Article Comments 2008 Smart Fortwo First Drive

110 messages, Last post on Aug 07, 2008 at 8:31 AM

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Article comments for First Drive: 2008 Smart Fortwo - The 2008 Fortwo is larger than its predecessor, but it's still outrageously small, some 40 inches shorter than a Mini. In real life, it looks like an artist's impression of what a car might look like if we all drank skinny lattes. (more)

Full Test: 2008 Smart Fortwo Passion - Bottom Line: Hugely versatile as a city-only car, but perhaps not the best choice for those who go farther or need to carry more. (more)

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#43 of 110 Dumb Smart [snakeweasel] by joe131 Mar 02, 2007 (6:54 am)
Replying to: snakeweasel (Mar 02, 2007 5:15 am) While the Smart may be sufficient (or more) for the average commuter, so is almost every other car in the world. What a wonderful claim to make: sufficient for the average commuter. Hahaha! So what? They are just not going to sell well because the average commuter is not going to want to buy one. That's why Smart is dumb. Wait and see. Replies to this message: snakeweasel (Mar 02, 2007 3:43 pm) joe131 (Mar 02, 2007 4:47 pm) snakeweasel (Mar 02, 2007 5:07 pm)
#44 of 110 Re: Dumb Smart [joe131] by snakeweasel Mar 02, 2007 (3:43 pm)
Replying to: joe131 (Mar 02, 2007 6:54 am) While the Smart may be sufficient (or more) for the average commuter, so is almost every other car in the world. What a wonderful claim to make: sufficient for the average commuter. But it comes down to economy, sure you could buy more car but you will be paying more for capacity you don't need? Especially in a depreciating asset. The Smart will do what any other car will do for the majority of people on their daily commutes. And it will do it for less money. So what is the issue there? Do you really think that people should pay more money for a back seat that they will never use? If you do please contact me as I have a wonderful deal for you. But please since checks can cause problems with deals like this cash only. That's why Smart is dumb. Have you seen a Smart? Have you driven a Smart? If not then you have no ideal what you are talking about. Everyone I have talked to that has driven one likes it. The Smart is the perfect second commuter car. Replies to this message: joe131 (Mar 02, 2007 4:47 pm) snakeweasel (Mar 02, 2007 5:07 pm)
#45 of 110 Dumb Smart [snakeweasel] by joe131 Mar 02, 2007 (4:47 pm)
Replying to: snakeweasel (Mar 02, 2007 3:43 pm) You make a lot of good points, as usual. I just guess differently. I place a lot of importance on having the option of carrying 4 adults at a time and a lot of luggage in a car that does not cost more than a Smart, and which gets as good or nearly as good fuel economy. I'll also guess that service and parts and depreciation will favor Yaris, Accent, Aveo, Fit and the like. And the Smart is just too dang slow if it hits 60 in 13 or more seconds. Maybe that fits in well with European traffic, but it won't in the U.S. Only seen pics of the Smart here, but my daughter saw one in a parking lot the other day. If I drove one I'm pretty sure I'd be amused by it and be smiling as I drove...but not enough to buy it. As a novelty item I like it. Yes, I agree it is the perfect commuter car if that person does almost nothing but drive alone or with one other person, but only if he does not care much about those things I like in a commuter/second car. Bottom line, I think there are enough people to support multiple examples of the cars I like in the market, but not enough who will like Smart to support even one car like it in the U.S. market. Wait and see. Replies to this message: snakeweasel (Mar 02, 2007 5:07 pm)
#46 of 110 Re: Dumb Smart [joe131] by snakeweasel Mar 02, 2007 (5:07 pm)
Replying to: joe131 (Mar 02, 2007 4:47 pm) I just guess differently. I place a lot of importance on having the option of carrying 4 adults at a time and a lot of luggage in a car that does not cost more than a Smart, There are very few cars that will cost as less as the smart (based on what I have read) and of those cars I do not want to be the adult passenger in the back seat. But my whole point is that it would make the perfect "second" car, in that case the 4 adults could fit in the larger mid or large sedan. As I primary car the Smart would not be the best option for most. Here is how I am looking at it, wife gets a mid sized sedan husband gets a Smart. Both drive their cars to and from work. If short trip for errands are needed either car can be used. If 4 adults want to go out for dinner or you take that long driving vacation take the mid sized sedan. Yes, I agree it is the perfect commuter car if that person does almost nothing but drive alone or with one other person, I am not sure where you are at but most cars I see on my daily commute only have one person in it.
#47 of 110 Re: Really? [plekto] by snakeweasel Mar 02, 2007 (5:10 pm)
Replying to: plekto (Feb 28, 2007 11:09 pm) Thinking about what you said. Do you think that Smarts might someday start replacing these?
#48 of 110 Exactly! by plekto Mar 02, 2007 (7:23 pm)
Yes, they are even more iconic looking(huge "double-take" factor), and the passenger seat, if it's removed or folded forward like the Xb(can't imagine it won't) will make a good area to keep a laptop and such. * I place a lot of importance on having the option of carrying 4 adults at a time and a lot of luggage in a car that does not cost more than a Smart, and which gets as good or nearly as good fuel economy. I'll also guess that service and parts and depreciation will favor Yaris, Accent, Aveo, Fit and the like. And the Smart is just too dang slow if it hits 60 in 13 or more seconds. Maybe that fits in well with European traffic, but it won't in the U.S. * I'll tell you that a Yaris' backseat is a total desperation move for most adults. I hit my head, no I had to duck my head and keep it hunched over and I'm 5'7". And the Aveo and Yaris are actually LESS safe in a crash. I'd give the Fit a tiny edge in an accident, and it's a superb car, but it's also 4 thousand more - without stability control, either. No leather, no upscale CD/Audio, and no convertible option. Shoot the seat doesn't even have a height adjustment in the U.S. version of the Fit, and the visors are still in Japanese trim(driver gets the only mirror - passenger has none?) Btw, Consumer Reports tested the Fit with the automatic(they don't do stick ever, unless an automatic isn't available) and it was well over 10 seconds 0-60. Something like 12. The new Smart is eating about 5-10mpg (still silly high, just not 60mpg highway) to get a bigger engine. Consider an old Civic CRX or an old second generation Toyota Tercel. 80-90hp, and about 2000lbs. And a whole generation of peolpe drove and loved their little cars. This will be just fine. Won't win any drag-strip shootouts, but neither did the Merto, CRX, Tercel, or simmilar. Replies to this message: snakeweasel (Mar 02, 2007 8:29 pm)
#49 of 110 Re: Exactly! [plekto] by snakeweasel Mar 02, 2007 (8:29 pm)
Replying to: plekto (Mar 02, 2007 7:23 pm) The front seat of the Smart is supposed to fold down. Won't win any drag-strip shootouts, but neither did the Merto, CRX, Tercel, or simmilar. Funny thing is there were many riced out CRX's around here that thought they could out run just about anything.
#50 of 110 Whoa guys by pat HOST Mar 03, 2007 (10:14 am)
This is getting way too personal as well as being off-topic. The subject of this discussion is the article on the First Drive as indicated by the subject and the header at the top of the page. What do you think about the article itself? We'd really like some feedback. Now we have a dedicated discussion - let's go to smart fortwo for further conversation about the vehicle itself... but please leave the personal confrontations behind.
#52 of 110 Pictures! by plekto Mar 14, 2007 (11:18 am)
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=15&article_id=4521 Of note is the shot of the boot/trunk. They widened the car so that you sit side by side. Then they lengthened the rear by 6-8 inches. That makes the rear suddenly as large as a typical hatchback's(area behind the rear seats). That's huge compared to the original models. At least 18 inches deep and 30-36 inches wide by the looks of it(and as tall as the roof, plus a wide opening hatch).