Is 60 MPG really Smart?

[SkyPup]

That would make a great commuter car.

Our VW TDI Beetle with the rear seat out, making it a two seater huge station wagon, is a great commuter and still gets 45mpg everywhere it goes.

 

[Gatorboy]

How about this for a 50-60 mpg commuter? Little bit more manuverable than the Smart car, more fun, and probably just as safe in a crash...

I have to disagree with the crash statement. Not sure it's as warm or dry for the driver in the winter or a rainstorm.

 

[JJT]

I guess it'll be interesting to see how well such a small car sells in this country. How many remember the Isetta? Or how about the Chevrolet Sprint Turbo? I drove a new Sprint non-turbo automatic transmission; so sluggish you wondered whether it would go uphill. But I also drove a Turbo model, manual transmission, and it would really scat, but I wondered if it would self destruct in the near future.

Bird, The Smart cat hit our local news earlier this week - it retails for $15K. Way too much money for a 2 passenger econo box. If memory serves correct, it's 5' wide and just a tad over 8' long. It reminds me of a small Le Car, who remembers those? I believe Peugot built them. They were around when the Yugo's were in the late 70's/early 80's.

 

[heehaw]

i would sure like to have a "car" that gets 60 mpg: but i also want heat, air conditioning, and a little safety: i drove a vw bug for many years, so the safety thing is not as big a deal as it may be with some folks, but the heat and air, are.
heehaw

 

[heehaw]

i wonder what the new models get now? you would think, if they burn fuel that effiecently, they wouldn't have much emissions??? but what do i know?
heehaw

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Think this would be a fun second car, not to mention the savings that one might realize in gasoline alone. Smart

Well while all you folks are complimenting them on how "smart" they are, they are basically calling us idiots. Look at how they advertise this car in other parts of the world. I won't be buying a car from them until they apologize to us first.

 

[hilld]

They will not be sold in the US until 2008.

Egon

Egon,

that is not correct. They will not be imported by DCX until 2008, they are currently imported by a 3rd party and being retrofitted for US standards, such as side impact beams and air bags & bumpers.

They can be purchased here in Portland, OR, however, there is a waiting list right now.

Mercedes did the same thing recently with the G-wagon, it was imported by a 3rd party until 04, when MB decided they wanted part of the pot and did it themselves.

Here is a link to the current importer of these cars:

http://www.zapworld.com/cars/smartcar.asp

Derek

 

[hudr]

Think this would be a fun second car, not to mention the savings that one might realize in gasoline alone. Smart

I visited some family in Germany several years ago and managed to wrangle a "test drive" in a Smart. Absolute blast to drive! Fun on the country roads and in the narrow vilage streets, but on the Autobahn... that's another story. It was only capable of about 80-85mph. Those big Audis and Mercedes just BLEW by. Of course, the Smart may have been improved some since then.
THe little 3cyl gasburner would wind forever and the 6 speed "tiptronic"? transmission was a lot of fun.
In fact, talking to my wife's then BIL (who is German) it seemed the cars were SO much fun to drive that hardly anyone actually got the fuel mileage it was rated at because they were driven at or near redline all the time while blasting about the countryside.

 

[AndyM]

If I could get one, I would rather have a VW Lupo TDI or VW Fox TDI.

The Lupo has a 1.2L three cylinder diesel and gets 78 mpg. It held the record a couple years ago for the best fuel economy on a production car.
Unfortunately, it was never imported to the U.S. and has been replaced for 2006 by the VW Fox, with a "larger" 1.4L diesel.

Here's the Lupo (2000-2005)...

Here's its replacement, the 2006 VW Fox...

 

[Gatorboy]

I won't be buying a car from them until they apologize to us first.

Apologize? Did they say something that wasn't true?