Someone explain the "Smart" part about this car again????

Smart to make money selling them.

@Bento is more of a planet anyway!: The name.

the aveo and yaris have better front crash results and rollover but worse side results. The Smart has the same rollover rating as the Ford Explorer.

@Bento is more of a planet anyway!: Apparently, driving the SMART car is akin to staying at Holiday Inn.

S-Mart

"The name's Ash -- housewares!"

@ash78: Army of Darkness?

@Bento is more of a planet anyway!:

Its the most fuel efficient non-hybrid available, at less than half the price of a Prius or Civic Hybrid (Pure model)?

@ash78: I missed the "Easy Rider Shotgun Rack."

just remembered Fifth Gear doing a test
and I was like "nuh uh I ain't goin in there!!!!"
then again I drive a Swift which is like the anti Volvo as far as safety is concerned

@ranwhenparked: Is it??? The fuel milage numbers were not so hot in the articles I have read. R&T only averaged 32 MPG which is equal to a Nissan Versa.

Live inside the District and drive by all the parking spaces that only a Smart will fit into. You will then understand. Just because you don't want one and it cant tow your tractor parts doesn't mean it's not worth having. To each his own.

Needless to say, this is what I'd drive if I lived in NYC and needed a car. I'd just do the ole switcheroo with gsx1000 engine.

It's expensive and gets mediocre gas mileage for the size and power output, yet they sell tons of 'em. Sounds like the manufacturer is pretty smart to me!

Having the doors spring open actually activates the crumple zones of the passengers, using their in-built protection to cushion themselves.

It's very sciency.

Not only does that cage resist deformation in even the most...

Thank you Yellofury. That video is actually better than Jalopniks.

Geez, Jump on Bento for the snarky Smart car comment. I'm on a Douche roll today...keep this up and I'll be issued a 3-series to drive!

Underpowered, overpriced, with questionable mileage. There is only one way to improve things all-around, so I deem it "Hayabuseless"

In this video, the door opens! Well, just unlocks, because that's what the NHTSA was saying!

@ash78: What about the Brabus 112 Fortwo?

That thing will do 0-60 in 3.9sec, Sound fun!

that is...if you are willing to dish out the moolah

Well, the self-unlatching door will save the EMTs a lot of time and effort, right?

l looked at these and frankly it would be retarded to buy one. first off i understand this is aimed at urban buyers somewhat but a 2 year 24000 mile warranty? what a joke. 100k is the industry standard now for anything of non jap origin. second, the closest dealership to okc would be either tulsa and dallas. great so now i have to drive my eurotrash golf cart two hours to get serviced by some eastern european descent wrench jockey. Hmm lets examine this, i could take the 14k, buy a used crx that gets the same mpg that will last longer than regis philbin's career, drop a 383 stroker in the ol GMC Sierra so i can waste more gas and buy murdered out primer black vintage vespa scooter to terrorize all the establishment white hairs in my neighberhood. after all that i still have plenty left over to run to the vietnamese store and grab cases of PBR and some fresh banh Bao. yeah, thats what i would do.

@Dr.Danger?: I was a big Smart fan several years ago before they came here. I used to lurk on the UK tuner sites and was fascinated at the possibilities. Of course, that was back when the Euro was 85 cents and Mercedes kept touting the car as the second coming of the original Beetle.

@ash78: That was also back when Smart made more then one car. Maybe some day we will see another forfour and roadster.

I think the Fortwo was around £5k then?

Count me in the with the haters. People like to deride the Prius as "merely a fashion statement". At least the Prius is a real car you can fit 4 grownups and a couple suitcases in. The Smart? Expensive and ridiculously poor MPG in ratio to size and convenience = fail.

Reminds me of a guy I used to work with who always kept coming up with bright ideas that worked great for whatever he was doing but would totally screw up somebody else. My boss used to refer to him as "half bright."

So little car, I dub thee "half smart." So you can park in half a parking spot. Big whoop.

It comes with that feeling of smugness at half the Pirus price.

@lascauxcaveman: Yes, you can go ahead and throw me in with your lot too. I can see the practicality, if you happen to live in a small box. And you cant actually use the nose in parking many times, as you still have to pay for a full parking space.

I hope the next Smart will be better. A bit bigger, a bit less expensive and a bit, more . . . diesely.

Well, it's been in Canada for a year or two now, and while I don't have one, I have been passed by more than one while I was driving 130kph (80 mph) on the highway. Safety wise, they are pretty small, and therefore hard to hit. The most survivable accident is the one they don't get into.

Don't put much stake into the nhtsa rollover test. The required rate of rotation of the steering wheel is in the neighbourhood of 600°/sec, which is beyond human ability to replicate. They pass the moose-test, odds are good you won't roll it over.

The average person in a metropolitan area commutes alone, and never bests 50 mph on their stop and go to work. You can nose them into the curb, so parking is never an issue. Seems like a better way to get around vs. a 'burban, yuke, etc.

Understandably, it makes more sense as a diesel, let's just put it this way: If every car was half as long, traffic jams would be reduced by half!

@ranwhenparked: TDI, TDI, TDI.

Anyway, it's been mentioned, but parking is really the only reason to buy one of these. Ever. At all. And it's VERY good at parking - you can park nose-in to the curb and nobody minds (officially in some European cities, unofficially in Phoenix, AZ, as tested by Automobile magazine).

This thing screams "URBAN BUYERS ONLY". Either that or "FEED ME A HAYABUSA ENGINE". I'm not quite sure which. (Maybe both, Miscellanea?)

@Feds: unfortunately we ain't getting the diesel here, especially in cali.

what I really really really want is a 47 intertrashional KB5 flatbed hybrid biodiesel conversion with a cabin sitting on it for that old-timey RV'ing. or at least a cummins.

(I had a 47 KB5 flatbed farm truck way back when, had a 240ci engine from a '62 scout with oil bath air cleaner, original 4 speed with PTO, 12' x 6' oak flatbed, I converted it to 12V with a 70amp delcotron alternator, oh and no cab. heh.)

As someone pointed out in a comment on an earlier Jalopnik post about the smart, if you park it perpendicular to the curb, how do you know someone else won't park with his bumper too close to your door for you to open it? (This is an issue only on streets that lack meters, of course.)

@Miscellanea: oh wow.. you had to ask?? you have not seen enough bruce campbell!..

'this is my boomstick. 12 guage double barrel remington available in sporting goods.... ... shop smart, shop S-mart"

LONG LIVE THE CHIN!

My beliefs:

Smart Cars aren't about fuel economy, they're about efficient use of materials (check the green status of their factory).

Hybrid Cars aren't about fuel economy, they're about emissions.

Diesels aren't about emissions, they're about fuel economy.

And Sport-Utility vehicles/family pickup trucks aren't about efficient use of materials, emissions, OR fuel economy. They're about being safe from the gawdamned laws of physics, being safe from the gawdamned terrorists, and being safe from the gawdamned pansies who drive gawdamned minivans.

@discomonkey: Aren't hybrids more fuel efficient than diesels in urban driving?

@Hyman Decent: I guess? Probably it depends on the hybrid and depends on the diesel, but the emissions (NO2 especially) are certainly better on the hybrid. New diesels are good, but a hybrid turns off in urban stop-and-go. Tough to beat zero...

@lusnia:

Dude, you are exactly the type of person who will never understand this car, and that this car is not being marketed to. It's not aimed at Okies living in far-flung rural counties. Smart does not claim it's very tornado-safe anyhow. It's for people who live in large cities.

Just enjoy driving your ATV through the woods behind your trailer (until you get killed by that stupid tree).

Oh, I forgot to mention how your truck is s'weeeeeeeet, and how I dig those Sunoco Nascar stickers you got on the back. You rock, dude!

@lascauxcaveman:

They said the same things about the MINI Cooper, but "they" were all so wrong, it's laughable.

I have to park on the street where I live, and OFTEN, I have to drive around for 1/2 hr to find a spot. If I had a Smart, I would find more spaces I could fit into than I can now. Late at night, when you're tired and just want to get home, it can really, really make a difference to your sanity if you can park.

If this car can help, then it's worth it.

Also, this car is not as depressing to drive as a Cavalier, or Cobalt, or anything Chrysler, so I'd take one on that score as well.

It's cheerful, has great sightlines (view from inside), easy to live with, and fun.

That's worth something in my book.

@darex: Whats kinda funny is that i'm exactly the kind of guy this car is marketed at. I live in OKC only 6miles from downtown and have a 10 mile commute from my house every day to work. I live with my lady and don't plan to have children, this car is made for me. I don't understand why they won't warranty this for longer than 2 years?

@darex: I've just got to ask...how would driving that thing be fun? Convenient? Yes. Fun? No. Lotus Elise? Fun. Smart car? convenient.