Smart First Drive Impressions

[nsxt2000]

My daughter and her husband picked up thier Smart yesterday and today I had the opportunity to drive it. In spite of the diminuitive outside size, the interior is fairly comfortable. They ordered one with every option, including the convertible and it surely draws looks.

Sitting position is easy to adjust, lot's of head room and as expected, a small back area behind the seats in addition to another one in the trunk. While pick-up is less than spectacular, I had no trouble keeping up with traffic or taking off from a light. Ergonomics work well.

As mentioned, this one is a convertible and the electric top operates easily & smoothly to have either a somewhat targa effect, or full convertible. Due to a current sun sensitivity I left the top up, but I am told that when using the "targa" style, wind buffeting is minimal.

One of the few drawbacks is the transmission. It shifts very hard when on full automatic and slightly better in the paddle shift mode. Smart needs to refine the tranny a bit in my opinion.

Later this week my wife and I plan to use it for a day or two to get a better feel as to how it functions on the highway as well as around town. I will give another up-date then.

In the meantime, please hit the link on the bottom of the forum to take you to our sister site for Smart. There is more information about it featured there.
-Mike S.

[iluvmycsx]

ha ha ha

i did a review of one not to long ago too.

http://www.thesmart.ca

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i263/iluvmycsx/112_news060628_01zdaimler_chrysler_.jpg

well the boss is looking for a cheaper mode of transportation for us (work). we do about 600kms a week and the mazda protege is just killing us. so he asked me to take one for a test drive. i took a 2008 passion (silver metallic) the price of this one around $18,000+taxes. keep in mind that after you buy you get a $2000 rebate from the government(ecoAUTO Rebate). also as of yesterday the local insurance company is offering 20% discount on your plates which is around a $170 discount per year.



well my first thought is that we wouldnt have enough room to put the stuff i would need to deliver in a day. to my surprise we would have enough room and if we had a busier day we would just use his vehicle(very seldom )

with there being enough room next was the quality of the ride. overall the ride is fairly nice for being such a compact car. it does lack the power but that is good as we just do city driving so there is no need to get up over 100km per hour anyways. the car has a 999cc engine with 70hp and 68lbs of torque. semi auto tranny with option of paddle shifting.

the interior is nothing really fancy kinda plain but it has everything that would be needed heated seat for those cold winter days and auto temperature control air condition and a nice panoramic roof with sunscreen.

some of the safety features are different and would take some time to get use to. for example the auto hill assist. it removes the chances of rolling back when on a hill. it also comes with abs and front and side airbags.


with that being said we are pleased with what it offers us. he is going to look more into financially making sense for us maybe with the money we save on gas i will get another raise....he he


if you are looking at saving some money on gas and like to drive an over-sized go-cart give this car a try

[scottRDX]

Sure, the Smart car is cute, and novel, but one question. Why would you buy a Smart car that only seats two people, is underpowered and doesn't get that great of gas mileage, (most car magazine reviews are only getting about 35 mpg), when you can get a Honda Fit with four doors, a more powerful engine, an Acura like interior, and similar gas mileage? I'm just sayin'.