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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#79 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [dmathews3] by tonyride Feb 29, 2008 (8:29 am)
Replying to: dmathews3 (Feb 29, 2008 8:15 am) I know what you're saying but this is not a case where you can use regular. Some manufactures say premium is recommended and others say it is required. For the ForTwo premium is required. By the way, for GM cars that recommends premium, by using regular you lose more than just HP, you also lose some of the rated fuel economy.
#80 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [tonyride] by snakeweasel Feb 29, 2008 (3:40 pm)
Replying to: tonyride (Feb 29, 2008 6:40 am) Premium is only 6% more than regular (and that percentage will only go down as gas prices go up) and the Smart gets 20% better mileage. Sounds like a good trade off. Replies to this message: tonyride (Feb 29, 2008 5:07 pm) snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 5:36 pm) tonyride (Feb 29, 2008 6:27 pm) and 1 more... magbarn (Mar 01, 2008 7:33 am) and 3 more...
#81 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [snakeweasel] by tonyride Feb 29, 2008 (5:07 pm)
Replying to: snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 3:40 pm) That's not the point I was tring to make. Some may think that's a fair trade off but others may not but the fact that a budget minded buyer should need to know that they will need to buy premium gas. Some may not mind that it only accomodates 2 with minimal storage compared to Fit which has 4 doors and can sit 4 comfortably but will squeeze in 5 and has a trunk. A Yaris seats at least 4 with 2 or 4 doors with more storage. The trade off is too much in my opinion. Also, I don't know where you live but premium here in central NJ is 10% more than regular. Replies to this message: snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 5:36 pm) tonyride (Feb 29, 2008 6:27 pm) snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 6:49 pm) magbarn (Mar 01, 2008 7:33 am) snakeweasel (Mar 01, 2008 8:16 am) and 2 more...
#82 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [tonyride] by snakeweasel Feb 29, 2008 (5:36 pm)
Replying to: tonyride (Feb 29, 2008 5:07 pm) Ok the trade off for you may not be worth it, but lets face the facts there are a lot of cars out there that only see one person and little or no cargo. On your next commute to work take a notice of how many cars are single occupancy. A great many of those cars will never have more than two people in it (if that many). So with that in mind the trade off is for those people to spend more money for a back seat and two extra doors that will never be used. I for one cannot foresee any time when I would need a back seat in my daily commuting car. While I will admit that not everyone is like me but I will bet that there is a sizable number of cars that will never see a back seat passenger. As for where I live its in the Chicago area and typically its 10 cents between grades which puts premium just over 6% more than regular. Replies to this message: tonyride (Feb 29, 2008 6:27 pm) snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 6:49 pm) magbarn (Mar 01, 2008 7:33 am) snakeweasel (Mar 01, 2008 8:16 am) magbarn (Mar 03, 2008 9:10 am) and 1 more...
#83 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [snakeweasel] by tonyride Feb 29, 2008 (6:27 pm)
Replying to: snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 5:36 pm) Granted, but my point is not about trade off. I don't know if you read the review I was originally referring to but they point out the pluses and minuses of the ForTwo and I just thought it was interesting that they chose not to mention the premium fuel requirement. As for needing a back seat, well I guess your situation is different but although I do drive to work by myself, I do have family, friends, and 2 dogs that will occupy my rear seats on occasion. Buying and insuring another car just for my commute to work is just out of the question. Replies to this message: snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 6:49 pm)
#84 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [tonyride] by snakeweasel Feb 29, 2008 (6:49 pm)
Replying to: tonyride (Feb 29, 2008 6:27 pm) As for needing a back seat, well I guess your situation is different but although I do drive to work by myself, I do have family, friends, and 2 dogs that will occupy my rear seats on occasion. So do I and here is the thing, I never said it was a good car for an only car but the perfect second commuter car. In my personal life I would have many occasions to use a back seat and need more cargo room but me and "she who must be obeyed" both don't need a bigger car. One of us can have a Smart and the other a larger sedan. There are many two car families out there where the second car could easily be filled by the Smart. When you go out on the weekends or evenings with family and friends take the other larger car. If you are single and only have one car the Smart is not the way to go, if you are married with two cars and one is primarily used for commuting then the Smart is that perfect commuting car.
#85 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [snakeweasel] by magbarn Mar 01, 2008 (7:33 am)
Replying to: snakeweasel (Feb 29, 2008 5:36 pm) The problem with this car is you HAVE to spend more money to lose the back seat lol. A 2008 yaris sedan can be easily be bargained/bought for $12000 before TTL with a proper manual tranny. My roomate's yaris also gets 38-40MPG on REGULAR. This car is definately more a fashion statement unless it was priced around $9000, then we're talking. Replies to this message: snakeweasel (Mar 01, 2008 8:16 am) magbarn (Mar 03, 2008 9:10 am) snakeweasel (Mar 03, 2008 3:41 pm)
#86 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [magbarn] by snakeweasel Mar 01, 2008 (8:16 am)
Replying to: magbarn (Mar 01, 2008 7:33 am) The problem with this car is you HAVE to spend more money to lose the back seat lol. No you actually spend less. A 2008 yaris sedan can be easily be bargained/bought for $12000 before TTL with a proper manual tranny. Compare apples to apples please since the Smart is an automatic and it is almost impossible to get a manual Yaris price the Yaris with an automatic. Plus the Smart has traction and stability control, I am not sure you can get that on the base Yaris. My roomate's yaris also gets 38-40MPG on REGULAR. The Yaris is rated at 36 Highway and at 3.15 per gallon that comes to 8.75 cents per mile to drive, The Smart is rated at 41 so at 3.35 per gallon that comes to 8.17 cents per mile. Thats 0.48 cents a mile more to drive the Yaris, while it may not sound like much it does add up. Driving in the city the difference is even greater. Replies to this message: magbarn (Mar 03, 2008 9:10 am) snakeweasel (Mar 03, 2008 3:41 pm)
#87 of 110 Told you so! by 6sptl Mar 01, 2008 (9:16 am)
The smart is a poor excuse for a car. It is unbelievably cute. But its cuteness cannot coverup the fact that it drives badly and gives terrible milage for what is essentially an overgrown go kart. Furthermore, the fools that do buy one will soon discover, its reliabilty is a nightmare. A Honda fit is infinitely more spacious (it fits 4 plus cargo) spends less fuel and drives like a proper car, to make matters even more ridiculous it costs the same.The Smart is an oxymoron! The smart is simpy the modern version of the YUGO but this time it has a very pretty face!
#88 of 110 Re: No mention of requiring Premium fuel [snakeweasel] by magbarn Mar 03, 2008 (9:10 am)
Replying to: snakeweasel (Mar 01, 2008 8:16 am) Have you actually called around for a manual yaris sedan? It's quite easy to find one if you'e willing to drive the 50 or so miles for a dealer here in southern california. My roomate found one after calling about dealers and got one that was about 25 miles away from the house. He was also able to chop off about $1200 off the price. OTD (with california's craxy expensive tax and DMV fees) was $13400. If you price the pure version of the smart with the following options that my roomate's 2008 yaris had: 1. A/C 2. MP3 Radio with MP3 jack.(I put the cheaper radio as the higher end one has 6 disc) 3. Electric Power steering 4. Metallic paint (I'm going to let this one slide as toyota doesn't charge for his silver paint lol) = $12990 BEFORE TTL ~$14400 OTD estimated. This $1000 difference (smart dealers aren't haggling) is about 208,000 miles before your "smart" car starts making economic sense at .48 cents cheaper per mile. I'm still not counting reliability and maintenance as the yaris is one of the most reliable cars in consumer reports (unlike its big brother camry which has taken a recent nosedive) So the extra $1000 gets you the "smiles" lol The only decent smart car is the turbodiesel edition which our stupid state frowns upon while allowing craploads of diesel 18-wheelers polluting the atmosphere MUCH worse than any euro spec diesel passenger car. Replies to this message: snakeweasel (Mar 03, 2008 3:41 pm)