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Hatchbacks Smart Car Smart Fortwo
491 messages, Last post on Oct 07, 2009 at 6:46 AM
You are in the Smart Car Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
| Let's back off the personal stuff please | |
| I di a little figuring on the added cost of running premium in a car as opposed to regular. Its not as bad as I thought. In two cars getting the same mileage but one running on premium and one running on regular, the car requiring premium will cost about 7.5 per cent more for fuel. In the case of a car getting 33 mpg thats the equivalent of 2.3 miles per gallon. Or looking at in another way the car running on regular will cost $75 per thousand miles of driving, whereas the premium based car will cost $81. Thats $600 over 100k miles. (at $2.5 0per gallon for regular, $2.70 for premium) | |
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"Americans are buying more small cars to cut fuel costs, and that might kill them. As a group, occupants of small cars are more likely to die in crashes than those in bigger, heavier vehicles are, according to data from the government, the insurance industry and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)." http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-08-19-small-cars_N.htm
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But drivers of oversized cars are subsidising countries who sponsor terrorism and wasting our irreplacable natural resources. What price do you put on that? Besides wed be a lot safer if everyone drove a small car.
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Replying to: kneisl1 (Jun 25, 2009 3:44 am) 
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Replying to: priggly (Jun 24, 2009 10:29 pm) One wouldn't necessarily think of the smart as safer by most any measure than the Ford Ranger, but apparently it is. Thus general groups of vehicles show trends, but there is greater variety in safety when comparing individual models. Now, has anyone heard about a spate of deaths or dismemberments due to driving a smart? Some real world information would be helpful. Small cars will eventually be here in quantity. Oil will go back into triple digits sooner than we think (any up hiccup in the market appears to drive up price--as it is now a better investment than the dollar and stocks--and any economic upturn that is real will drive the price up further) and car makers have plans for many more small models. It is true by almost any measure that new small cars are safer than older large cars. But it takes a long time for the fleet to change over. Meanwhile, safety tech will continue to develop. I don't think anyone would have thought 20 years ago that it was possible to make a car as tiny as the smart as safe as it is. Most small cars do not have stability control, brake assist, six airbags, etc. whereas these things have become common on larger vehicles. All of those things will soon be standard equipment on all cars. It is strange how safety concerned some of us have become (myself included). I remember as a kid riding in the back of a 60s station wagon...no car seat, no seat!, no seat belt on, no shoulder harness, no airbags. Today my parents would be investigated by child protection services. And those things, big as they were, crumbled up and burst apart easily on impact. Somehow most of us survived. Part of that is due to the fact that on a driven miles basis, a truly horrific crash is extremely rare. A little off topic here, sorry. I was one of the first to order a smart. I cancelled the order and bought something else. Now, looking at what is coming for fuel prices, I have some regret. I drive 140 miles in the beginning of the week, stay a few days for work, and then return 140 miles a few days later (with city driving each day while I am there). I have been doing this for years, and I have hardly ever encountered any traffic problems, let alone seen any awful accidents (have seen a number of minor misshaps). Not that it couldn't happen. But I end up driving my oldest vehicle, a diesel, because I can always get smart level (42+ mpg) out of it. My newer car (average 28 mpg) sits much of the time. The smart would have gotten much more use. |
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Replying to: kneisl1 (Jun 25, 2009 3:44 am)
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| Let's not veer off into other stuff. Thanks | |
| Maybe not but gas sure gets EXPENSIVE! | |
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Replying to: priggly (Jun 25, 2009 9:03 pm) And what is a load of crap? That I rode in a station wagon without a car seat as a kid? As for natural resources, there is a finite supply regardless of how much remains. You and I may think we do not have to worry about it--unless we care about the generations coming after us who may not have the same opportunities to lift energy easily from the earth--but everything does eventually run out, including the sun. Planning ahead for tighter supplies is not insane. But more to the point, when people fear something is growing more scarce, no amount of reassurance is going to convince them otherwise. Finally, be nice. This isn't war here. |
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