Ok all I phrased it wrong. Let me eplain. When I was 17 a long time ago. A friend hit a lamp post at 40 in a g reg metro... bigger in the front that a smart car. He lost a leg.

How can you compare a 25 year old metro to a new car?

How can you compare a 25 year old metro to a new car?

Unless the laws of physics have changed a 4-5 ft bonnet made of reasonably thick steel with lots of crumple zone vs 1 ft of thin steel and plastic that are used on new cars nowadays with no crumple zone and a big lump of cast metal a few inches from a driver and passenger, think I know what would win. I have seen lots of accidents in my career, the small cars are always, always, always the ones that lose.

 

Oh also my parents got tapped by a 40 tonne lorry in a Passat, no problem just nerves shaken, by brother got tapped in a citroen small modern ugly thingy, it fell apart like a kinder egg toy.

 

And check out the ncap saftey ratings and what they mean between big and little cars. same stars mean different things.

 

I would drive a small car if it was only me that I was responsible for, not with a partener or family. You dont shoot drugs into your gids now do you. Well, some do I suspect nowadays if the newspapers are anything to go on.

Ford F150 (massive car)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix-JjIRWOBU

 

Fiat 500 (small car)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaxdJjW-v1o

 

I know which i'd rather be in.

 

Smart FourTwo versus E-Class (same IHIS people as above) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89gYxOmGtH4

 

Comes out darn well if you ask me. Like most modern cars it has a very rigid crash structure to maintain rigidity around the passengers. It is more of a safety cell:

 

For laughs lets see how a 1999 american Ford Escort gets on (which is much larger than the Smart but not too dissimilar ages)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oan35lI5Eiw

 

Ouch!

 

We had a Smart as a hire car in Spain and it was a real hoot! I throughly enjoyed it; the gearbox was awful but you can drive around it. I could blip the throttle between shifts and get nice smooth downshifts. It handled well and was great fun on gravel. Passing lorries on the motorway at 120KM/H was not scary or dangerous; it felt well made and very safe. It was in fact fairly practical and fitted a weeks worth of luggage in with no issues. 

 

I would love a smart roadster on steelies as a weekend toy.

We test drove a FourFor as a runabout. It was monumentally / dangerously slow.

Bought a Polo GTI instead.

what engine/transmission (assuming there's a choice)? my friend just got a manual 1.5 ForFour and it's decently nippy, wouldn't consider it anywhere near dangerously slow. noticeably quicker than the 1.3 hyundai I currently have the pleasure of driving and I don't feel that's do slow to be dangerous

Wasn't the ForFour just a tarted up Mitsubishi?

 

Might as well buy the Jap car and keep the vanity badge money.

Edited 3 October, 201312 yr by Aspman

Most 1980s cars are like battering rams attached to an egg box, in a crash the front doesn't deform and crumple, it moves backwards and the passenger compartment crumples with you in it.

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Wow ! didn't expect this much interest. The reason for thinking about a SMART was that it is not very common on the roads. I don't normally like to follow the crowds. I might have to widen my choices a bit. All of the cars I have are pretty much uncommon around here. 1) Superb Estate - only one around here ("Argie" used to have one but he has moved over to Mercedes now. By the way I popped round to his the other week to take a look - nice motor!) 2) Suzuki Jimny - for the winter - a couple around here but not many - it's a hoot, 3) Nissan 370Z - just for the fun of it - none of these around here.

 

So it has to be fairly rare but still a bit nippy. I will have a look at the IQ, Suzuki Swift Sport and Fiat 500 and anything else that comes to mind and think again.

When i was working for comet in oldham the new toy shop opened next door so the park was busy, comet responded by having a W plate smart car decorated in pink, green, baby blue and various other colours. Guess which muppet had to take it home one night, ME. Was funny to drive but not very fast, 65mph on the motorway home and left hand drive.

Before buying a Smart its worth going and driving an iQ,

which is like sitting and driving a real car, room for 2 full size adults  in comfort, but with the rear half of the car missing,

even on motorways it feels like a Full Sized car. (the turning circle in town is amazing, and the ease of parking.)

My recommendation is a iQ or iQ2 Multidrive.

 

Available at low enough prices now.

 

george

I saw smart car racing at the weekend, was quite interesting. A house down my road has 3 of them! One of them is cow print and the other has a moustache

Before buying a Smart its worth going and driving an iQ,

which is like sitting and driving a real car, room for 2 full size adults  in comfort, but with the rear half of the car missing,

even on motorways it feels like a Full Sized car. (the turning circle in town is amazing, and the ease of parking.)

My recommendation is a iQ or iQ2 Multidrive.

 

Available at low enough prices now.

 

george

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/290359-smart-car-has-anybody-any-experience-of-them/#entry3445195

;)

Yes Gadgetman i read the thread. 

& still would say, before buying a Smart, try a iQ first,

thats just advice from having had both.

 

*The Zee,

i have had Jimny's for more than 10 years, and use one as a daily driver in winter,

very uneconomic on fuel, but actually a good town car, not as much space in the front as in an iQ,

and an iQ is great in snow & on ice.

But on prepared/ploughed roads, not deep stuff.

 

george

Had three Smart cars here in the past.

The roadster was a brilliant little car and always made you smile when driving it.

The forfour brabus was great in a straight line but not so great round corners as the suspension was far to hard and it drank petrol like nothing else.

The brabus fortwo was fine when it wasn't needing warranty work or getting blown about by the wind and the dire service received by merc put us off them for life.

Was also dire in the snow.

I have had a smart convertable for two years now and love the practical side, parking, quick, easy to clean, economy!

I average around 50mpg and that is driving economically!

Love the convertable but hate the ride. Very hard! I hope the octavia will b, better as I have not even driven one yet! Pick it up on Tuesday.

I have the basic model smart, passion, which has flapy padles and I use these all thetime unless I am drinking coffee on the go! Works realy well.

Friend of mine had an IQ but her first service was £300 as it was , hard to work on. My smart cost £102 from my local garage!

http://toyota.co.uk/cgi-bin/toyota/bv/frame_start.jsp?id=Owners-Service-Servicing

£119, £189, £249, and charges for additional work, why would a first service need additional work?

Warranty covered or Recalls, and many Dealerships charge less than this.

 

Sadly someone maybe ripped your friend off.

(or maybe changed/replaced Discs or Pads or did something they told her needed doing.)

An iQ could not be easier to work on.

Everything is right there, open the bonnet, its all to be seen.

(Nothing like doing the engine in the rear of a Smart.)

No difference in doing the Service on a 3 Cylinder 1.0 or 4 cylinder 1.3. Manual or Multidrive.

0w 20 oil.

 

disc front and rear, never need touched other than check the pads, which is easy.

Pollen Filter £11.

2009-dec 2010 are Euro 4 and had 3 recalls, and the Brake Pipe meant the car had the Brake Fluid changed.

Recall 1 end 2, steering and ECU upgrade,  free, even now on a 2009 model.

Some 2009-2010 1.0 now need the EGR pipe done, Toyota know their fault and they are doing out of Warranty ones.

 

2011 on 5 year warranty, & Euro 5 Emissions. & no big service costs.

 

george

Yes Gadgetman i read the thread. 

& still would say, before buying a Smart, try a iQ first,

thats just advice from having had both.

 

*The Zee,

i have had Jimny's for more than 10 years, and use one as a daily driver in winter,

very uneconomic on fuel, but actually a good town car, not as much space in the front as in an iQ,

and an iQ is great in snow & on ice.

But on prepared/ploughed roads, not deep stuff.

 

george

The Jimny replaced an ageing SJ413 and I agree with you on the shortcomings, but it's great for me living in a really hilly part of the country where getting around is easier than in a Land Rover. (Have had both a Defender and Disco, both heavy and did get snowed in. The Jimny on the other hand is a lot lighter and does not dig itself in).