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smart car: What's the point?

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There are over 400 types of cars for sale in NA if practicality was the only reason to buy we'd all be driving fuel efficient compacts.
Thank GAWD we have choices
 
A5 said:
You're going to have to link to that leak, because right now you sound like a crazy person.
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facepalm
images
 
Bartman39 said:
The wife thinks they are just plain cute...

Me I`m scared to death to think what would happen if I hit one with my 2500HD...? :hmm:😱😵 Some how just dont think it would work out to well...?
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they did some study i saw (which i thought was bs) that said they would basically ping pong when hit. not sure how large a car would have to be to crush it instead tho.

id love to do this with one tho. i think it would be a crack up.
 
RedRooster said:
Are you sure those aren't the electric versions?
I think 94mpg would fastrack your financial recovery.
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As long as you don't go on the interstate, then the fortwo electric drive would be perfect. All the advantages of small size and efficiency without that wonky automated manual transmission. The problem is that it is electronically limited to 60mph. If it could do 80mph, then I would get one for a small commuter. (The Caprice I own would complement it)
 
I've been wondering this since about 2007 when I bought my Insight.

I have no idea why the Smart car is so popular, but it's a damn travesty that they sell so well when the original Insight did not.

I looked at them briefly when I was researching cars, saw their fuel economy, laughed, and never looked back.

Something so small should be getting 60MPG all day long.
 
Eli said:
I've been wondering this since about 2007 when I bought my Insight.

I have no idea why the Smart car is so popular, but it's a damn travesty that they sell so well when the original Insight did not.

I looked at them briefly when I was researching cars, saw their fuel economy, laughed, and never looked back.

Something so small should be getting 60MPG all day long.
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A friend of mine has one of those and specifically bought it for environmental reasons, she wouldn't believe me when I said my TDI gets about 10 mpg more than hers does on the freeway commuting, lol.
 
PhoKingGuy said:
A friend of mine has one of those and specifically bought it for environmental reasons, she wouldn't believe me when I said my TDI gets about 10 mpg more than hers does on the freeway commuting, lol.
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So she bought it for mileage then, not environmental reasons. Did you do the extra added cost of a diesel vehicle plus added cost of diesel fuel math to see if you actually do better in the long run?
 
punjabiplaya said:
So she bought it for mileage then, not environmental reasons. Did you do the extra added cost of a diesel vehicle plus added cost of diesel fuel math to see if you actually do better in the long run?
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Diesel still comes out ahead if you're just looking at carbon emission. Diesel is about 10% more carbon per volume, but it's not unusual for diesel vehicles to get 20-30% better mileage.

I think it was either nitric oxides or sulfur oxides where diesel engines really mess shit up. CO2 might cause global warming, but NO2 and SO2 cause acid rain. Acid rain is bad. Owning a diesel vehicle means you are a bad person.
 
Eli said:
I looked at them briefly when I was researching cars, saw their fuel economy, laughed, and never looked back.Something so small should be getting 60MPG all day long.
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This. all day, this.
 
punjabiplaya said:
So she bought it for mileage then, not environmental reasons. Did you do the extra added cost of a diesel vehicle plus added cost of diesel fuel math to see if you actually do better in the long run?
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I pay 4.30 a gallon for diesel and get about 43 mpg. If you do the math it works out better, last time I bothered to anyway.

Plus I'm not driving a smart car, that makes up for a lot.
 
Eli said:
I've been wondering this since about 2007 when I bought my Insight.

I have no idea why the Smart car is so popular, but it's a damn travesty that they sell so well when the original Insight did not.

I looked at them briefly when I was researching cars, saw their fuel economy, laughed, and never looked back.

Something so small should be getting 60MPG all day long.
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The original insight is a far better choice for a small two seater. Good mpg and actual usable space.
 
halik said:
The original insight is a far better choice for a small two seater. Good mpg and actual usable space.
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Yeah, that much was obvious.

It's really sad that they stopped making the 1st generation Insight in 2006.

Unfortunately that really limits them in today's market. They are still desirable, and are appreciating in value again with the spike in gas prices, but there are a lot of people that would not even consider a used car as a "new" car, even if it was the type of car they wanted and better in every way.

Even a CVT Insight is better than a Smart car. And they're selling 4800 units of these pieces of shit a year? FFFUUUUUUUU!!!!!

The Insight averaged about 2500 units a year from 2000 - 2006. A fucking shame. I guess in a sense Honda shot themselves in the foot by trying to have the first hybrid? Too ahead of it's time, perhaps? In 2000, the average price of gas in the US was $1.56. Nobody was worried about it...
 
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Eli said:
Yeah, that much was obvious.

It's really sad that they stopped making the 1st generation Insight in 2006.

Unfortunately that really limits them in today's market. They are still desirable, and are appreciating in value again with the spike in gas prices, but there are a lot of people that would not even consider a used car as a "new" car, even if it was the type of car they wanted and better in every way.

Even a CVT Insight is better than a Smart car. And they're selling 4800 units of these pieces of shit a year? FFFUUUUUUUU!!!!!

The Insight averaged about 2500 units a year from 2000 - 2006. A fucking shame.
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Clear cut example as any I can think of proving the efficacy of marketing.
 
Doppel said:
Clear cut example as any I can think of proving the efficacy of marketing.
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You're probably right, but I think it's more than that. See my edit.

I'm pretty sure that gas prices and overall thoughts/feelings/perceptions of gas prices had a big role in the underwhelming sales of the Insight. In 2001, the average of price went down to ~$1.44/gal..... Until 2004-2005, $2/gallon gasoline was pretty much unheard of. All through the 90s, gasoline averaged $1.11/gallon.

2002 - $1.34
2003 - $1.56
2004 - $1.85
2005 - $2.27
2006 - $2.57
2007 - $2.80
2008 - $3.24

Hmm. Maybe I'm wrong, because I don't think their numbers improved much if at all in 2005 and 2006. But it still sucks that they stopped making them right as everyone became hyper focused on gas prices.
 
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I thought the Smart Roadster Brabus edition was kind of cool. It was a very light weight rear wheel drive car with a flappy paddle gear box. The engine was a tiny 3 cylinder turbo, but because of the low weight you still got performance close to the Miata.
 
IcePickFreak said:
Yeah don't think you're going to find a better mpg car for cheaper really. Best suited to big cities where space is a premium. Of course there's plenty of idiots on the hwy and back-road county hwys - long as they drive the speed limit or stay out of the way, I don't really care.
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2012 Nissan Versa comes *really* close while being twice the size.
 
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