Everyone loves you if you drive a Smart car. At least that's what I found this past weekend. Wherever I went, the grocery, the post office, people would descend with questions, lots and lots and lots of questions, like the firefighters pictured here.
I don't have a ton of new news to report. Like everyone says, the ride is awful. If you are a head-banging punk-rocker, the Smart provides great training, but if you are a normal human being with no aspirations to be the next Sid Vicious, the constant lurch-a-thon that is driving the Smart is kind of a drag. The gear shifts take a full second, which can suck the fun out of driving. Driving on the highway wasn't quite as bad as everyone said. Though if the surface is groovy, the ride is not so groovy. The small tires try to follow the grooves and that makes for an unpleasant sensation; but hey, at least you're not lurching!
Despite what it looks like, it is roomy enough for two non-munchkins to drive in comfortably. I'm 6'4" and I fit just fine. The even bigger surprise was cargo. As pictured here, I could fit a grocery bag or two, an laptop bag, AND a portable refrigerator that I was selling.
Would I buy one myself? Um, no. But it was perfectly fine as a weekend driving experiment.
Glenn McClanan, Video Producer @ 5,767 miles
-
2009 Honda Fit Sport: Unrestful Armrest
October 30, 2009 4:57 PM
-
2010 Mazdaspeed 3: Our Favorite Caption
October 30, 2009 4:35 PM
-
2009 Dodge Challenger R/T: My 2nd Favorite Sound
October 30, 2009 2:12 PM
-
2009 Infiniti FX50: Bond. James Bond.
October 30, 2009 1:06 PM
-
2009 BMW 750i: Tale of Two Flat Tires
October 30, 2009 12:45 PM
Anonymous says:
03:57 PM, 06/16/08
Hopefully the iQ will come to the rescue...
Anonymous says:
07:03 PM, 06/16/08
I think once we get beyond the stage where we assume we need to carry half of the contents of our houses every time we venture to the supermarket, cars like this will make more sense as mainstream commuters.
In a perverse sense, spiking fuel prices are finally forcing rational thinking back into the market. Not a totally bad state of affairs.
Hmm, I wonder if Sally Field would buy one.
altimadude00 says:
01:19 PM, 06/17/08
No room for babies or requisite baby junk.
canadaphant says:
02:42 PM, 06/17/08
Once they've been around a year or two, the celebrity factor will go away. Most people don't bat an eye at them in Calgary anymore. Unfortunately, this means a large part of your current owner's experience will go away, and you'll be left with a tiny, slow, poor handling, riding, and shifting coupe. Contrast it to the Miata, and you realize you've been conned by the Germans and Swiss.
hondacura4 says:
06:19 PM, 06/17/08
Maybe if I was single, no kids, lived in a REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY big city.......nah...I couldnt do it. Give me the Fit Sport 5MT.
kennylxix says:
06:19 AM, 06/18/08
Umm...what ever happened to the post where it got fixed. One post it's sitting waiting for word on when or even if it will get fixed and the next post *poof* its good to go. Is anyone else cusious about what happened?