Saw my first Smart car...

[rowhard]

Mercedes did a fine job designing the Smart car, and I would have one in a New York second if dealers in this country weren't asking for so much blue sky with them. I drove one in England in 2000 and it was a blast, but it is a city car, pure and simple.

[dietz99vcross]

Well I guess I am on the other side of the fence. I just got my e-mail saying mine will be here in less than two weeks. I figure the mileage improvement the smart car gets over the VX would save me about the same as the monthly payment on the Smart, and I could "save" my VX which already has 120,000 miles. Safety is actually very good for the vehicle. In a sick an twisted way the size helps for side impact as the wheelbase is so small the impacting vehicle will hit at least one of the wheels if not both rather than crush the passenger compartment alone. Now if you where to get t-boned by a Tahoe going 65 it doesn't really matter what size car you where in. As for comfort, I drove one in Detroit a while back and the seating arrangement is very comfortable, I am 6' 4" and it has more room for the driver and passenger than my VX, I took the rear seat out of the VX so it is also a 2 seater. Headroom was way better, besides I ordered the cabriolet. Having said all of that I was really disappointed in the mileage to performance ratio. If it got 50 mpg I could accept the ridiculously slow acceleration. At 40 mpg it needs more. I like that it is different as I like that my VX is different. But alas I have decided to say no to the smart, drive my VX for another 100,000 miles and just hope gas doesn't reach $5 a gallon. The only issue is I was really looking for a convertible to enjoy the sun, maybe I can get a sunroof installed with the money that would have covered the sales tax.

[etlsport]

i think they are kinda cool.. i could never drive one though.. at the philly auto show i saw a kid try to pop the hood... and tear the thing right off its (fabric) mounts without exerting too much force... living so close to the city i see 2-3 a week

[Joe_Black]

There's a handful here in my neck of the woods between Tampa and Orlando, the area Kermit Weeks has dubbed "Orlampa". Definitely a metro car and a few encounters around here with the rush of fruit and rock trucks will add their asphalt-imprint to those of the seasonal blue-hairs.

If the overseas diesels get here as planned starting end of '08 it'll be a whole new ball game, especially with the diesel hybrids like the 70MPG hybrid VW Jetta. I may pay about $.50 a gallon more for fuel than everyone else in the TDI Jetta, but who wouldn't to get 50+ MPG in a nicely appointed mid-size?

[Ldub]

here in my neck of the woods between Tampa and Orlando, the area Kermit Weeks has dubbed "Orlampa"

Call me crazy, but I prefer :"Tamplando"...go ahead, say it a few times...it grows on ya...

[castigan]

if you look on youtube... there is a smart car with a hayabusa motor in it.. its ..insane !!

[Gussie2000]

Here in NYC i've seen few of those,probably they'll come very popular if gas prices keeps rockeeting sky up.

At my work site one of those corporate business guys bought one for his daugther & he end up keeping it.

When i first saw him drinving in to the parking lot my first thoughts were damn it shrank ? ( he owns an H2 black & yellow ) & because every body knows him he decide to order custom plates "yes it shrunk" because the smart is also black & yellow

[kodiak]

It looks like the smart has some good off road potential.

http://www.ozoux.com/eclectic/archiv...artforfun3.jpg