Is the Smart Car for You?
By Teresa Ambord
Have you seen the Smart car? It’s that insect-like tiny vehicle you’ve seen and wondered if it was real. To refresh your memory, take a look by clicking here: Smart.com
As you might imagine, owners of Smart cars get a lot of questions. Many say that when they stop at intersections, people in the ordinary cars next to them roll down their windows and ask “What the heck is that?” Others want to know, “Where can I get one?”
The fact is, they look kind of like a glorified roller skate. But the owners don’t seem to mind the comments and questions because they are getting close to 60 miles per gallon.
Smart cars are made in France by a division of Daimler Chrysler company called simply, Smart. If it’s true that necessity is the mother of invention, then it only makes sense that this high-mileage car would arise out of a country like France where gasoline is about $5 per gallon.
How big is the Smart car?
The Smart coupe is about five feet wide, and 8 feet long. As you can imagine, it fits in just about any parking space and can fairly easily turn in a circle. The passenger seat is set back a bit, to improve the vision line for the driver. And as for storage space, it’s predictably minimal but will hold a set of golf clubs.
The Smart turbocharged engine is three cylinders and 599cc, and is situated below and behind the seats. Engineered by Mercedes-Benz, the around-town mileage per gallon is about 48, sixty-seven on the highway, for an average of 56. Remarkably, this car can reach a maximum speed of 84 mph.
Not only is the Smart car ecologically sound because of its high mileage, but its design and development are also environmentally friendly. And when it reaches the end of its useful life, it is fully recyclable.
Other Versions
Smart cars come in several models including Pulse, Pure, and Passion. But seen around New York lately is another version, ForTwo.
The ForTwo has a diesel engine, and is often mistaken for a hybrid or electric car. Sure the gas mileage is outstanding, but the car is slow, zero to 60 in twenty long seconds, and the noise inside the car reminds you of the old VW bugs from decades ago. Daimler Chrysler has decided not to market the ForTwo in the United States. The general feeling is, if Americans are going to buy two-seaters, they want them to look sporty and have some speed capability.
But if you really want a ForTwo…
There is a California firm known as Zap, a seller of electric vehicles, that is trying to import ForTwos… maybe as many as 15,000 a year. Zap is located in Santa Rosa, California. Check out the Zap website below.
Chrysler also has a car they call ForFour. This is the car they hope to develop for the United States market. It will be called ForMore, an SUV version of the ForFour.
The ForMore will compete with the Toyota Rav4 and the Honda CR-V. It will have a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine, or an optional 3-liter V-6 engine. Production on the ForMore will begin in 2006 in Chrysler’s Brazilian factory. The plan is to sell 30,000 in the United States, and an equal number elsewhere in the world.
What about safety?
If you’re concerned about safety in the smaller Smart cars, they are safer than you might guess. They are built to the same level of safety as the Mercedes-Benz A class vehicles, which includes ABS brakes, driver and passenger air bags and optional side air bags.