My new Smart car is on its way!

[simonm]

I have never driven the Smart forTwo but I have driven the forFour in a couple of versions. I found the manual pretty decent but hated the semi-automatic (two pedals but with an electric clutch if I understand correctly) - particularly aweful in snow.

However, the smart and the yaris or similar cars are the answer to the US fuel issues. By that I mean, a) they use less and b) if the drivers began to demand that parking (very expensive in Chicago) was charged by square foot instead of per vehicle there would be a huge incentive to downside vehicles. In Europe our $7 a gallon fuel helps ensure more efficient vehicles but as that is tax based it is a non-runner for the US. However, charging for parking per square foot is pure free-market and therefore an ideal solution for US urban areas. All other space is charged per square foot, why not parking?

If you ever see a new Smart forTwo (the current model is bigger than the original) beside an original VW golf (Rabbit) you might be surprised that the Smart is actually nor all that smaller - its higher and about as wide. Anyone remember the original mini? or maybe even the Austin A7? (showing my age here) or and original jeep compared to what is called a jeep today.

[blusubaru]

So which will you keep?

[RAMd®d]

Most people here would be afraid to drive them in traffic against soccer parents talking on the phone behind the wheel of a 7,000 pound Hummer.

Not to mention kids driving riced-out Civics or DUBbed-Buicks at high speed on surface streets or higher high (hmm- "higher high") speeds on freeways, with or without cellphones in progress. Or guys in huge pickup trucks following waaaay to close at speed.

Or old people in Towncars.

The stereotypes go on and on.

[Mr. Ed]

[quote ztirffritz][quote Dakota]A lot of small cars these days can match its mpg and certainly surpass it in features.
True. Which are there:
Yaris
Fit
.
.
.
?
I get better gas mileage with my '04 Corolla (stick shift).

[SDGuy]

I'm waiting for this to hit the market:


http://www.flytheroad.com/

[geon]

The best verison is still not offered here: it's a diesel.

[JPK]

[quote blusubaru]So which will you keep?
That is a good question, I have a couple of cars in the stable and the wife says one has to go. I am pretty good at buying cars but not so good at selling them. The 07 Avy is a work car - so it stays.

I still have my first new car ever purchased. It is an 84 Mustang GT Convertible. It stickered at $16,105.00 I bought it new in high school! I am currently keeping it at my folks house out in Palm Desert, CA. This looks like the possible casualty in acquisition of the new smart. I have a 95 Impala SS that is set up for autocrossing, yes autocrossing. It is a real head turner at SCCA events. While not as capable as the Miatas, Golfs, and Mustangs it holds its own surprisingly well. I have a lot of history with this car, so I may ship it out to CA to rest in a nice dry & warm climate.

Yes, there are other cars that are bigger, smaller, faster, and more MPG. I like cars with a little personality to them and the Smart appears to fit the bill pretty well.

I may also drive it for a month and then sell it. It looks like supply and demand may not be matching up too well, and with my early reservation this could be one of the very first in the area.

JPK

[simonm]

At least in Germany you see a lot of Smarts parked in frontways to the kerb between two parallel parked vehicles or in places you couldn't even park a large bike. Yes there are vehicles that beat them on fuel (although the latest diesel version apparently gets close to 70mp(US)g -- about 3.5l /100km) but there isn't much that beats them on fuel, parking and style.

[ztirffritz]

I seriously doubt that you get better than 50 MPG from a Corolla unless you travel perpetually downhill with a tailwind. The Smart cars get between 50-60 mpg with gas engines. 80-85 with diesel engines

[quote Mr. Ed][quote ztirffritz][quote Dakota]A lot of small cars these days can match its mpg and certainly surpass it in features.
True. Which are there:
Yaris
Fit
.
.
.
?
I get better gas mileage with my '04 Corolla (stick shift).

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Not to mention kids driving riced-out Civics or DUBbed-Buicks at high speed on surface streets or higher high (hmm- "higher high") speeds on freeways, with or without cellphones in progress. Or guys in huge pickup trucks following waaaay to close at speed.

Or old people in Towncars.

The stereotypes go on and on.

I consider it only a tiny exaggeration because some neighbors just sold their Hummer. I only saw the wife use it to drive their 9 year old daughter to school. I do not see the rest of it as a stereotype when it is true so often. I nearly got run over twice while walking home in the last two months by a parent using a phone and kids in the car. The last week of December I pulled up behind a SUV driving about 2 mph. I pulled around and could not get the drivers attention by waving alone.