2008 Smart commuter car gets 40 mpg and will selling in USA for $12k.

Read all about it, he http://Muvy.org

At the price of $16,000 for that midget two passenger car, to drive on
American highways, to save a relative few hundred dollars a year, one would
be better off just buying a actual
coffin for $5,000

mike


"Useful Info" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Read all about it, he http://Muvy.org
>

Useful Info wrote:
> Read all about it, he http://Muvy.org
>



Both, my '82 & '83 Honda Civics get better than that and they are
bigger... Whoopty doo!

JT

Gunz4me > wrote in news:a7-
:

> Useful Info wrote:
>> Read all about it, he http://Muvy.org
>>
>
> OMG, I can just see one of those on the interstate getting knocked into
> the median by the draft of a big semi. The only plus I see with that
> tiny car is that it should be easy to find a parking spot, assuming I
> can make it to my destination without being run off the road.
>
> Second thought, I would much rather have a Honda Civic Hybrid than this
> tiny car.



We have Stupid cars already up here in Canada.

I must say, they look most utterly strange on the highway among the SUV's,
like mobile phone booths. And next to a semi, like roadkill waiting to
happen.

I measured one of these things once to see just how much room there was
between bumper and steering wheel, and I came up with forty inches. That's
right, just over one yard between whatever you ran into and you. Go measure
your own car. How much distance is there in that location? On my Integra, I
get 70", almost double the "crumple zone".

I notice the Stupid's length has been increased by a whopping 3" for the
2008 model year, this in order to to "improve safety". Sorta tells ya
something, doesn't it?

--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Mike Hunter wrote:
> At the price of $16,000 for that midget two passenger car, to drive on
> American highways, to save a relative few hundred dollars a year, one would
> be better off just buying a actual
> coffin for $5,000
>
> mike

Actually, it is a perfect car for people in NYC. They're small enough so
that you can just drive them into the elevator and park them in the
corner of your cubical for the day.

Jeff

Those little "Smart" cars have been running around in Europe for 7 or 8
years, but the times that I have been there, we never saw very many of them
on the road. The Mercedes name sells them to some people, but there are
much better buys for better transportation in Europe, the same as there is
here.
If they could get the price down to $10,000, they might make a good
substitute for a golf cart.
(Yes, I know, the model sold here is a little different).


"Mike Hunter" > wrote in message
...
> At the price of $16,000 for that midget two passenger car, to drive on
> American highways, to save a relative few hundred dollars a year, one
> would be better off just buying a actual
> coffin for $5,000
>
> mike
>
>
> "Useful Info" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>> Read all about it, he http://Muvy.org
>>
>
>

Graybeard wrote:
> Those little "Smart" cars have been running around in Europe for 7 or 8
> years, but the times that I have been there, we never saw very many of them
> on the road. The Mercedes name sells them to some people, but there are
> much better buys for better transportation in Europe, the same as there is
> here.
> If they could get the price down to $10,000, they might make a good
> substitute for a golf cart.
> (Yes, I know, the model sold here is a little different).

DiamlerBenz reportedly spent over 1,000,000,000 Euros on development of
the car. But they are far from recovering their investment.

So this program was much better than their merger of equals with Chrysler.

Jeff

> "Mike Hunter" > wrote in message
> ...
>> At the price of $16,000 for that midget two passenger car, to drive on
>> American highways, to save a relative few hundred dollars a year, one
>> would be better off just buying a actual
>> coffin for $5,000
>>
>> mike
>>
>>
>> "Useful Info" > wrote in message
>> ups.com...
>>> Read all about it, he http://Muvy.org
>>>
>>
>
>

"Graybeard" > wrote in message
...
> Those little "Smart" cars have been running around in Europe for 7 or 8
> years, but the times that I have been there, we never saw very many of
> them on the road.

That was what my daughter reported when she returned from France about 6
years ago. She saw them parked and being towed, but didn't see one actually
on the road. Logically, if they were parked or being towed they must have
been on the road at some point... unless they were being towed from parking
place to parking place.

Mike

"Useful Info" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Read all about it, he http://Muvy.org
>
>
You spammed us before with this same subject, remember?

As for the SMART car, I checked some user forums a few months ago. The
engine is notoriously flimsy; the conventional wisdom is that it is good for
60-100K km. One owner got good news, though. His engine with 70+ K km
appeared to be seized but on advice from a more experienced owner he
loosened the alternator belt. Sure enough - it was the alternator that was
seized ( a very common problem, apparently). The starter didn't have enough
torque to turn the dinky diesel with a seized alternator.

I sure don't want to trade in my 45-60 mpg (real world) five passenger Prius
with climate control for a two passenger, noisier, thirstier, far less
reliable, much more sluggish vehicle that - at present - is not even
available with A/C. (Putting A/C on a 50 hp engine is not likely to be in
the cards, either.)

SMART cars have been a money pit for Daimler-Chrysler - can Mercedes make it
pay?

Mike

"Mike Hunter" > wrote in message
...
> At the price of $16,000 for that midget two passenger car, to drive on
> American highways, to save a relative few hundred dollars a year, one
> would be better off just buying a actual
> coffin for $5,000
>
> mike
>
>
Okay, Mike - I have to give you a gold star for that!

Mike