Any opinons? I know we can't get Smarts in the USA, but they do have them in Canada. Have any of you guys up north driven one? If so, how was it?

I would never buy one because it's way too small, but they ARE kinda cool

 

I lived in Italy for 3 years and saw them all over the place. My wife and I looked at purchasing one, but decided against it because it was under powered and extremely small. However, if I lived in New York City or DC I would definitely consider it. It is a great city car.


Italy

 

Just saw a news report that they may not introduce them into the U.S. I understand they are loosing their shirts on them. They are supposed to have a big presence at the Detroit Auto Show.

The MINI still rules

 

There are some here,have seen 2, they can't go on the highway,unless you want to retire out there.

 

They are available in the US. I've been toying with the idea of getting one for my business: http://www.zapworld.com/about/news/news_smartepa.asp

 

Yes they do have them up here in Canada. They were actually available here before they were down there in the States. Seen a few but haven't driven one. They were just delivering orders that were placed some time ago, so they didn't have any available for tests. Seeing them in person is something else. There's no way I'd have one as a primary vehicle. With their size they'd have their pros and cons.
Cheers,

 

i did have a drive in a smart for 1 nite,

smart is a great economic car, but can't not ever be compair to a mini.

is take something like 17sec to get to 100km? max out at 120 or 130 km,

 

I work in an area near the Electronic Arts office. For those of you who don't know who Electronic Arts is, they are the company that writes computer games such as Need for Speed. I am of the impression they bought a whole fleet of them as I see them often. They handle quite well and are actually a novelle to watch. But I would only recommend them to you only drive in a big city and power and speed in not a factor in what you need a car for.

0-60mph in 19 seconds is not good for merging onto a highway full of SUVs. However, the 0-30 times appear to be excellent.

I wouldn't compare them with the driving experience of a MINI. Maybe a Toyota Echo. If you're looking in the economy mode and stricly in the city as a commuter car, the Fortwo would make a very good choice. If a good driving experience is on your need list, and you're going to venture out onto a highway, then get a MINI. ...just my opinion.

 

I just looked at that link to ZAP about the Smart Cars.....I am a little confused.....I thought mercedes was going to be introducing them to the states, but did Zap get the rights to distribute them, or only in Calif where they retrofit them to meet calif's high standards of emissions?.....also, on ZAP's site, they say they will shortly introduce the world's first production of a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid ( a retrofit of a nissan pick-up ),but I thought that one problem , besides price and the actual technology, of the concept of fuel cell cars is that there is no distribution network to deliver and refill the hyrogen tanks...the ZAP site does not explain how the hydrogen in their car gets refueled or how often....there was an interesting article i think in Popular Science about 1 1/2 years ago about a team developing a novel answer to the hydrogen distribution problem....they some how extract the hydrogen on the fly in the car from Borax, like the 20 Mule team Borax laundry detergent so it would be super easy to supply....but alas, it probably never worked as it does not seem to be taking the world by storm

 

Opinion:

You aren’t truly trying to compare a MINI to a Smart are you?

NO comparison is my opinion and I think you’ve bought the wrong car. You obviously need a Smart just for asking a question like this.

 

I believe zap is only licensed for the fortwo, and mercedes will be importing the forfour and larger models only (?)

I was recently in Italy and looked at the Smart at a dealer. My son's mother-in-law just bought a four four. I have the sales brochures etc here for them (in Italian). I thought it was a nice little econo car. Well thought out, well constructed, nice features. More along a Corola/Echo. DEFINITELY not anything like a MINI!. Except price @ 15,140 euro or $19,984

They did have an all black fortwo BRABUS model with 17's & mod'd interior etc that was cute. But 18,185 euro = $24,000USD



The car I liked better was the Citroen C-4 which is a bit bigger (actually seats 4 comfortably) The whole roof was a glass sunroof, awesome feature


or the C-3 Pluriel which is closer in size to MINI (also actually seats 4 comfortably), but only 1100cc


http://www.citroen.co.uk/Level2/flas...getype=pluriel
Admitedly, these cars are oranges to apples with MINI, and they cost as much, if not more than a Cooper S.

 

No, I knew the 0-60 times before I posted this. I wasn't trying to compare the two on a performace level.

I was just thinking that the idea of the two cars is similar. Smart is a low-priced division of Mercedes that sells tiny, unique cars. MINI is a division of BMW that sells tiny, unique cars.

After doing more research, I don't care for the Smart at all. It's smaller than I thought, and I would never buy a car that couldn't go on the highway.

 

OH.....I didn't know that Smart made more than the onemodel two seater

 

The Tango is the ultimate electric car that goes 0-60 in 4 seconds and a 1/4 mile in 12 seconds with a top speed of 150!

 

Umberto,

Smart has several models
fortwo coupe


cabrio

Crossblade

forfour

SMART roadster

roadster coupe

 

Mercedes is bringing Smart to the states. They're in the process of choosing dealerships.

They will only start with the ForFour. If you want a ForTwo, you'll have to see about independent importers.

Personally, I think that Smart offers cool little commuter cars, but for a real driving experience, I'd opt for the MINI.

 

That sounds real close to the numbers for the original 36 hp Volkswagen. (Actually, I think those numbers are better than the VW.) If the price is right and the gas mileage is right and the reliability is right, I'd love to see it happen.

One of the reasons the MINI was such a success in the US (where most people weren't familiar with the original Mini) was because it was so different, so cute, so stylish. It had an attitude (and a marketing campaign) that said, hey, I'm different, I'm bucking the trend, I'm fun. And the Smart cars have that in spades!

God, I would love to see a zillion of these on the road! I wouldn't even mind getting onto a highway behind one, because of the change in the US auto-buying public it would represent.

 

I’m obviously missing the comparison between the two cars.

A MINI is one of the world’s best handling road cars and 0 to 60 means nothing if you can't make the turn. It puts to shame in handling 98% of all cars produced in the world. Including all BMW’s its parent company. It may have better gas mileage than some cars, but is not an economy type car what so ever. It’s a true race car built for street use.

So I’m still trying to figure out what the comparison is between a Smart and the MINI.They are day and night so to speak. Size of the car has nothing to do with it because a MINI will out corner a Ferrari, can a Smart?

 

Or is this the ultimate electric car??


Called the Eliica - short for Electric Lithium-Ion battery Car - this radical 800bhp eight-wheeler from Japan is proof that electric vehicles can be fast and fun to drive, too. Boasting a four-second 0-60mph sprint and seven-second 0-100mph time, the Eliica is faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo.

So what is it like on the road? In this world exclusive, we took the controls to find out. As soon as you climb into the snug cockpit, you realise this car is built for speed. It's more than five metres long, shaped like a bullet and carries its batteries, software and motors in a narrow chassis bed, giving it the lowest centre of gravity of any prototype we've come across.

In tests, the Eliica has recorded a top speed of 370kph (230mph), although its inventor Hiroshi Shimizu claims it could clear 400kph (250mph) in the right conditions. "When you're dealing with technology thought by most to be slow, heavy and lacking range, you must do better than any supercar," he said.
see
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/?previe...y.php?id=51690

Last month at Disney world I saw a Smart car drive in and park. It's really small compared to the MINIvan next to it.
If you want to know how safe it might be see these crash test results-
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/?http:/...ed=12&varid=12

Green is good, yellow adequate, orange marginal, brown is weak and red is well "poor". Ouch.

Smart car got 3 out of 5 stars for frontal impact vs 4 or 5 for the MINI
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/?http:/...=101&varid=101


2002 MINI crash test results

 

I saw the SmartCar display at NAIAS yesterday. The fortwo was cute, and I agree with the folks that say it would be a good city car. I really rather liked the looks of the roadster. Not sure of the performance #'s for it but I could actually see myself driving it down the road. It still doesn't come anywhere close to the MINI though

 

Like I said, there is no comparison between the two cars as far as performance. They aren't meant to compete, and they are targeted at different people.

My point was that they are both "dare to be different" or "lifestyle" vehicles, the VW Beetle and the Plymouth Prowler would also be examples of these kinds of cars.

 

minihune, have you watched the SMART - Mercedes offset crash video on the Zap car website...?? It really doesn't come off too bad for a car that's 8" long being hit by a full size Mercedes. The Merc actually loses more front end in the process....

http://video.msn.com/video/p.htm?t=1...b1d97e08a61&rf=

 

Oh please let's not even go there...

You've bought the wrong car for the wrong reason and just admit it.

 

I think you misunderstood the point of the thread. I was NEVER considering buying a Smart, I DON'T LIKE THEM. I thought they were cool little things, but I never had any desire to own one. You can't even get them here anyway, at least not officially.

What's the big deal? I love the MINI, I've always liked them, I love the way they drive, and I also love the way they look. I happened to stumble upon some info on the Smart, and I remembered seeing them once while on vacation out of the country. I thought they were kinda cool, but I don't really think they're "cars." They're like a cross between a car and a golf cart.

I just thought I'd mention it on this site, since you all clearly have an appreciation for unique cars. I assume you do as well, unless you bought it based solely on performace; and the history and "nothing else like it" styling means nothing to you.

I guess I chose the wrong title for the thread, as I wasn't trying to imply that the two cars were even remotely similar. Geeze, relax.

 

Also, in case you didn't notice.....

In the original thread, I just asked for peoples opinions. I never asked for any comparison to the MINI. Also, I clearly stated: "I would never buy one"