smart car

tomstickland

5th gear crashed a smart into a solid concrete block at 60 or 70mph and it was impressive. However, they pointed out that human body cannot withstand rapid deceleration so you'd die anyway.

scheming_gypsy

jjames wrote:

What really bloody annoys me about all this talk of Coupes, MX5s etc, is that I'm too big to fit in the flippin things. Even the Hyundai Coupe/Toyota Celica, which relative to these other cars are cavernous things, I just don't have enough headroom. Grrr.

So, even though I want a silly sports car next, I'm stuck with various small Astra-sized boring efforts which are no better than my current cars other than the bigger engines. Some VW Golf (a dull car at the best of times) with a big engine isn't a fun car at all.

how tall / heavy are you? i had a 95 Celica GT before the Golf and i'm 6'2 and 15 stone and had plenty of room.

The Golf with big engines aren't as bad as people make out. Mine can be a bit sluggly in second but if you hit the gear change at the right time then you can get a decent take off.

MooseRich

I had one! I loved it, I really did. It got hit in the back though after 3 months by an artic truck. He hit me twice and both me and my mum were fine and the car didn't look too bad but it was squashed and written off.

Safety wise, it was excellent for me.

funkydom

Altarf wrote:

Toyota are trying hard. The new Yaris (which is not a big car and has a very short front end) gets a 5 star rating. Toyota have managed this by developing its own internal standards and tests to ensure its cars better protect passengers in 'real world' circumstances.

The crash tests they used for the first time on the new Yaris are:

• Frontal impact against 2-ton vehicle, with a 50% overlap (both vehicles driving at the same speed)
• Side impact from a 2-ton vehicle
• Rear impact from a 2-ton vehicle, with a 50% overlap.

i.e. crashing into something twice the size of the Yaris.

They also increased the crash speed from 30 mph to 35 mph (which is a bit more like real life).

If you compare the results on the Euroncap website with the Smart you can see what the huge difference 6 years in safety development has resulted in:

Smart - http://www.euroncap.com/content/safety_ratings/details.php?id1=1&id2=29
New Yaris - http://www.euroncap.com/images/results/superminis/car_246_2005/Toyota%20Yaris%20Datasheet.pdf
Old (2000) Yaris - http://www.euroncap.com/content/safety_ratings/details.php?id1=1&id2=74

Thanks for the info, I will read up on that

bootman

scheming_gypsy wrote:

i agree, they're awful. This century's version of the Robin Reliant.

I bet you have never driven one!

People who make comments like this usually have not :rolleyes:

I have one. A smart cabrio. Its fantastic to drive.

I love my smart car :j

---lee---

I've never driven one and have no desire to do so. I would feel less conspicuous and safer driving around on a power lawn mower than one of those things.

I think they look very silly and are overpriced. On the up side, it does make me smile to see them, although not many people are brave enough to own one.

Each to their own though. Makes the world go round etc etc.

gkf

I agree with bootman, my daughter's new smart car is great. We both love it, I would also say you have to try one before you comment, I always laughed at them, but no more. My daughter says she wishes she had bought a smart car before she got her previous car - a Ford StreetKa.

jobbingmusician

I drive a Smart (Pulse Cabrio) and it's great. I thought A LOT before buying it, and bought the magazine which compares all new cars - but basically, every time I saw a picture of the Smart, I felt like smiling.

I still feel like that after

- driving it for 3 years :rudolf:

- accidentally meeting and subsequently marrying someone in the Smartclub :snow_laug

SPARKLYBLUE_2

HI! found this thread very late just to see if there were any comments on owning a smart car, I must admit it has given me plenty to smile about. How anyone can make a sweeping comment about a car looking gay is beyond me, I've had a smart cabrio for over a year now, and it is just brilliant, I'll be honest when I first saw them I thought they were quirkly and a bit odd at the time, I am a complete convert in every way, It's the best nippy car I have ever driven. Parking is no problem, there is loads of comaraderie with other smart owners, it's also the world's largest independent club. Last year there was a 5year celebration where a majority of us sped round the Aston Martin proving track. You can change the panels for a new look, there are loads of extras you can buy and more importantly they are so economical to run, of course they won't appeal to everyone, but as they say don't knock it till you've tried it, and just for a bit of fun, the ones who said definitely no, take one for a test drive!Happy driving all you money saving Smarties! including our leader Martin!:
http://www.thesmartclub.co.uk/