smart fortwo

[FJRocket]

Got a flat, came home early From Colorado. Oh well, wanted to be home for the 4th and go to a SMARTUSA demo in Indy on the 5th. Poured down rain all night on the 4th. So much for fireworks. Took off for Indy (100 miles to the demo site)... forgot my wallet. Had everything else.. but no money and no wallet. Duh. This is not turning out to be that great of a vacation... (jk, actually I've been having a bunch of fun... but stuff keeps getting all whacked...).

Find the location of the demo deal. I'm the first one there. An hour early. Ok, so I go to the gas station and buy $4.20 in gas... pocket change (tank bag change) and come back. The people setting up the shindig are actually pretty rude and don't want to be bothered while they are setting up. This event is a private invite deal for those of us who have thrown money down to buy one of these things "1st quarter 2008". I guess these college age chumps must all be hung over or something from their rainy night of drinking the night before or something. Crabby to say the least... Except for one guy who is very cool and is making with the info and the company line. Nice. He informs us that these cars are NOT the US cars, but are "world" models with Euro color paint and no cat coverters. Other than that, there is NO new information revealed about anything.

I was finally able to figure out that these are 1 liter, rear engine, rear drive models. I guess ALL the gas models will be 1 liter models based on the new "US" model. So the "world" gas model that the US is getting is already out in Europe.

Since I was a ******* and forgot my wallet, I got to ride with Zach (as opposed to drive Zach around, and it certainly is right that I did NOT get to drive). Zach was more interested in telling me about his R6 and his RR than talking about the car. And considering we only drove for about 4 blocks around the neighborhood, there wasn't much time to get to know the car. All the cars there that were "in tact" were driving. No extra ones parked and sitting around for you to crawl all over or inside. I did enjoyseeing the cars and how they were appointed.

The car, however was pretty cool. Tiny, yes. Uncomfortable? Not in the least. Rode fairly well for a small car, roomy, ergonomic. Nicely appointed for a cloth and plastic $14K car. Shifts like my AE. Tiptronic kind of manual, although the US model will get a dual gate shifter similar to my Subaru which can be set to Drive or slapped over to "manu-matic". That might be fun! Wonder when the US will get the Turbo model that is already available in Europe?

 

[KSFJR]

Hell Matt you could throw one of those on the back of your FJR for the next time you have a flat.

Too bad for the vacation glitches but you know the old saying about a bad day (insert here) is better than a good day at work.

Chester

 

[Silent]

You could always spoon a 'busa motor into it

:dribble:

 

[timk]

I was prepared to plunk the $99 and wait, but the one I wan't(diesal cabriolet) ain't offered. Don't want a gas model.

 

[FJRocket]

I was prepared to plunk the $99 and wait, but the one I wan't(diesal cabriolet) ain't offered. Don't want a gas model.

I really wanted the diesel, too. They also make a gas/turbo. We'll see what happens. I drive solo most of the time, so anything other than my FJR is a waste of gas. But if the fortwo comes back at 40 mpg as opposed to closer to 50 mpg, I'll probably bail. What was the Euro model turbo diesel getting? ~65 mpg? THAT's what I'm talking about!

 

[Dwavey]

These things have been out in Canada for a few years. They were pretty much an instant success, hugely outselling sales expectations - DaimlerChrysler brought in five times what they had forecast and still couldn't bring them in fast enough, evidently there's still a waiting list to get one. And they've proven themselves safety-wise in those winter weather collisions that happen east of the Coastal Mountains.

DaimlerChrysler used Canada as a test market before bringing them to the US, even though success with a small car in Canada doesn't always translate into the same success in the US - we just seem to take to smaller cars much better than our southern cousins.

Seems to me the only engine available is the 799cc turbodiesel. I know a few people who have one and they are happy with them, great fuel consumption (they say anywhere from 4 - 5 litres/100km, which is slightly better than what I get on my FJR) and surprisingly few problems. And as they grow more popular, cities are providing free or reduced-rate parking areas for them, giving motorcycles some competition for those tight spaces.

You can have a look at the Canadian version here: https://www.thesmart.ca/index.cfm?id=4720