Thinking of Getting a Smart Car for a Toad?

[tallyo]

There are still a large number of folks who buy based on price and MPG only.  It's a lot like those whose favorite restaurants are those with all ya can eat buffets for $9.95 and no consideration for quality....

 

[Darin]

I just bought a 2000 Metro.  It gets good mileage. But not what I'd expect. The 3 spd auto gets about 10 mpg less than the manual.  Who'd a thought it would be that different.  I get about 30 mpg.

 

[Mark R.]

Think about it, my 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood gets  25 highway and 22 back and forth to work, I believe it was and remains the largest production car in the world in the last 20+ years. I think I will pass on the Metro!

 

[shadowfax]

Everything you said make sense logically, and in a head on collision, there is no question, the bigger vehicle wins, hands down.  However, the statistics would not agree that a truck is safer than a passenger car.  The rate of vehicle fatalities in light trucks is considerably higher than for passenger cars by about 30%.  Now, there are probably a variety of reasons for this if I had to guess they would include but not be limited to: higher roll-over percentage, less miles driven in trucks on average, lower seat-belt usage (guessing), higher rate of alcohol usage (guessing), general driver habits (guessing).

And because trucks have markedly different federal manufacturing requirements. They can get lower average gas mileage, and their safety engineering can be less stringent. This used to be OK because trucks were relatively rare except among people who actually needed them for hauling stuff or towing things. In those days, if a truck got into it with a car, the driver was probably OK even though the safety equipment wasn't as good as the car's.  But now that everyone and his dog has a massive truck, the likelihood that two trucks will collide is somewhat greater, and therefore the "I'm bigger than you" safety factor is. . well. . no longer a factor.

 

[Lindsay Richards]

70 mph is obtained by 2 cars going 35 mph in a headon wreck. I think the folks in the Smart Car would likely be dead. 35 is the normal speed Mom drive around to take kids to soccer games. I think folks are taking a big risk in driving one around just about anywhere. My only question is why did they ever call it the Smart Car.

 

[Mark R.]

Sounds like a "Smart question".

 

[rankjo]

The Smart Car crash tests have been criticized for being misleading.

Apparently the company reported crash tests between TWO smart cars, which might be expected to be much better than a crash between a smart car and a pickup, (or anything else for that matter).

I like the car for a city runabout, but I also like my Jeep Cherokee Sport for a toad.

Rankjo

 

[wack2547]

Three months ago it was reported in the Miami Media that there was a crash involving a Honda Fit and a Smart Car.  Both drivers died.  There may be some good reasons to buy a smart car like its so light you don't need a supplimental braking system or it won't reduce the gas mileage of the RV doing the towing but safety would not seem to be one of those reasons.  JMO  The price seems to way to high for what you get.  $18-19,000 could get you a lot more car for the money.

 

[Marc L]

Well, I personally would not want a Smart Car, but the main reason is that it is a two seater and we need 3 seats minimum.  The results of the collision between the Honda Fit and the Smart would probably be the same with any two similar sized vehicle.  Two RVs in a head on collision would not fair good either.  In the video I posted earlier for a crash test with a Smart and another sub-compact, they said that usually the sudden stop is what kills.  The internal organs can't take a deceleration from 70mph to 0 in a fraction of a second without any severe damage.

Defensive driving has a better chance of saving your life then the vehicle your are in.  Avoiding an accident is a million times better than surviving one.

 

[Tom]

[quote author=56kz2slow]Well, I personally would not want a Smart Car, but the main reason is that it is a two seater and we need 3 seats minimum.[/quote]

Here's the un-msmart second car we had when the kids were little. 4 seats, albeit a bit tight in the back. A small Fiat with a 650cc engine; Great for a weekend runabout or a trip to town with tight parking spots. The twins, our youngest, (girl/boy pictured) are now 40.

 

[Gottasmilealot]

Actually, a Smart Car is safer than many other small cars.  I wouldn't want to be between those two trucks in any vehicle.

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2007/8/Crashing-a-Smartcar-353341.html

 

[Tom]

Not that same video again  :

 

[BritChris]

The only thing though,Tom, is that all the other cars were small too.  My Dad used to drive a Morris Mini, and an Austin A30, which was really like driving around in a bubble.  If you had an accident you couldn't get wiped out by an SUV in those days.  Personally I rather like the idea of the Smart car.  It's a Mercedes product and if people started buying smaller cars then it might become a trend and it makes a whole lot of sense to me.  Defensive driving makes a whole lot of sense to me too.
Christine

 

[Tom]

LOL Christine, that little Fiat made a mini look like a Range Rover  ;D  The cottages in the photo are really tiny.

 

[mayfair]

I don't know why, but I'd feel safer in a Mini Cooper rather than a Smart Car.

They're both very similar in size, but the Mini just "feels" safer and I'm SURE is faster to get away from an accident if you see it coming.

 

[Mexray]

That video of the test crash shows the basic 'egg' shape of the Smart Car surviving...but I'm willing to bet that the occupants would still get 'scrambled'... :-\

It's not the crash that'll get ya', it's the sudden STOP!...

 

[Mark R.]

You said the occupants will still be scrambled in the egg, this is why the windshield staying intact as they point out in the video is so important, it keeps all the liquids in the car after the crash, now that is 'smart'. It also helps with crash site clean up!

 

[BernieD]

It's not the crash that'll get ya', it's the sudden STOP!...

If we're only worried about the sudden stop, the size and weight of the car shouldn't make a difference.  60-0 times should be identical. Seats, seat belts and belt anchors shouldn't be much different so that would mean the size and weight of the car would be irrelevant. Buy Smart ;D ;D

 

[Mexray]

Last year, I was the unfortunate witness to one of these 'sudden stop' kinds of accidents on the freeway...

I was traveling about 65 MPH in the #1 lane (left) of a three lane hwy, when I noticed the traffic up ahead in the #3 (right) lane was stopped, and an auto just barely ahead of me, but in the #3 lane didn't appear to be slowing down (texting, perhaps?) and collided, full speed with the stopped traffic - I saw NO brake lights - into a gardeners trailer being towed by a pickup....

The pickup had it's brakes on, and didn't move forward very much...the auto was a larger model Honda, fairly new...with only the driver inside...the result wasn't very pretty...let's just say that human neck muscles aren't designed for such rapid deceleration...the driver never knew what happened....really sad, indeed...

The basic 'cabin' of the Honda was intact, but the part that amazed me was the virtual 'explosion' of the Honda's various forward body parts as they flew everywhere - not like those car dummy crashes the auto makers perform - the whole front of the Honda just 'exploded', is the only way I can describe it...!

Be safe out there...

 

[maryland-david]

I still say the Smart Car offers more protection than my Harley. Obviously people choose the vehicle to drive based on more things than just safety alone. If safety was the only concern I guess that we would all be driving tanks, literally.