2008 smart fortwo Gets Rock Star Status in NYC
 Drive a smart fortwo in NYC and you can instantly achieve rock star status. Sounds like an advertisement? But it's true. Everywhere I went people gave me the thumbs up for 'driving green', let me pass if I wanted (unheard of in the city), asked me for a ride or asked me where to get one. In other words, I got respect! Who would ever think that a smart fortwo could garner as much praise as other flashier, more upscale and expensive models I've driven in the city. All the right ingredients:It's great looking, eco-conscious, inexpensive and new to the US. And it's tiny-tiny enough to create it's own lane, to park anywhere and skittle between cars like a bicycle. But deceptively enough, the interior is very spacious with cargo space big enough to contain 10 bags of groceries with room to spare! Upfront there's plenty of head and elbow room. My 6' teen was comfortable enough to ask me if I'd buy one for him! Driving the smart fortwo is a blast:In the city, the car was so quiet that everyone was asking if it was electric. And it's so nimble that I was able to skirt around pot holes, tuck into half parking spaces and hustle down narrow streets. The engine: The 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine puts out 70 hp, 33/40 miles to the gallon and was given the ULEV for low exhaust emissions. When you try to get some juice in automatic the gearing is jumpy but once you get it up to speed on a highway this guy rocks. I found that driving in manual (with paddles or the shifter)is much smoother and more responsive than in automatic. If you're not manual savvy an arrow in the console lets you know which direction to shift. As safe as a brick: The smart fortwo was designed by the Mercedes engineer of the S-class, who confirms that this is just as safe. For instance, the metal body is reinforced at strategic points with high-strength steel, the high-seating position gives the passenger and driver advantages in frontal and side impact crashes, the engine and starter battery are housed in impact protection zones. The smart fortwo also comes standard with two head/neck side airbags, a seat occupancy sensor and kneepads, ESP and ABS. The price:
The smart car comes in three versions; Fortwopure starts at $11,590; Fortwopassioncoupe starts at $13,590 and the Passion cabriolet starts at $16,590.
Posted by Holly May 5, 2008 2:03 pm
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Categories: The Car I Drove Last Night | What Women Want in a Car | Car Design and Car Shows | Rants and Raves
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"Everywhere I went people gave me the thumbs up for 'driving green', let me pass if I wanted (unheard of in the city), asked me for a ride or asked me where to get one. In other words, I got respect!"
How funny......even ridiculous! If only they knew that many cars (eg., Prius, Civic Hybrid) are far more economical.
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opfreak
- May 6, 2008 8:15 am
(#2 Total: 5)
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yes, its safe for an egg shell. vs another smart.
now get rammed by a full size suv, and since the car is so small, you can just get buried with it.
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not buying the hype-
granted, putting the car in NYC is smart hype- it's size is perfect for that packed urban driving, just like Europe. However, how many cities in the USA are comparable to the parking nightmare of NYC?
Also, if you want to be 'green' why would you even buy a car in NYC? No matter what the size of car, you are still paying huge $ for parking & using resources when walking and subway will do.
Smart negatives:
1. MPG's - not even on par w/ much larger cars. 33/40 is piss-poor for a vehicle of this size.
2. Cost- the penalty in practical size, storage capacity, passenger room, driving dynamics, etc (with NO added value in MPG's) and it's barely cheaper than a Honda FIT.
For about the same price, you get LESS room, LESS passenger capacity, LESS storage space, LESS power, LESS refiinement, LESS quality, LESS usability... and LESS MPG's.
In fact you can get BETTER emissions w/ larger vehicles too- SMART does not have PZEV options like Honda or others.
3. there is question as to the safety of the SMART. Overall, a safe car for the size but it is not disputed that simple mass (lack of) will cause the SMART to quickly change directions in impacts.
us news & world report:
"Kicking Tires cautions that the Fortwo's rollover rating "was also just three stars, a rating usually reserved for large SUVs. (Three stars is the rollover score the 2008 Ford Explorer got.)"
from thetorquereport.com
"During the side impact test of the Smart ForTwo the driver door unlatched and opened, this means that the driver or passenger could be ejected from the vehicle in a similar side impact. The ironic part is that NHTSA still gave the ForTwo a five-star safety rating (its highest rating) for being able to protect its occupants in a side impact crash.
Rae Tyson, a NHTSA spokesman, said the rating is based on the level of protection that the vehicle provides to occupants, but it wanted to note a potential safety implication.
"Given the amount of attention on smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles in general and this vehicle specifically, we wanted to try to get the vehicle tested and the results out there as quickly as possible," Tyson said.
In front impact tests the Smart ForTwo received four-stars out of five for the driver and three out of five for the passenger."
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Soon we're publishing a comparision test that pits the Smart against a couple of other cars... it will be VERY interesting... stay tuned and I'll post the link here when it goes live in a couple of weeks. -- Joanne
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If that comparison involves 4 people going out to dinner and then stopping at the grocery store on the way home... I know who looses.
I've seen a couple on the Los Angeles freeways and it is frightening to see. I've been to 6 Flags and on DemonDrop... but I won't be going on the "SmartForTwo on 5fwy" ride!
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