Mini to the max: Will the Smart car grow on U.S. drivers? (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By A. Pawlowski
CNN

(CNN) -- There's a petite new contender ready to tackle America's problems of foreign oil dependency and urban congestion.

Meet the Smart car: An ultra-compact, Mercedes-designed, head-turning little vehicle that's been negotiating traffic and squeezing into impossibly tiny spaces in Europe for almost a decade.

Now, it's about to go on sale in the United States.

One reason the company waited so long to introduce it to Americans was that the U.S. wasn't ready for such a small car, said Jessica Gamarra, marketing specialist for Smart USA.

But choking traffic and rising gas prices have changed that, she said.


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more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/08/smart.car/index.html

[unpossibles]

1. I hope so

I love minicars. Unfortunately, a lot of folks won't go for them because they are "unsafe" - unsafe when plowed into by an SUV, that is.

[bullimiami]

2. there is a topless (convertible?) version that is cool as can be.

someone was driving around here last year. it was great.

[wtmusic]

3. A Prius gets nearly the same mileage

and is a lot less likely to flatten you in a frontal collision.

[happyslug]

12. The mileage given is close

Prius get 48/45, which even Toyota admits is to high, but better than the 60/51 that came from the old test, which were WHY to high:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

For other 2008 Cars:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/feg2000.htm

The smart Mileage is NOT in the EPA site, but since this is a US site MUST be a EPA number and its number is NOT that much under Prius, I suspect it was over-reved to get it up to 50mph, and in fact under the new test it should do worse do to this over-revving. It is NOT designed to go 50mph.

[CottonBear]

4. Great city car but I wouldn't drive it on the interstates or here in the NE GA suburbs.

It's too dangerous out there with all of the huge pick ups, SUVs, delovery vans and tractor trailer trucks.

[zipplewrath]

5. Nothing smart about it

It has no trunk room to speak of. It's an oversized motorcycle. Unless you have a need for extremely short parking spaces, it's a bit silly. A decent subcompact will accomplish roughly the same thing, for the same price, and handle a bit better as well. Plus you'll have the added bonus that you an actually bring lumber home.

[JDPriestly]

6. Looks great! This would be perfect for me.

[Dancing_Dave]

7. Get an ELECTRIC mini car like people do in London!

If you want to completely avoid buying gas and pay just a few pennies per mile on "fuel", get a plug-in rechargeable car, the G-Wiz. It's sold in the UK by goingreen http://www.goingreen.co.uk/store/content/gwiz/ .

[madokie]

8. I think it diffinitely has a place and time

and this very well may be the time and place but no more than we drive I would rather have my wife driving a bigger auto for safetys sake. I would of loved to had one back in my running around days when I was long on go and short on stay

[NickB79]

9. In the past year, Popular Science test-drove one of these, and it wasn't impressive

The average MPG of this car, when driven "American-style" (ie 70+ mph on the highway), was in the upper 30's to low 40's. Apparently, pushing it much past 50 MPH destroys their fuel efficiency claims.

I drive a 2005 Scion xA, a larger vehicle than the SmartCar, and with proper driving techniques it averages 30 mpg city/40 mpg highway during the summer. My best mileage to date, 49 mpg, was achieved by driving 50-55 mph on a 200 mile trip, all highway with the cruise control on, and occasionally tailing semi-trailers to reduce wind resistance.

Until the US reduces the speed limit back down to 55 mph and vigorously enforces it, the SmartCar isn't an improvement over anything else out there today.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Well, the objective was the "ultra-urban" car for short commutes and errands.

If it doesn't excel at long-distance highway travel, that's hardly surprising. That's not really what it was meant for, at all.

[happyslug]

11. 696 cc Engine, slow but should give excellent fuel economy.

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=5&Itemid=27
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_%28automobile%29
http://www.smartusa.com/

The problem will be people over revving the engine to get maximum speed. I drive a 80cc Scooter and get 90mpg with it. When I do NOT over rev the engine, I can get 100 to 110 mpg. I expect the same with the Smart Car, if you keep it below 40mph, you will do better than the EPA guideline, but if you go over 50mph it will be much worse (The EPA test is set for 50mph for both the City and Highway mileage tests).