CrunchGear

I would buy one as long as there is some sort of back seat in it. I have a kid and since they have to be in a car seat until they turn 16 now a days a backseat is a must.

there is one of these close to my place in Philly, he’s had it for quite a while now.

I like them. I think they are super cute. They would be great for just an in town ride, but no way would I take them on the interstate. Half a car at 75-80mph… no thanks. I would rather pay a bit more and pick up a diesel VW Rabbit…

And they are already over here (sort of). Heck, I’m in Twin Falls, Idaho and I think we have 5 in town. And it’s not that big of a town.

I like my Scion xB. I like passengers. It’s very comfortable and reliable and looks pretty good in shadow mica with alloys. I can stack 6 fully boxed 30″ LCDs and luggage in back of the front seats. 40 mpg and $12,OOO isn’t convincing me.

I saw one on the way to the studio for practice (San Francisco). There were two guys in one, and it has a convertible back end.

I am seriously considering purchasing one. SF is VERY small, getting around in one of these would be a dream for solo or 2 people trips. I don’t recall any backseat, so it’d be my commuter car, not for family trips or gigs. Though I bet it crumples like a soda can on impact. Given my route home is traffic jammed at least twice daily with near fatal accidents…

FWIW, I find the Smartcar more roomy than the Mini Cooper. Granted, there’s no back seat, but the front seats feel more roomy than the cooper.

I am 6′2″ and had NO problem driving one. I had more than 2″ of headroom. I have driven it 75 with no problems either. I am getting one for transportation to and from the airport and for other transport needs in nyc. At the demo they had a video of a head on driver to driver collision with a big mercedez and the smart came out quite well.

I am 6′4″ and sat in one when I was wearing my full motorcycle leathers and helmet at the time. I was amazed by the amount of room. What also amazed me was that fact that the e-charm scooter that was handy (doing a scooter test for a web site at the time) had a wheelbase that was only about a foot shorter.

I sow one in Branson, MO. it was in front of a SUV and the guy behind the SUV thought there is no one so actually try to pass the SUV :). so if any one buy this please put a flag on top to make ur self visible

I had actually been saving up to trade in my crappy Focus for one of these. (But then I found out I was moving to Eastern Europe next year)
I’m definitely going to buy one when I return!

I used to own one, actually. They’re fantastic - two seats, surprising amount of room inside (your 6′4 would be no problem, Doug) and as for driving them at 75-80mph, no problem. There’s a speed limiter that kicks in at around 85mph, although you can have the software remapped and extra power dialled in (they up the turbo pressure).

Safety wise, as someone else mentioned, they crashed a Smart into an S-Class Merc and both cars did okay. The silver band in the photo above is basically a roll-cage that Smart call a Tridion.

As for driving it, it’s kinda lika a grown-up go-cart. Mine had tiptronic sequential gears. I swapped it after a while for one of the (no longer in production) Smart Roadsters, which was even more fun. Definitely grab a test drive if you can, Doug.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mcuimw8ql_A

This is a crash test was done at 70mph (a lethal speed in any car), but it shows how remarkably well the Smart holds up.

Highway drivers - this won’t be for you, but for it’s intended purpose in the city, these are tiny, nippy, easy to handle little cars with tons of room for 2 people and small amounts of luggage.

I bought a Chevrolet Aveo two years ago and still have it. Its a sub-compact car and I love it, so I wouldn’t be opposed to moving to a smart car - but they’d really need to work on price. I’m guessing list is $12k and you can probably knock a grand or two off that, but my Aveo was around the same. I would be a bit nervous about the whole crash thing, though I used to drive a Suzuki Samurai, which if you have ever seen is a tin can on wheels.

My only dissappointed is the 40mpg - thats not that good considering how small it is. I was hoping for more along the lines of 50-55mpg at least. I mean a 30 year old VW Diesel can get 50mpg.

Is there going to be a diesel or electric version?

$12k is a wee high I hope they have cheaper options. Its gonna suck having to wait till 2009 for them to become available cheaper.

I am not to worried about safety the first gear videos I saw were awe inspiring for such a tiny car :-)

Oh and the aveo is very nice I am 6′3″ and rather large and I fit quite well but it go NO WHERE NEAR the rated MPG I maxed it at 25mpg and NOTHING I could do would change it (I ran it through 4+ tanks of gas inside of 8 days)