Smart Car advice please

[Bird]

Suzuki samurai anyone? I don't know anything about them other than they are nice and small, but a downside is they like to tip... A lot

We bought a new Suzuki Samurai in 1987 or '88 and at the time expected to later buy a motorhome and planned to tow the Samurai behind the motorhome. In the meantime, my wife drove it to work every day. I had the dealer install an after market cruise control and we drove it to the Texas coast and back a couple of times. However, when I retired, we decided on a fifth-wheel travel trailer instead of a motorhome. So in the Fall of '89, I sold the Samurai back to the dealer from whom we bought it new. It had 45k miles on it and a month or so before I sold it, I had to replace the battery. Other than oil & filter changes, no other repair costs.

As for tipping . . . yep, Consumer Reports did a number on them because Suzuki was just getting too successful, and the Samurai was really selling fast. There were stickers on the driver's door and on the sun visor to warn you that such vehicles handled differently from cars. And after Consumer Reports killed the Samurai, they finally admitted that the Samurai would not turn over as easily as a Ford Bronco. And in spite of my playing with ours, doing some off road hill climbing and such, it never turned over and nothing ever broke.

 

[rmorey]

Does anyone here either own one of these pint size vehicles or know someone who does?

I have a peculiar need...a car that weighs less than 2000 pounds, and there is only one, the Smart Car.
The Toyota Scion IQ is about two hundred pounds heavier, and then all the other cars get to be either too long or too heavy, including a Mini. Need to have this fit on our trailer we want to pull behind the motorhome so that the car will only be used when we stop and want to go explore.

Yes, I've read the reviews, they aren't very attractive and for the money, there are much better cars. But this little thing would roll right up on our trailer and no Officer Bob can give me a overload ticket.

This is NOT going to be used on the interstate, basically around town and around the local area near the rv.
But I'm a little concerned that built by Mercedes or not, it's a car with huge compromises. But then the only other thing that would work is a trike, and I'd prefer not to get wet.

Ok, if you think the Smart car is a bad idea, please suggest a better alternative, under 2000 pounds and eleven feet long.
Not not an Ariel Atom or some craziness, a real car...

thanks

Daugen, I'm assuming your desire for a car under 2,000 lbs is because your trailer has a 2,000 lb axle. Keep in mind, the axle capacity also takes the actual trailer weight into account. Given that, the trailers capacity is probably something in the order of 1,500 lbs. If this is correct, you could always change out the axle for a 3,500 lb axle for a couple hundred bucks.

 

[stuckmotor]

I hope you didn't have to pay for that instructor.
Using that logic Horseless Carriage and the other classic car haulers are really some big time criminals.

Maybe I got it confused over the years. I'm sorry I mentioned it.

 

[daugen]

thanks guys. It's a 3k trailer that weighs 1k, 1990 capacity, but really for licensing. 3500 axle ,and two new D rated radials that will take over a ton a piece. so yes, I could safely add more weight, and I even called the mfg and talked about the real capacity of the trailer, which is much stronger than a normal 3k trailer, due to all welded steel construction. The ramps can take the weight, the floorboards can too, all questions I asked.

I own a 4000 pound XTS and a 7000 pound Suburban, neither of which is sensible to tow with this small rv. I am surprised how much guts that V10 has though, much more powerful than I thought, likely due to lower weight of the smaller rv, and I'm not too worried pulling a heavier car the normal way. We pulled the trailer and golf cart last time, and yes I could feel the weight, but it ran just fine. Geez, maybe Ron and I could do some impromptu drag racing and video it for our buddies here...:dance1: Maybe we could star in an episode of Top Gear...

 

[daugen]

This Jeep will fit nicely in that trailer.

yuk yuk, geez Jim at least not the PINK one!
good price though...and probably won't get an overweight slip. all good.

 

[daugen]

We drive around in a range rover... so all we have to do after colliding with one is to turn on the windshield wipers...

I think that sums up the safety issues....the Smart car is amazingly well built with a roll cage worthy of an F1 car, but there is no way to absorb that much g force, not enough crumple zone, for the occupants to survive anything other than a slower speed crash. And guess what, it's made for city driving! It probably does marvelously at 30mph and does it safely.
Yea if I take my sixteen foot boat out into ten foot waves, it might not be a good thing. One must know and respect one's limitations.

 

[wngsprd]

A friend at work had a Smart car and loved it. If you buy one, here's a trick that worked most of the time. He never pulled all the way into a parking place so that when large cars or trucks were parked next to him it didn't look like an empty parking place to drivers driving down the row too fast. It worked for that purpose, but one day a lady parked next to him was backing out, and not seeing the usual front of a car next to her...she started cutting the wheel too soon and the Smart car was in her blind spot...$2,400 damage.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Maybe a Corvette Stingray.

http://store.corvettemuseum.com/detail.aspx?ID=4472

 

[newbury]

We drive around in a range rover... so all we have to do after colliding with one is to turn on the windshield wipers...

I think that sums up the safety issues....the Smart car is amazingly well built with a roll cage worthy of an F1 car, but there is no way to absorb that much g force, not enough crumple zone, for the occupants to survive anything other than a slower speed crash. And guess what, it's made for city driving! It probably does marvelously at 30mph and does it safely.
Yea if I take my sixteen foot boat out into ten foot waves, it might not be a good thing. One must know and respect one's limitations.

Smart car ramming concrete barricade at 70mph
SMART car crash (TEST) - YouTube.
I'd say it protects the inside fairly well.

 

[txdon]

Drew, have you found out what it would take to make the golf cart street legal? Out here a lot of RTVs just have a slow moving vehicle sign on the back- of course you don't see them on the roads that the speed limit is over 40mph. (They might be doing this illegally, I have not checked.)