The Smart Car visits Mobile Tech Manor
Today’s gas prices have a lot of people concerned about how much they spend on transportation and it is such a great concern that even folks who you wouldn’t expect to take drastic action are doing so. I witnessed this first-hand as a friend of mine dropped by Mobile Tech Manor last night to show off their new purchase they had taken delivery of this weekend. This friend has a "ranch" up-state for retirement and he and his wife drive up there every weekend to work it. They have always driven the typical Texas giant pickup truck but the cost of the weekly trip has been cutting deep ruts in their pocketbooks for a while. These folks were showing off the results of their fear about gas costs, the new Smart Car they had purchased. It was the first one I had seen close up and it was the first chance I’ve had to sit inside one of the little cars. I must say it is quite a different experience.
This car is so small, it’s not much longer than a bicycle. My friend says it has a 3-cylinder engine and they are seeing 45 miles per gallon on the highway. That’s a very good thing, not only due to the high cost of gasoline but also because the gas tank only holds 8 gallons. I have to be honest and state that I would have felt claustrophobic in the little car had the top not been down leaving the car open to the sky but all in all I am impressed with the build quality of the Smart Car. This car would be a breeze to park anywhere too.
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They are strong too, have a look at this or google “Smart Crash 5th gear” to see a remarkable real world 70 mph crash test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcuimw8ql_A
Yes, there very strong. Although I wouldn’t want to be in one if it did.
Nevertheless, these things are cool. Always drive it when I go to Europe (necessary there) but here in the US, I guess with the rising gas prices, it’s will soon become a necessity. Hahaha…
Before it came in the US, I was going to buy one and have it shipped here in the US. Well… more of a novelty than anything back then.
I think your friend meant “3-cylinder” and not “3-cycle”. Unless he has an invention I haven’t heard of…lol
You are correct, it’s a 3 cylinder engine and that’s been corrected. My friend told me correctly but when I wrote this piece I kept thinking how it’s like a motorcycle engine and 3-cycle clipped out. :)
Note that SMART is a brand of Daimler AG, so essentially you are driving around in a Mercedes-Benz…
While it is safe, it’s not all that safe for those around it.
A friend of mine was standing on a sidewalk when a nearby Smart car was hit by another car. The Smart car actually went airborne and, had my friend not been pushed out of the way, she would have been severely injured or worse.
When I lived in Paris, these were very common. People who don’t live in dense cities often don’t realize that another advantage of a small car is ease of parking. These things are relatively easy to very tight spaces along the street. However, I think it would be a poor choice as a gas saving option in the American suburbs. These were growing popular in Victoria, BC for a time, until people started realizing that more car and better gas mileage could be found elsewhere. It’s too bad that Smart abandoned the roadster, which looked like a lot of fun, albeit slow fun. Any how, it’s nice to see early adopters out there paying down the R&D costs of new technology and exposing its flaws through their own sufferings.
The only flaw with the Smart is that it requires premium gas (read it in Consumer Reports), so the mileage is great, but the operation cost is slightly higher than other fuel-efficient vehicles.
These are a pretty common sight in Europe, but if I was looking for a cheap-to-run two-seater I’d go for one of these:
http://tinyurl.com/5uun8a
It’s actually a four seater, but the two back seats are really for emergencies only. I hired one in France as it was the cheapest hire car I could get. It was great.
In London, it’s not uncommon to see a particular model of electric car. They are made in India, and by common consent wouldn’t give you much protection in a high-speed crash. However, the traffic moves so slowly in central London that that’s probably not a big worry. A major plus with these electric cars is that drivers of them are exempt from the congestion charge, which is essentially a toll you have to pay for driving in the very central area of London.
You’re eeeeeeeevil, Kendrick!!! Eeeeeeeevil!!!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/now-do-you-believe-in-my-persecution/
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/smart-car-stuff/