What is it?
It's a smart ForTwo (Get it? For two people. They used to make a ForFour for four people.) Some folks call it a smart car. That is sort of like calling a Toyota a Toyota car. But no one knows what you mean when you say ForTwo, so smart car is easier.
Who makes it?
The company is smart, and it is owned by Mercedes Benz. Does that make it a Mercedes? No, it's a smart.
Is it smart, Smart, SMART?
The company always spells it with a lowercase “s”, so I will too, unless it's the first word in a sentence, because that would look too weird.
Where did "smart" come from?
I'm told, it originally stood for Swatch Mercedes art. The car was originally designed as a partnership between Daimler-Benz and Swatch, but Swatch later pulled out. As for the "art," the smart and the original Volkswagen Beetle are the only two cars ever to be included in the Museum of Modern Art.
What does the C> logo mean?According to the Wikipedia site, "The current Smart brand logo denotes part of a circle representing the wheel and an arrow for 'forward thinking'." Other sites say the "C" stands for "compact" and the arrow for forward thinking.
Is it gas/electric/hybrid?
It's gas, believe it or not. It has a three-cylinder, one-liter gasoline-powered engine.
What kind of mileage does it get?
According to 2008 EPA standards, the smart is rated at 33 mpg city / 41 mpg highway. That's lowered from 2007 standards of 40/45. In my personal experience, mileage has varied from about 30 mpg (mostly city driving, all with the AC on) to 43 mpg (mostly highway driving). Some folks have managed near or even over 50 mpg on the highway.
How big is it?
The smart is small, at about 8 feet 8 inches. Believe it or not, the US version (the 451) is bigger than the version sold previously in Europe and Canada (the 450). You can fit two smarts in a single parking space, and it's 5.1 feet wide. Surprisingly, it's taller than most other regular cars on the road at 5.1 feet tall.
Is it safe?
Most cars use a crumple zone for safety. The smart clearly has no crumple zone, with no hood and the engine just behind the driver. So it was built from the ground up based around a solid steel safety cell, called the tridion cell. If it gets hit by another car, that “roll cage” will just shove the smart out of the way. On the Smart Car of America forums, a smart owner was hit by a car, bounced off the guard rail, and flipped over several times across the road into the other guard rail. The car was totaled, but the driver opened the door and walked away perfectly fine.
In addition to the tridion cell, the smart has front and side airbags, Electronic Stability Program (ESP), brake assist, and anti-lock brakes. It received the highest ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for front and side crashworthiness.
How fast will it go?
The smart is governed at 90 mph. I drive mine on the highway all the time at 65 mph and have had it around 75 with no problem.
But how does it drive?
It feels a little like a sports car, to be honest. It has an extremely responsive suspension, and you feel connected to the road without feeling every bump and dip. It takes the turns well and doesn't feel off balance despite a higher center of gravity. Even at high speeds, it drives just fine and feels perfectly safe. The only time I notice how small it is while driving is during high winds. It is pretty light, after all.
Some reviews have complained about the transmission, noting a serious lag that's especially evident at low speeds/gears. This is pretty obvious the first time you drive it. By shifting manually, it's far less noticeable, and some very simple techniques make it negligible.
Is it manual or automatic?
Sort of both. Smart calls it an automated manual transmission. This means it's a manual transmission, but there's no clutch. You can drive it in automatic mode and it will shift for you. Or you can use the paddle shifters or gear shift to shift manually if you desire. And you can switch from one method to the other at any speed. The car will kick down one or two gears if you really need a burst of speed on the highway.
Where did you get it?
I got it from Smart Center Buffalo. Penske Automotive Group won the rights to sell the cars in the United States, and Mercedes dealerships in various regions applied to be an official dealership. They tried to space the dealerships out by demand and population. There are only three that I'm aware of in New York, with one in the city and one in Albany.
But you can't walk into a dealership and walk away with a car. Smart limited production for 2008 (I heard 30,000, but I'm not positive about that), so you have to put $99 down to reserve a car. You get that money back if you don't buy the car, or it's applied to the price. The wait is at least a year, and some dealerships are telling prospective buyers that it's more like 18 months due to demand. If you reserve one, you will receive an e-mail to confirm the make, model, and options.
Of course, if you want one sooner, you can go to your local dealership and ask to be put on the orphan list. Orphans are cars that are built for a buyer who then decides not to take the car. Most dealerships have long orphan lists, but they get to decide how they choose people from the list if an orphan is available. Some dealerships have been adding on dealer add-ons to jack up the price and bring them more profit. This is because there is no haggling over price. The price is set, and dealerships make a set profit for each car.
I ordered mine May 29, 2007. I picked my car up May 20, 2008. That's a wait of 356 days.
How much does it cost?
There are three models. The base model is $11,500, the middle model is $13,500, and the convertible stars at $16,500. There are a number of available packages and options available as well.
What did you get?
I bought the Passion, which is the middle model. The Passion has paddle shifters, a translucent roof, and some other features standard. I also chose the fog lights, power steering, extra instruments, radio upgrade, and alarm. From the dealership, I bought these OEM add-ons: rubber floormats, built-in CD case, and built-in ashtray (for change).
You also have a choice of colors, and some colors cost more. My color choice did cost more. I chose the red panels with black tridion cell. The color panels are replaceable too. You can trade your panels in for a new set in a new color for only about $400. Try getting your car completely painted professionally for that price!
So for that price, is it a bare-bones car?
No, not at all. I have a good stereo with 6-disc changer and sub woofer. There's air conditioning, power steering, anti-lock brakes, alarm, power windows and locks, and more. You can even get leather interior with heated seats, although I did not.
How much storage space is there?
There's 8 cubic feet of storage. They tell me you can fit 12 or so bags of groceries, two bags of golf clubs, or various other things. It's more space than you think, especially since you can fold down the passenger seat for extra storage. I can fit my 50-pound dog in the back, although he doesn't seem to like it much and wants to hop into the passenger seat.
Speaking of more space than you think – you'd be surprised if you sat in the car. I like to tell people it's bigger on the inside than the outside. I'm about 6 feet tall, and I have more than enough head room and can't even push the seat all the way back. There's more than enough room in the two seats.
How does it do in the snow?
That's a pretty important question since I live in upstate New York. It's a rear-wheel drive car with a rear engine, so it should do as well as a front-wheel drive car with a front engine. It also has ESP, traction control, cornering brake control, anti-lock brakes, brake assist, and other safety devices. So it should do pretty well, and others have said it works fine in small amounts of snow and ice.
But it is light, and I imagine it would have a hard time finding traction in serious snow. So I kept my SUV, which has four-wheel drive. I expect I'll drive the truck when it snows.
Why did you buy a smart?
I'll answer this in another post.
Are there any problems with the smart?
This is the first year of essentially a whole new car, even though it's based on the older 450 model. There are always problems with a first-year car. The smart has had recurring problems with the shifting mechanism, and mine had to be replaced after only 300 miles. This was discouraging, to say the least, but since it was replaced, it's driven fine with no problems. Only a small percentage of owners have had these problems.
Do you like it?
Yes, I love this car! It's a joy to drive! I look for excuses to drive it. The uniqueness draws a lot of attention, and I'm generally a pretty introspective person, but I enjoy answering questions about it. And I have to admit, it's fun to see people smile and wave just because they enjoy the car.
What's so smart about it?
The smart has very low emissions and is built in an extremely environmentally friendly factory and production process. It gets great mileage, takes up very little space, and is quite economical. And it's smart mechanically. It has rain sensors that will adjust the speed of your intermittent wipers for you, and if you have them on and put the car in reverse, it will run the rear wiper. If you stop extraordinarily quickly, it will turn the hazard lights on for you. You must lock the car from the outside with the keyfob alarm, so it's impossible to lock the keys in the car. There's a sunshade if you have the translucent roof, and the convertible can be lowered part way for a sunroof effect or all the way even at high speed. There's no room for a spare tire, of course, but there's a tire inflation kit.
Want more information about the smart? Check out the official website at www.smartusa.com.
