I agree with Travelnutz and Kajek 1!
I drove a VW bug in the late 50's and 60 thru 70's.The sheet metal on this vehicle had considerable more guage beyond the Smart car. The VW bug would bounce away from a collision. It was sturdy and economical to own, although it did have a bad charactistic of a roll-over. I now drive a Murcery Grand Marquis V-8 4.6 21 MPG in the city and 29 on the open road at 75MPH. My point is : if you are driving the 401 out of Toronto, or the I-75 in Detroit or better yet, the 580 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Highways mentioned are rough and very fast and crowded with trucks cars and motorcycles. and the speed range is in the 85's MPH. Defensive driving is very valuable and pokeing along at 55, well eventually you will meet your Waterloo. Little cars are good on less busy highways and if interior space is not a factor. I live in a high density area and is the reason I drive a large sedan.I call it good insurance for everybody on board.
travelnutz, I must not be making myself very clear.......we're saying the same thing. My original comment was that it surprised me that the crash test gave it favorable ratings. I also said, in round about terms, that it wouldn't stand a chance against a 6000 lb SUV, obviously zero chance against a 40,000 semi. Not an educated guess here, just common sense tells me it wouldn't stand a chance. All in all, it probably offers a greater degree of protection, crash test or no crash test, than a motorcycle. Hope this clears up what I'm trying to elude to.
hershey - albuquerque, nm Someday Finally Got Here
My wife does all the driving - I just get to hold the steering wheel.
Expedition - Suzuki Grand Viagra
Quote: Who has a Smart car and do you like it? It seems to me that they would make a good toad. For those who don't know what a Smart car is; go to smart.com on the internet.
We are having a hard time keeping this thread going due to so many posts that were/are completely off topic. It probably should have been moved to this forum earlier. Hopefully it will have better luck here. So, anyone using a Smart car as a toad?
* This post was
edited 05/15/08 07:21pm by Moderator *
I most assuredly do have a Smart Cabrio. Also have a Mercedes SUV, but it don't fit into the garage of my coach all that well ....
A quick answer is that YES, we do like the little Smart. It's a hoot and drives real nice. Fuel mileage is WAY better than advertised at about 45-50MPG.
Fairly sporty ride in reality. It is SMALL on the outside but very comfy as far as seating. Not much storage OBVIOUSLY. ;-)
Did I mention it rides in back of my garage coach?
WAY COOL !
The Smart IS towable and Blue-OX as well as others have a towbar package for them.
Not for everybody. Only us really super-cool young studly doods ....
:-))
Jay and Joyce
'07 Damon Outlaw Garage-Coach /WH
Real-deal-steel-2WD-military-sidecar-rig: The dreaded Frog-of-War
AND
Smart Cabrio for when goggles and rain gear are beneath our dignity.
I may be at great risk replying but yes, we now own a Smart Passion Cabriolet. We have owned it for two weeks and love it. We do not own a MH but rather a Holiday Rambler Savoy TT so I cannot comment on the dinghy towing, but I have seen a thread about it on another forum called smartcarofamerica.com. It's a user forum for Smart owners and has tons of great info.
We are using the Smart for quick, short distance trips around town. We have two older teens that drive larger vehicles (a Ford Sport Explorer and an F150). The Smart is for DH & I as an alternative to our diesel F250. Both my DH & son are motorcycle riders, DH was a motor officer during his law enforcement career. I would much prefer the "cage" of the Smart vs. a motorcycle.
Hopefully, we can all remain respectful on this thread, as everyone has presented informative views.
By the way, I do believe the wait for a Smart is currently around 12-18 months on the reservation list so if you're interested, you might want to at least put in a $99 fully refundable reservation.
DW and I have had a SmartForTwo (hence the name) for a couple weeks. We got the Passion Cabrio just for grins. It's an extra car we use when just two of us want to zip around town, or I want to run errands or go mountain biking by myself. We don't have plans to use it as a toad or to tow a travel trailer. Just a fun car, nothing more. It gets decent mileage and it's our toy.
We know the risks associated with it, but with the cage and airbags (two front and two side) it's still potentially safer than my BMW K1200LT, if hit by any other vehicle of any shape, size or convention.
Put it in perspective folks. The rest of the time we drive one of our tanks around town, looking for much smaller cars to smash.
I like the looks of them and thought they would make a great towed. NBC did a comparison on them the other day to a Toyota Yaros. After all was said and done, the Smart car saved you about $150.00 overall with purchase and use.
The point was then made that the Yaros provide seating for four and more room. Still like the looks of them though.
Don & Mary
2005 Monaco Diplomat 36SKT
400 Cummins
2007 Dodge Dakota 4WD
I would say you need to actually drive one. On paper I like the idea. Then I got in one. Nice leg room, decent instrumentation, very comfortable. Drove off the lot and wow - gutless as all get out, rides like a go cart, you need to shift every 5 seconds or so. Ok I'm being melodramatic but still, for the money I'd rather sit in a used Mini which is also 4 down towable, has amazing storage and a blast to drive.
For my driving style I just couldn't see it working out. Btw we've had them up here for a few years now and I'm now seeing *many* used ones on lots of the other manufacturers - IE, Nissan, Honda, Ford, Dodge - I guess people can only drive them for so long before they need more space??? In fact I'm now seeing as many being sold as used cars as I do driving around with current owners.
2008 Itasca Sunova 35J Class A
1997 TJ Sahara, hard and soft tops and AC
Held together via Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and stopped by US Gear Unified Brake system.
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