Smart Car?

The motorcycle doesn't get much better mileage than the Lincoln or Mercury? Now that surprises me....my bike gets way better mileage than any car I've owned. It's too bad I can't ride it year round.
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The motorcycle is a V-twin cruiser, not the most efficient engine on the planet. Riding into high wind at high speed, I've gotten as low as 30mpg on it. My '86 Cougar got 30mpg regularly, and the Lincoln usually ranged from 28-32. Highway mileage only; those cars didn't do well at all in town with all of the stopping and starting.

Typical mileage on the bike is 35-45, and highest ever was close to 50. Way better than most cars, even new 'economy' models.
 
I test drove one a few years ago while at the Paris Auto Show. I'm a car-guy and was very impressed by them. For a "city car" they would be great. I would not recommend them for long distance driving (ie. cross country). To bad they didn't import their sports car convertible(no longer produced).
 
Yowzers, that Peel P-50 is a bit out there.

Here's the Mercedes 3 wheel thingy.
 

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Honda has some interesting hybrids coming out next fall (model year 2010). I'd be more likely to buy one of those rather than the Mercedes.

My 2005 Civic does nicely under the current circumstances, when gas goes to $10.00 a gallon I'll have to bike or walk (a little dangerous here). I'm reasoning if things go that sour, we might finally see some decent public transit to more areas.
 
That car picture a few posts back is the Ariel Atom. Truly a lust worthy car, it's probably the most unique and interesting sports car of the last couple decades. It's got street legal performance like an F1 racer, and gets very decent gas mileage to boot. Not exactly what I would call practical though; as an example it doesn't even have a radio. Still very very awesome. I drive everywhere with my dog, and I was thinking about getting one for how cool it would be to zoom around everybody with a spaniel as my wingman. Alas, it isn't good in the rain, of which my hometown has a lot, even on what most people would consider sunny days.

More to the point, the Smart's US version is too much hype for too little deliver. It doesn't have the engine of the Europe version, and ends up being just a novelty; it's a real pity. In Europe they rolled it out a few years ago and showed that two Smarts could fit in one parking space; they've even rolled out some double lined parking spaces just for it. Parking is a nightmare in Europe.

Around LA, the billboard cars that seem to stand out from the crowd are the Scion XB's. All the other billboard cars just look like brown ice cream in comparison. If that's your goal, I think you'd get a lot better bang for the buck with one of those. I get your idea that the Smart's novel, but it's so impractically novel that it might end up biting you in the bum. Frankly I think you'd be even more unique billboarding a Mini Cooper.
 
Bob W said:
The motorcycle is a V-twin cruiser, not the most efficient engine on the planet. Riding into high wind at high speed, I've gotten as low as 30mpg on it. My '86 Cougar got 30mpg regularly, and the Lincoln usually ranged from 28-32. Highway mileage only; those cars didn't do well at all in town with all of the stopping and starting.

Typical mileage on the bike is 35-45, and highest ever was close to 50. Way better than most cars, even new 'economy' models.
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Interesting. I ride a V-twin sportbike and consistently get 45-48mpg. I don't think I've ever gotten worse than 42.

/threadjack
 
Here's the Mercedes 3 wheel thingy.
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I'd like to try one of those!

That car picture a few posts back is the Ariel Atom. ...Not exactly what I would call practical though; as an example it doesn't even have a radio.
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My Honda has a radio that you can't hear, so it would be the same. Doesn't really affect the practicality anyway. I was gung-ho for an Atom after watching the review on Top Gear. Couldn't find a used one anywhere...

Interesting. I ride a V-twin sportbike and consistently get 45-48mpg. I don't think I've ever gotten worse than 42.

/threadjack
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I suspect that your sportbike is more aerodynamic and probably weighs less than a Volusia. The Volusia's pilot isn't aerodynamic either.
 
For a practical car, you can get a normal 4 seater that gets the same gas milage and is a heck of lot more practical. If you were living in Rome where everyone else owned a Vespa (or clone) then the Smart would make sense. In the USA, even in big cities, the Smart doesn't make sense for utilitarian and cost reasons.

If you want cute rolling billboard that is an attention getter, maybe. For a car that is appropriate for kid the learn to drive in? Are you really serious? What happens the first time they drive a "normal" car at college or on travel?

For myself, a small motorcycle gets huge gas milage and has very cheap insurance, tags, taxes, titles, etc. Yes, I like riding a motorcycle and ride safe so, I'll spend $12K on a motorcycle long before I do the same on a SMART (dumb car). In reality, something along the lines of Scion B, or similar Honda/Nissan/Toyota model is a more reasonable choice for the avearge citizen without extremely specific needs (like parking in Rome where you need park in the width of a normal domestic U.S. parking space).

A normal "small" car in the domestic U.S. market will be parkable at shopping malls, college parking lots, etc. so, the ultra compact SMART doesn't really have the same appeal it does in Europe where parking spaces are incredibly small and the roads used to be goat/cow/horse paths and are sized accordingly.

I see the SMART as a novelty in the domestic U.S. market much like an Ariel Atom. A few people will buy them but, not for practical reasons.
 
From what I gather from the few times I've visited Italy, the Smart car is popular in cities not so much for its fuel efficiency, but for its compactness in the very narrow, congested streets. I don't think it would be especially practical here, unless you live in a large city without good public transportation and don't drive out of it.

I've been getting close to 50mpg on my motorcycle (Kawasaki Concours), and I've been trying to use my car (30 mpg) as little as possible. Unfortunately, I have a long commute - 50 miles one way.:thumbdn::grumpy:
 
I have no commute at all, as I have my CNC shop in my home. I have an Acura TLS and MDX, so the practical stuff is covered by either of those, which we would keep. The cute rolling billboard (with good gas mileage) is the main thrust. I don't see learning driving on an underpowered 2 seat car as a bad thing myself. It beats getting a new Beamer or something like the neighbors might do. He'll need to be pretty adept at driving before he'll be driving my car. It does have airbags and ABS and the roll cage thing, so they're supposed to be pretty safe.

A neighbor has a Scion that's done the billboard thing, and it works well for that, but another full size car will be pushing on garage space for us. It's not to say that the garage can't be rearranged. The wife really doesn't like the Scion though. It's one that you love it or hate it I guess.
 
I live in Italy in one of the worst cities traffic wise.
Smarts are popular because of their size and because they are fairly sturdy in case you have an accident. If one wants to go smaller than that there are only scooters (ranging from 50cc to 500cc engines). But this is here in Italy where in same places one would be faster walking from A to B on top of the cars roofs rather than driving one..................
I'm sure in the US you can do much better than buying a Smart
Fausto
 
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