Wired's Autopia gets a Smart, blogs a bunch
David Becker over at Wired's Autopia blog must be very excited about the recent purchase and pick-up of his Smart. His enthusiasm is palpable through the number of posts that the subject has garnered on Autopia, at last count it was six in the last two days. So far, he seems to really like the hill-assist, which keeps the car from rolling backwards when situated on an incline. He notes that there is plenty of room for the driver and passenger, but much less for stowage, so he made up a little formula to help people decide if the Smart will work for them. Lastly, he feels that his Smart "is the opposite of a penis extension/envy sports car." His words, not ours.
[Source: Wired's Autopia]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike 12:46PM (3/01/2008)
Very Nice.
Stick it to the Oil Man and the Arabs, and have fun.
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Derek 4:04PM (3/01/2008)
Don't forget about sticking it to the Canadians, Mexicans, Africans and South Americans as well. Only about 1/5 of our oil imports are from the Middle East.
I really love this car in concept, but in reality it loses much of its appeal. The fuel economy is nothing incredible when you take into account the size and weight of the car and the small engine. I also don't get why this car is so expensive. Considering its size and that it doesn't have a lot of "features" that get crammed into other cars the price is pretty high, IMO. Personally, I would have expected this car to get at least 5mpg better and cost several thousand less.
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Tim 10:53PM (3/01/2008)
Derek
Actually I thought that this car had a lot of features for the price. How man cars come with leather, climate control, rain sensing window wipers, seat warmers, abs and traction control for less than 15k? I am with you though where I thought that the gas mileage would be higher especially for the City mileage. I don't understand why people say my 19?? economy car gets the same mileage blah blah blah. First of all this car is a SULEV and it is much safer in crash tests. If I took all the emissions equipment and the side airbags and soundproofing removed I could get 10% better mileage form this car. best comparison for this car is the MINI one in Europe which is a bare bones Mini they don't sell here.
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mike 5:29AM (3/02/2008)
Didn't he say he got 44 on the first tank?
I wonder if the auto mags where beating the X*X out of it for their test runs.
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Snowdog 9:10AM (3/02/2008)
His formula makes no sense. Spouse + Child should automatically negate a two seat vehicle, though I guess that should be obvious. I have no problem with two seat vehicles (I owned a Miata), but we should be a tad realistic about how practical they are.
I didn't see any report of fuel economy at the link. But as far as mileage goes I only put any stock in three sources: EPA (Which says it takes premium and gets a not very impressive 33/41) Edmunds long term tests where the kick the crap out of a car for a year, or Consumer Reports where they run the same real world loop for each car.
I often notice the more enthusiastic people are about their own cars, the better the mileage they report. Like 60MPG owner reports for the VW diesels (Edmunds gets something like 40MPG). People out to prove their vehicle tend to drive to preserve economy much more than your average user.
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jim 9:21AM (3/02/2008)
There is not a necessary correlation between size and price. Just because its small it won't necessarily be cheaper.
I stopped at a Smart dealer to look at the FourTwo but didn't drive it. The apparent build quality, fit & finish, and the quality of the materials used in the interior are quite high and compare favorably with the Mini. And the Mini is hardly inexpensive for a small car. Plus the car is surprisingly well equipped.
Could the Smart be cheaper? Yes, but it would have an interior that looks likes its borrowed from a work truck.
Price maybe the most important factor for some, but most buyers balance the aesthetic appeal of the vehicle and price. Regarding reported mileage, yes magazine and newspaper testers tend to whip the snot out of the cars they test putting mileage in a poor light. That being said, those who hope, based on European experience, that the FourTwo will run forever on a thimble full of gas will be disappointed, the great mileage numbers are for the diesel.
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