2008 Smart Fortwo: I'll Take a Justy Instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpFR1GyNXM

This is just too ironic to read and I feel like John is in some parallel universe with me:

I currently own a 1987 Subaru Justy that I love dearly and will never ger rid of (his pictures can be seen at: http://www.subarujusty.proboards20.com/index.cgi?board=memberjustys&action=display&thread=1279 ) My trusty Justy has never let me down and the A/C works tremendously. Plus I average 37mpg, but have achieved 50mpg on longer trips. It's comfortable, fun, zippy, and very versatile. Plus I think it's darn cute!

I needed a new commuter car to give the poor Justy a break and to enjoy a life of rest and relaxation. So last year, hyped up by promising reviews, I put a $99 reservation on the Smart. When I was finally able to test drive one at the "Smart House" in Venice, CA, it was very disapointing. The transmission was annoyingly jerky to the point to cause whiplash, the brakes had scary response times, and the whole car just felt unstable and cheap.

I was so glad to get back into my Justy after the test drive. In comparision, my car felt solid, more practical, and dare I say it, more civilised? The Smart was about the worst car I had ever driven and it made me appreciate the Justy much more. It gets me better fuel ecomony (without premium), is better built, has more room, and can fit in most spaces as well. I would take it anyday over the Smart as well!

My first car was a Justy and it is still my favorite car ever. It was solid, practical, frugal, roomy and a lot of fun. 37 mpg was what I got, too. Mine was a 4WD RS model with 5-speed manual and on-demand 4WD. The three cylinder engine was fantastic, far better than anything else I have even tried. It was so easy to drive! It did 110 mph at redline in 5th gear. It went through snow over a foot deep. LOVED IT!

I wish Subaru would import the current Sirion-based Justy. We drove a Sirion on vacation last winter and were impressed by it. It is a great family car! It is far roomier and more practical than any American minivan.

That's funny, I actually called it the trusty Justy too. When I sold it to a Med School student -- after six years and 100k of loyal service -- it was still running strong and not leaking or burning a drop of oil.

This is awesome, the Smart Fortwo PWNED by 1987

If we have to cut it some slack for lacking safety features that the Smart has among other luxury's like a CD player, we can cut the Smart some slack for not being more fuel efficient than the Justy.

The Justy reigned king for only a year. In 1988, the Festiva stepped in and got even better gas mileage.

Whoops, it looks like neither deserved the title. The 1985 Suzuki Swift SA310 blew them all out of the water. 39/47mpg under the revised EPA ratings.

Just looking at your Justy gave me a pang for my 1984 Mitsubishi mirage! 100K miles on it with no repairs, no oil burning and 40-45 MPG....AND it was fun to drive.

It amazes me that after 20 years of technological advancement we have modern day cars that don't compare to the fuel economy of those 80's econo cars. Ford Festivas, Chevy Sprints, Subaru Justys, and Honda Civics of the day could easily get over 40mpg, and some over 50. Nowadays the Fit and Yaris are fuel economy champs, but neither squeak by past 40. Part of the problem is that today's cars are so weighed down with airbags, power accesories, and sound deadening that they are much more porky. It'd be interesting if someone offered a bare-bones car nowadays that had EPA estimates over 40mpg again. I don't need power windows and power steering or factory rims, so I would be happy to buy one.

If you drive the Smart Car like a sports car then it wont impress you. If you drive it like a normal car is averages better economy than nearly every car out there, and has plenty of power and brakes wonderfully. If you drive the Smart Car like a Smart Car it achieves up 53.6 MPG and is the perfect solo commuter car while being able to fit in all the rejected parking spots round town. Mine has 11k miles on it already and averaged 48 mpg since February 2008 and does nearly 400 miles between fill-ups using a whole whopping 7 or so gallons.

Oh and the Smart is extremely fun to drive too, what a shocker.

As soon as I saw this post, I knew Festiboi would comment with his story. I used to work with the guy (hey, Dude!), and he had a pinup of the Justy in his cubicle. True story.

When I was shopping for my very first new car, I test drove the redesigned Justy with the CVT -- the first-ever passenger car CVT application in North America.

I let my mom talk me into a Tercel; bulletproof, but boring. I've always wondered how the Justy would've worked out for me.

I can't believe all of your raving about these little cars being fun to drive. Relative to taking the bus, they're fun, but that's about it. You people need to get out more and drive a real car.

A 1984 Mitsubishi Mirage fun?!? Give me a break! I rented one of those POS once (same year I think), and it ran like crap - always intake backfired on acceleration, 0-60 took about 5 minutes, it rattled, and it even smelled cheap. Definitely goes down as the biggest POS car I ever rented.

Years later, I rented the last generation Mirage before Lancer, and while this one at least ran properly, it was still torture to drive. ZERO torque or power off the line, I constantly had to redline it to get any sort of power from the pathetic engine, the steering was numb, the brakes were squishy and sucked, and the ride was terrible. If I turned the A/C on, it sucked so much power from the engine I felt like I was going in reverse. You call that fun?

Subarus had "Hillholder technology"!

stingray

I had a 82 Dodge Colt which is a rebadged Mitsu Mirage. We had it for 6 years and 200,000 km (about 120,000 miles) and it was a great little car. Mine had a 1.4L engine with a 4 speed manual and a dual range gearbox. In the "power range", it would spin the little front tires all the way thought 1st gear.

It really was a fun little car to toss around and it never needed anything more then routine maintenance. I driven a lot of "real" cars over the years but it's hard to beat the simple fun of a well made small car.

The trick is to keep them simple, no automatics, no AC,no power windows or locks, not even power steering on mine. Just the fun of actually driving the car myself.

Sorry your rental car didn't work out but I don't think a poorly maintained rental is a good way to judge a car.

The high mileage claims for 'economy' cars in the US, including the Prius, are a joke compared to what is available in Europe.
I just got back from holiday there, and I rented a Renault Clio. It averaged 67mpg on the motorway! Cruised at a constant 110-120kmh (about 68-72mph). Has a nice 1.2 liter turbo GAS motor. The diesel does about 10mpg more.
Check out Renault, Citroen and Fiat's websites for specs to see how great these cars are.
In comparison, the same size Chevy Cobalt that I was given as a loaner recently got 18mpg city, 25 highway...

So in the picture does the car belong to the lady with the kid or the clown?

remember desmo... Europe doesn't use the small US gallon. They use the larger Imperial gallon (or litres).

Europeans have no engineering magic that allows them to get better mileage. Smaller engines combined with smaller cars and bigger gallons gives better mileage.

You could do the same here with a Yaris or Fit if you put in a 1.2 or 1.3. American complain about the power now so I don't see that happening.

The only way a 1984 Mitsubishi Mirage would be fun to drive is if it's your first car. In that case, anything is fun to drive.

I love how some people wants to tell us what is and isn't "fun". For some folks, fun is a muscle car that puts out 600 HP but can't do anything but go in a straight line. For others it is a good handling car that, even if woefully underpowered, likes the twisties. Obviously, we'd all like to have both, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun in a car with either handling or power virtues but not both. Obviously as well, anything made in 1984 would probably feel pretty incompetent today in comparison to a modern car, unless you had the money back then to buy a new 911.

Very well said, Karjunkie! Car fans love cars; it's as simple as that. My philosophy has always been, if you can't have fun in any type of car, then maybe you're not much of a driver.

karjunkie,

Firstly, while there is a serious point to be made, this whole thread is light hearted. Making fun of the Justy, Mirage, or Festiva if part of the fun.

Secondly, I drove an 80's Mirage. It served it's purpose, but I'd hardly classify it as a good handling car. Perhaps, because it was small and light, it could hang a corner tons better than an 80's LTD.

Fun to drive? As I said, back then most things were fun to drive, because we (me and my friends) drove like idiots. Once, we chopped the body of a full size van off so that it only contained the frame and front seats. That thing was fun to drive!

Firstwagon wrote:
"remember desmo... Europe doesn't use the small US gallon. They use the larger Imperial gallon (or litres)."

I know. They use liters. I converted from liters to US Gallons. 4.5 liters = 1.189 US gallons (amount of gas required to drive from Bregenz/Austria to Zurich Airport).
The Renault Clio was fun to drive. I took it over the Splugen Pass that connects Switzerland to Italy. It had no problems whatsoever going over that mountain range.
And it gets 67 mp US gallon on the highway. Makes us seem like a bunch of a-holes for accepting the "fuel efficient" cars that we drive in the US.
Prius? What a flippin' joke.

40 MPG + AWD?! If Subaru could release a new Justy with these specs they'd have a winner on their hands.