Interests

[Vaigra]

that might hurt your ability to pick up a chick other than Quiggs's mother.

You're killing it.

[roosterjuicer]

that is the ridiculous argument always used for justifying the increase in car size (and weight). Your Silverrado can also meet a Peterbilt and then you will be the nail. So your next Silverrado will be the size of a Kenworth?

i wasn't using it to justify increasing car size and weight. i was simply saying that i would hate to get into a wreck in a little car like that and i never said i wanted to drive a kenworth.

i would hate to get into a wreck with a peterbuilt, but i can tell you right now that that id rather get ran into in a peterbuilt in my suburban or my old pickup than in a smart car.

[The_Canuck]

You're killing it.

Actually it's been dead and rotting for awhile

[Mr.Tiv]

Actually it's been dead and rotting for awhile

And people just keep beating it.

[Matra et Alpine]

i would hate to get in a wreck at speed in a smart also.

Usually coz you're thinking of the car you currently drive
It's differnet in a good car !!

when i wrecked my silverado i hit a toyota carolla that was completely stopped just over the bluff of a hill at 60mph.

So a Smart - beign lighter - coudl have stopped shorter and with decent handling and supension and ABS a definite opportunity to avoid the contact.
That's what makes lots of cars "better" in the real world and LOTS safer than making things bigger. There's always a Peterbilt out there somewhere so it makes no difference how strong you try to make a car

i learned then that it is always better to be the hammer than the nail, and if you are driving a smart car, you are always gonna be the nail

ONly if you chose to NOT avoid the incident by using the handling/performan ce/safety of the car itself.
And even if "hit" in "normal" traffic then to take yout hammer/nail analogy..... Take two equal weight hammers and swing them at each other and watch thte sparks and possible shards of steel ... now through a nail in the air and hit it as hard as you like with as big a hammer as you liek and tell me how much damage you expect the nail to end up with.
Yep, bein a light "movable" object adds to safety

[Fleet 500]

You'd never get round some of the corners without scraping the inside on the walls/trees and the fenders as well on the outside.

Fair chance of having an accident too as you're pretty much 1/3 way round every corner before you can SEE round it to see if it's safe

Well, my Lincoln is 76.7" wide. Many other cars (Lexus, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, etc) are 73-75" wide, so I guess those cars would have trouble on that road, too.

oh and unless MB/Smart are stupid and damage the performance then you need to educate yourself with a test drive.
You will be suprised at the performance.
It's NOT as "sluggish" as you're trying to make out and doesnt' need hard acceleration out of bends ( coz it keeps speed up through them ) .
What have you driven that's comparable ? I've driven "big ole V8s" over the decades. How are you placed to make the comparison.

I'll pass on taking a test drive. I mean, why bother? I have driven a few 4-cylinder cars... my sister-in-law's '84 Toyota Camry and the '97 Geo Priszm my dad owned briefly. It was great to get back to big ole V-8s!

Latest gen Smart FourFour Brabus is 0-60mph in 6.9s btw

Yes, but the comments were directed at the Smartfortwo.

Oh and the gearbox flappy paddles thing is poor if trying to drive it like a "real" gearbox. I was shown how to drive it and you can really push it on, you just have to "Plan" your gear changes a second or two ahead

I'll try to remind the guy I know with a modified (dynoed at 420 hp) '72 Duster 340 (a 12-second car) that his gearbox has flappy paddles! Oh, with a shift kit, you don't have to plan gear changes- it shifts instantly like it did on my '66 Dart GT.

[Fleet 500]

There's always a Peterbilt out there somewhere so it makes no difference how strong you try to make a car

But I'd rather be in a big car than a small car if a Peterbilt were going to run into it.

Yep, bein a light "movable" object adds to safety

Not when it's jammed up against a wall or another car or a telephone pole.

[Fleet 500]

wow, way ahead of its time.....

Lol. I did correct the error.

You, Sir, should please have a look at what a Smart can do. It will easily float with American traffic, which in my experience is one of the slowest in the world anyway. It is not that I would like to drive one, but your attitude towards the car is based on lack of knowledge and prejudice rather than experience.

If they take 17 seconds to get to 60 mph from a dead stop, they would not easily float in with traffic. And even though the posted speed limit is 65, most drivers go 70-75 mph, some 80 mph.

[Mr.Tiv]

And even though the posted speed limit is 65, most drivers go 70-75 mph, some 80 mph.

Some quite a bit faster than that... Still, I gather that Pieter has been to many countries, so I'll take his word that American traffic is relatively slow.

[Fleet 500]

To stop selective comparisons

But he selectively left out the faster ones.

Like you are doing by picking the "performance" versions

Those weren't performance versions. They were regular DeVilles with highway gears. They just happened to have more powerful engines than the later ones.

See ... picking the fast ones and choosing to put aside the slow ones ?
Fine, just do apples-apples

No different than putting in diesel times, which didn't prove anything anyway. Because I would consider the diesel Cadillacs (and Oldsmobiles) slow getting to highway speeds, too, along with the Smartfortwo.

[roosterjuicer]

Usually coz you're thinking of the car you currently drive
So a Smart - beign lighter - coudl have stopped shorter and with decent handling and supension and ABS a definite opportunity to avoid the contact.

i dunno if i coulda been towing my boat and 5 friends + all our gear up to the river in a Smart.

also, to jump into the whole "highway speeds" argument ya'll are having. im sure the smart can reach highway speeds and ill even asume it can get there in less than 13 seconds. but can a smart cruise comfortably for long periods of time at 70-75mph? or is it huffing and puffing and trying as hard as it can to maintain those kinds of speeds?

[Coventrysucks]

is it the fact that its from another country make you want it?

I wouldn't have thought so.

I don't think people appreciate Ferrari or Lamborghini simply because they are Italian, or Porsche because they are German, but because they are companies with a substantial reputation for producing good cars.

I think it is actually the other way round - if you drive through France there are an awful lot of Renaults, Peugeots and Citroens; Italy has lots of Fiats and Lancias; Jaguars sell well in the UK.

It is even evident in this thread - cars are being summarily dismissed as "ridiculous" because they are from the "wrong" side of the Atlantic.

Ultimately though, it does come down to quality and reputation, rather than any sort of nationalistic choice.

The German VW Golf is a perennial best-seller in Britain simply due to the fact that it is a good car, whilst cars such as Cadillacs and late '90s Fiats can't even be given away by frustrated dealers; not because British people hate Italians or Americans, but because no one wants to own a car where bits of plastic trim keep falling off, and miscellaneous bolts keep appearing in the boot.

[Fleet 500]

So a Smart - beign lighter - coudl have stopped shorter and with decent handling and supension and ABS a definite opportunity to avoid the contact.

What if an accident was due to ice on the road? Being lighter and having good handling and suspension and ABS wouldn't make a difference in that situation.
A lot also depends on how good the driver of the car is.

[twinspark]

also, to jump into the whole "highway speeds" argument ya'll are having. im sure the smart can reach highway speeds and ill even asume it can get there in less than 13 seconds. but can a smart cruise comfortably for long periods of time at 70-75mph? or is it huffing and puffing and trying as hard as it can to maintain those kinds of speeds?

Don't forget that Smart is a city car. It's not designed to be comfort when driven for hours on highway speeds. I don't think many Europeans think that "I'll be driving on highway most of the time, a Smart must be my first choice!".

[Matra et Alpine]

But I'd rather be in a big car than a small car if a Peterbilt were going to run into it.



Not when it's jammed up against a wall or another car or a telephone pole.

ah the Fleet gene is still in place for selective reading
Yeah fine.

What if an accident was due to ice on the road? Being lighter and having good handling and suspension and ABS wouldn't make a difference in that situation.

oh dear.
g'night.