I drove a Smart the other day, and realized my Mini is missing something the Smart has, fold down front seat ... anyone like to have this feature in their Mini?

 

WOW ,I thought the Smart only had bad handling ,bad transmission and no power.I think I'll buy one . All kidding aside if I lived and drove in a big city I would buy one, they have their place in the car world.

 

Never needed it.

 

Smart car does have a place in the big city -- in the parking lot where they park the shopping carts

 

I don't think MINIs need folding front seats as they have folding rear seats which yields plenty of room for hauling stuff. If a Smart has folding front seats it only does so to optimize what little space is available.

 

agreed. not necessary

 

Funny thing, I don't even use the fold flat seat feature much but it is nice to have. One thing that is super handy is the glass on the rear opening and having a tailgate vs having to use the whole hatch door. It useful and just nice, forgot how I liked it on the old Civic hatchback as all other hatches I've used since (Minis, A3, M Coupes) opened the whole thing for access. No biggie, just a personal preference, but I just like not having to be concerned about closing it on anything and being able to have that open if nec, and the ease of quick access.

Yeah I can't help but post having had years of Minis and now the Smart for perspective

 

I had a smart on reservation when they first announced they were coming to america. I'm glad i didn't end up waiting for it. I was zipping around the other day when I came up on an intersection with one lane backed up forever. low and behold, when i passed them all, there was smart car trying to lead the pack. poor little thing.

fold down front seats would be good for rear seat accessibility.

 

Wow, an old thread lives and emailed me

Don't blame the Smart for the back-up, it is all about the driver and could be any car. For example I recently encountered a backed up fast lane on the highway and when I maneuvered and whizzed by the rolling blockade going under the speed limit and holding an angry conga line of cars back was a new Porsche GT2. I had to laugh as I squirted by him in the Smart going, well lets say much faster and possibly not legal , and watched in the rear view mirror as all the frustrated piled up cars were trying to get around the so slow fast expensive car.

 

that is true about the driver. sometimes when I drive the Trans Am and stop at a red light, the car next to me will gun his engine or peel out. I usually pull off like a canadian. racing at red lights is so silly.
The smart driver I passed though didn't look like such a nonchalant driver though.

 

The MINI is the kind of car that does not need a fold down front seat. If it did, then it might as well be classed as a utilitarian vehicle. If someone wants this kind of feature, they should look at some of the other boring options out there like the Fit. As far as Smart vs MINI, we all know that there are certain car companies that ride BMW's coat tails. Toyota being one and Mercedes being the other. Of course bringing the smart car to the states was just Mercedes' way of trying to be like BMW. The smart car might be a good economic package, but I'll take my MINI any day. Hell, I'll take my old '73 Austin Mini back over a smart any day.

 

I would probably like to see this feature in the Clubman.

 

I don't see why utility and Mini cannot go hand in hand. Frankly I've lugged around quite abit of stuff in my Clubman. The front seats folding flat would be a great add on. Heck, if you don't want it, don't use it. However, don't snuff at others who might.

 

Who ever knows what is up with another driver, maybe they were in the wrong gear, had issues, or were transporting a flat of very full coffees All I can say is I've had the little bugger for just about a year now and it has been problem free (which sadly I could not say of our Minis) and fun. True that it is not a drag racer by any means but it is very peppy and maneuverable, and in spite of its slow 0-60 I still find myself out ahead (and being able to squeeze around things in almost every situation has been a big advantage at times).

Come to think of it I really haven't noticed much difference the respect of being ahead/general driving position and habits from the Mini or any car we've had, I guess it really is just down to the type of driver you are - the real thing that has changed behavior is becoming terribly aware of the increasing number of red light runners, which has made me much more cautious at intersections and really looking before leaping at light changes then I used to be.

 

I didn't design the car. If BMW wanted this feature, they would have incorporated it into the design. like it or not Izzy, the MINI was not designed to haul stuff around. Sounds like you should have gotten a Fit.

 

I actually had one pass me on a divided highway today. He had to have been doing 80 mph in a 65 zone. Made me wonder (1) how hard his engine was working; and (2) what the wind noise db level in the cabin must have been...

 

Are you sure the Smart has a fold down front seat? You could argue it's the back seat!

 

 

I've hear the Smart has a terrible tranny. I've never driven on but I think it would be neato if there was a conversion to some type of water cooler motorcycle engine/transmission. I'm not talking about the Hayabusa conversion that I've seen already. Something a little lower key which has Japanese quality and dependability.

 

If MINI had a folding front seat it would be a nice feature. It doesn't & that is fine too.

Whenever I see a smart I think it is named incorrectly.

 

It's amazing how many "fuel-efficient + safety" concepts I see foating around with a Smart-esque profile. Heck, one of the MINI design proposals was even similar. Who knows...this may be the shape of things to come....it'll be fun to see how the basic Smart configuration can be developed.

 

I am glad the rear seats fold flat like they do in the MINI, but I am not sure that I need the front seat to fold flat as well. The rear folding seats make it a lot easier to haul the skis inside and zip up to the ski slopes.

Ski slopes=curvy roads

 

Supposedly Toyota has their version coming soon. Toyota=the most unoriginal car company ever.

 

Yeah I think the same thing when I see a new Mini

Of course you know Smart name is an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART from the original project. Have been produced for over 10 years (and sold over a million I think), so really I don't think they were copying BMW and Mini as someone had mentioned.

gokartride - its true many new cars seem to be popping up with a similar shape, I suppose it simply utilizes space well esp if you are trying to get as micro as possible and storing the engine in the rear under the hatch area to really optimize things. Design keeps the nose short, thus car small, yet offers good hatch space and excellent headroom. Too bad so many of the new designs seem to be using front wheel drive and CVTs, like the IQ, tho. In the end I still don't think there will be many new really micro cars to choose from here, which is too bad.

 

I'm thinking that the rear seat room in a MINI alone makes up for the lack of a folding front seat.