And it's not yet the smaller car you can find... (but probably the smallest in the USA)

I know

Nice car.

I remember the little talk about theis car... "Its safe because its round like a ball..." then my dad showed me a picture of a guy that got cut in half when a "Lori" hit him head on... There was not much of anything left of that "smart" car. Also air quotes.

I think I've seen that pic. Turns out it was actually a VW Cross Fox in that photo.

Nah I was thinking of the wrong one... I mixed 2 pictures. The one I saw was not a head on rather the smart car ramed the back of a semi and kinda went under the guard on the trailer thus the spliting.

are those little things realy worth it??...i mean..they dont look like they can handle too much...

I really want to see one of these and a Fiat 500 next to one another.

Their crash ratings(depending on the year) are not to terrible. The only bad thing is that the amount of factory processing they need kinda nulifies their CO2 reduction.

The problem with the "crash rating" is that it's done against a equalient sized car.

So all bets are off unless you crash into either another Smart 4-2 or a IQ.

I know

Still there's no scoffing the mileage you get from a cofee cup of fuel on these things.

Ahh, a Swatch-Made ART car if I'm not mistaken

For the same amount of money you can get a 4 door sedan that gets nearly the same mileage and won't kill you in an accident if you're going over 40.

Won't be anywhere near as cheap to run though.

Guess you evaluate your safety based on nickles and dimes.

Wasn't saying I'd ever drive a one, but that was a point that had to be made non the less.

That would be fun to tool around the city in. I wouldn't want to go on the interstate on a roady to Vegas, though.

That thing is death, I wouldn't put a foot in one, yet alone touch it.

i live in a fairly small town and would consider getting one of these just to get around town. couldn't imagine driving it cross country though talk about taking your life into your hands. sure great gas mileage but low crash rating and the fact that if it breaks down in BFE your pretty much screwed

sidenote US roads are unsafe not just because of the way you drive your car, it's the way all the other people out there drive theirs......far too many people would see one of these on the road and go "dude lets mess with them"

You could consider getting a Zenn.
It's an electric car based on a light French-made car sold in the USA (sadly, they are available in petrol version only here :s ).
Or a "Oka NEV ZEV" (but they seems to be very rare, and the basis is a small Soviet car. Very "kitsch" but less comfortable, safe and modern than a ZENN...).
I suppose there is also US maker for electricar cars but I don't know about them :p

not a major producer, you see in the US any potential alternative fuel run car that might be of use is quickly put out of business or purchased by big oil or one of the big car companies......gotta keep the US populace dependant on oil therefore lining their pockets

Same here. Purely electric cars are "experimental". There is few makers, but all are hand-making their cars, making them expensive. And most are just a fiber cockpit on a 4 wheel base, nothing exciting.
Turning your car from petrol to electrical is hard, administration is very "locked" (even swapping a petrol engine for a different engine isn't allowed... Unless you wanna spend money and hours)

I am now suddenly interested in getting a car that reflects the name of my intellectual ego....

meh, I like my VW beetle. :P

44 mpg, nice. But how big is the tank?

8.75 gallons

impressively sized tank for such a tiny lil car.......

I'd rather have the Fiat 500. For about $5,000 more you get comparable or better real-world fuel economy (even if the EPA ratings are worse), a nice retro-modern shape, better handling and acceleration, and... ah yes, a back seat!

A back seat that anyone other than a child will find uncomfortable.

And you forgot to mention how renowned Fiat is for it's reliability. (or rather, for those that aren't familiar with it, lack there of)

Not saying it's not a nice car, it just comes with it's own set of cons to consider.

I don't know... a lot of my friends who have driven the newer Fiats love them.

The Fiat of the 90's and 2000's were unreliable. I heard new ones are better.

I know vehicle get 50 mile to the gallon and you can by them here depending were there sold some have restriction plats while other do not

far warning when buying something that small you going have read the state law on vehicle like this

mini truck or some call them "Kei trucks"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_truck

and if you needing space for more then two people then get a
\
mircovans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microvan

Compact van
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_van

mainly any these type of vehicle get rather good gas mileage with the mini truck depending on the laws in what state some state see them as ATV while other see them as a small vehicle

with micro and compact van the same law can come int o play

The Kei trucks are nice, but state laws are really funny about them, and some DMVs won't touch them because it's technically against federal law to register one for road use.

Some states, like Oklahoma and some counties in Missouri, actually allow them though. Not sure about Texas, but I know Arkansas only allows them as farm vehicles and they have a huge list of criteria for what a "farm vehicle" actually is.

here in Mississippi there pretty much street/road legal as long you have your insurance and the tags and papers done for it other then that your ok here also they tend take restriction plate that limit it to it 25-35 mph tho some still have depending where you get them

I still need to check it out for Oregon. I really want one of the "deck van" versions. It's like the microvan, but with the last third open as a pickup bed. I think it would be awesome to rig a tripod in the back and use it as a camera car for filming.

interesting idea hehe

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.....ck-van_002.JPG

A guy I know gutted the engine in one of those and put a Suzuki Hayabusa engine in it.

Why do people automatically assume Smarts are going to be crap in an accident?

Seriously people, go look at the results of a crash with one of these things - http://jalopnik.com/389911/smart-fo.....eturned-by-van
Rammed in the back by a 5 tonne lorry, then punted into a large van, the driver climbs out with his only injury a burn from the airbag? That's bad is it?

The problem with smarts is not safety, its the gearbox - which is terrible.
Plus their mileage compared to supermini's is kinda crap. Anything less than 50mpg these days is fairly poor.

not gonna rag on em for buyin one, but me personally I wouldn't... I'd prefer to grab the ass end and start it tumbling end over end down a steep hill just for laughs (not as vandalism, but like someone letting us do it for the lulz, they just look like they would roll well XD)

as for people talking about safety in crashes... there are MANY cars that are far far more dangerous... I know, I drive a car that is as big of a decap hazard as that thing allegedly is...and my car will top 100 easy, I know, I've done over it on the interstate on multiple occasions...any convertible sports car without a rollbar and crash-protection zones... is a deathtrap

still, kudos to em, I get 25 a gallon in my miata, and its good enough for me, i'd rather get there in a hurry, but if they have the time, its their dime :)

Yep, that there's a 'Smart' car, manufactured by Mercedes Benz. Did you know that one of their Diesel engines can achieve 84 Miles per gallon!