Full Version: I didn't know Smart car were legal in the US
In the last week I have seen the same guy driving a smart car in the highway. So I guess they are road lagel here now. I personaly wouldn't drive one because I am sure I would flip it over but the gas mileage must be great.
They've been denying the US would get it. Maybe it has one of those manufacturers temp registration while they test it here.
ive seen one of these zipping around town for quite a while now...
there's a place here in reno that converts them over to make em US legal- so i've seen a few in reno. it makes it a lot pricier and the gas mileage goes way down (to OOOOH 50 mpg from 85 over in europe).
I found they have a US site and are setting up a dealer network right now. I wouldn't mind using there little roadster for a daily driver.
Did anyone catch the video on Autoblog, crash tesing the Smart? I was amazed.
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/10/the-5th...rt-crash-video/
For those of you who missed it.
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/10/the-5th...rt-crash-video/
For those of you who missed it.
Sweet!! 
I think all those who oppose these things should be lined up and
demised! One pet pricker I have is the laws on cars. They suck and they need to change. I'm not talking ecologically here just vehicularly in general. People ride bikes and others drive SUVs. What happens between the two is pure physics and the fight of the fitest! All boils down to how nature weeds out the week 
I think all those who oppose these things should be lined up and
demised! One pet pricker I have is the laws on cars. They suck and they need to change. I'm not talking ecologically here just vehicularly in general. People ride bikes and others drive SUVs. What happens between the two is pure physics and the fight of the fitest! All boils down to how nature weeds out the week
yeah smart car are not safe enough, yet motorcylces, and bicycle are ok???? no logic int he law, except i bet it would be differtent if a US company was making them (and paying off, opps I mean donating to teh politicians).
I undertstand some of the super econo europe/asian car also do not meet smog standards, at least in strict sates like CA.
so a fuel misser eurpoean deisel at 50 mpg+ is too smogy, cause it puts out a tad too much NOX, yet they allow huge assed 10 mpg SUV's that can meet NOX standard, yet dump out 5 times the CO2 (which is now the big bugabo if you buy into CO2 = global warming). again, warped thinking for the leaders.
any idea how little gas would cost if half the folks got 50 mpg?? demand would drop,a dn price would follow, arabs and hugo would not be making a huge profit on us. air would be cleaner, fewer oil tankers = fewer spills, etc....
yet the leaders wont let teh 50 mpg car in. follow the money and they want us to go thru expensive, wasteful smog checks that defy logic.
I undertstand some of the super econo europe/asian car also do not meet smog standards, at least in strict sates like CA.
so a fuel misser eurpoean deisel at 50 mpg+ is too smogy, cause it puts out a tad too much NOX, yet they allow huge assed 10 mpg SUV's that can meet NOX standard, yet dump out 5 times the CO2 (which is now the big bugabo if you buy into CO2 = global warming). again, warped thinking for the leaders.
any idea how little gas would cost if half the folks got 50 mpg?? demand would drop,a dn price would follow, arabs and hugo would not be making a huge profit on us. air would be cleaner, fewer oil tankers = fewer spills, etc....
yet the leaders wont let teh 50 mpg car in. follow the money and they want us to go thru expensive, wasteful smog checks that defy logic.
Its all about making people spend more for cheap electroputerised frills and junk.(ie new cars)
QUOTE(dlo914 @ Nov 13 2006, 12:56 PM) 
ive seen one of these zipping around town for quite a while now...
That's not a Smart Car. That's a Corbin Sparrow, or whatever it is the people who bought out the design call it now. It's an electric car; has something like 14 Optima yellow-tops in it.
A buddy of mine wants to sell his orange one--know anyone who wants to buy it? It only needs a "few" new batteries....
We call it "The Nose", because it looks kinda like a backward-pointing nose driving down the road.
--DD
Guy here at work said there is a dealer in Manhattan. I can't find the number though. I would be very interested in getting there Brabus coupe. Almost like a 914 with a removable targa top.
They probably don't sell that one and if they did it would be several more years.
They probably don't sell that one and if they did it would be several more years.
They stopped to manufacture the coupe last year. So sad, its really looking good.
Low HP but also low weight ...
Low HP but also low weight ...
I like the coupe better then the roadster. Top comes off of both and the coupe just has better lines.
Saw one here in Fredericksburg VA on Rt 95 ( a major commuter and 18 wheeler rd) 3 cyl aircooled motor w/ turbo. That thing didnt do to bad scooting up the road
It's official. Smart Cars will be sold in the US. United Auto Group will be the US distibutor. I heard they'll be for sale around '08 sometime. Roger Penske put the deal together with the Germans.
Sounds like another Midas-Touch move by Roger Penske. If anyone can make Smart Car succesfull in the US, it would be him.
Sounds like another Midas-Touch move by Roger Penske. If anyone can make Smart Car succesfull in the US, it would be him.
of course my friend calims mid 40 mpg in his susuki powered 3 cylinder Geo Metro. to bad they don't sell them here no more, they went to four cylinders before they stopped. Nothing magic about high mielage, the old 36 HP Bug/Ghia got low to mid 30 mpg even in city driving.
Freinds deisel light truck gets 50 mpg on highway trips, full load of camping gear., it is probably mid 1980's truck, nothing new there. Old college buddy got 30 mpg (around town) in his gas rabbit, four doors!
mileage has really gone down in many ways, wieghts have been upped, more required equipment, more optional junk in the cars, a bigger motors, all so you can poke along most days in creeping slow traffic. totally insane. And we are not allowed to buy the smaller cars anymore!!
corruption is when teh air resource director in Calif. mandates older cars go to "check only station" then he leaves, and buy's a check only chain of shops. that really stinks. The guys who bought tens of thousands of dollars of test equipement for regular test are now scrapping by to pay for teh equipment that is now not fully utilized, casue so many cars are mandated to test only stations.
what we need is a lightweight samll motor car, (sound like a 914?) maybe with a super efficient diesel power plant, may deisel / electric, cut teh weight down to half - three quarter ton. that would be great
Freinds deisel light truck gets 50 mpg on highway trips, full load of camping gear., it is probably mid 1980's truck, nothing new there. Old college buddy got 30 mpg (around town) in his gas rabbit, four doors!
mileage has really gone down in many ways, wieghts have been upped, more required equipment, more optional junk in the cars, a bigger motors, all so you can poke along most days in creeping slow traffic. totally insane. And we are not allowed to buy the smaller cars anymore!!
corruption is when teh air resource director in Calif. mandates older cars go to "check only station" then he leaves, and buy's a check only chain of shops. that really stinks. The guys who bought tens of thousands of dollars of test equipement for regular test are now scrapping by to pay for teh equipment that is now not fully utilized, casue so many cars are mandated to test only stations.
what we need is a lightweight samll motor car, (sound like a 914?) maybe with a super efficient diesel power plant, may deisel / electric, cut teh weight down to half - three quarter ton. that would be great
Yeah, my 4 cyl aveo engine doesn't get the fuel mileage you would expect. A smart car would be great, but need space for 3. The aveo wagon fit the bill and is actually very practical (and cheap so I can spend more on the Porsche). Either driving it like my mother-in-law or like I stole it, it gets a tad under 30 mpg. Very simple fuel injection - not like the japanese, that if you put better gas, it can up the timing, etc, to get you better fuel mileage. Hell, what do you expect for $10-12k :-)
My father-in-law is from Canada and has owned his Smart ForTwo for almost a year now. They just returned home from visiting us in Florida. I had several opportunities to drive it and it was quite an eye-turner. His is the two seater - 799 cc turbo-diesel with the 6 speed tiptronic style shifter. It's an automatic clutch where when you hit the shifter, it disengages the clutch and shifts - very quickly I might add. It downshifts automatically or you can do it manually. It'll even blip the motor as it downshifts automatically.
When you sit in the car, it feels quite large - until you turn around. It seems that every is tailgating you, because the back of the car is less than 2 feet from you. It'll park sideways in a normal parking space. Some cities are allowing them to park vertically in street spots.
As far as performance...a "normal" acceleration (not flooring it!), end up having you shift about three times in a residential block. He has a tach and anything above 3500 seems to be absolutely screaming....recommended cruising is 1800 rpm, shift at 3000. It seems like you are constantly shifting the thing during city driving. On the highway, it'll cruise really well around 65/70 mph. On his drive down, he cruised at 70-75 and got 68.4 mpg. At 55-60 mph, he is averaging almost 80 mpg.
The funniest part of driving it is the reaction of other people. Little kids playing in their yard ran to the end of the driveway and pointed and laughed. People driving everywhere giving thumbs up and taking pictures while driving. Every time you park it somewhere and come back out there are people around it - the grocery store, the mall, the movie theater. It really is a hoot driving it. A parking garage attendant laughed so hard, so couldn't give me the price of my parking...she just waved me out. There seems to be two camps of drivers - max mileage and max fun....it handles surprisingly well and has a relatively large amount of torque, so if you keep it between 2000 and 3500 rpm, it actually feels quite zippy.
anyway....it's fun to drive
When you sit in the car, it feels quite large - until you turn around. It seems that every is tailgating you, because the back of the car is less than 2 feet from you. It'll park sideways in a normal parking space. Some cities are allowing them to park vertically in street spots.
As far as performance...a "normal" acceleration (not flooring it!), end up having you shift about three times in a residential block. He has a tach and anything above 3500 seems to be absolutely screaming....recommended cruising is 1800 rpm, shift at 3000. It seems like you are constantly shifting the thing during city driving. On the highway, it'll cruise really well around 65/70 mph. On his drive down, he cruised at 70-75 and got 68.4 mpg. At 55-60 mph, he is averaging almost 80 mpg.
The funniest part of driving it is the reaction of other people. Little kids playing in their yard ran to the end of the driveway and pointed and laughed. People driving everywhere giving thumbs up and taking pictures while driving. Every time you park it somewhere and come back out there are people around it - the grocery store, the mall, the movie theater. It really is a hoot driving it. A parking garage attendant laughed so hard, so couldn't give me the price of my parking...she just waved me out. There seems to be two camps of drivers - max mileage and max fun....it handles surprisingly well and has a relatively large amount of torque, so if you keep it between 2000 and 3500 rpm, it actually feels quite zippy.
anyway....it's fun to drive
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