2008 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe: Promotes Conservation

My browser won't allow me to cut and paste...I was all set to lift /paste a few of your clever lines that had me laughing out loud. I'll just say I enjoyed your post instead - entertaining (and informative).

Buy a motorcycle does not equal buy a SMART! Not buy any stretch of the imagination..

You weren't the editor who wrote about wearing his g/f's snazzy Donna Karan sunglasses were you?
:P

"the Smart's gas pedal is virtually useless...As opposed to real cars where stomping on the throttle makes something happen, prodding the right-most pedal in the Smart is more like dropping a note in a suggestion box. Someone will get to it eventually"- hilarious. nice post

Should have got that motorcycle. I'd get a Honda CBR600RR for commuting & everyday use if I were into motorcycles. Cars are just so much more useful though.

Mike is clearly correct on several points. I've owned a smart November and you have to finesse the brake and steering to get the most the car has to offer. And it's fun to do.

Yes, you also have to pay more attention to everything. Potholes, although not the Grand Canyons some testers describe, can be jarring. Your fellow motorists, particularly the ones in high performance cars, can do some incredibly wild maneuvers. Even the car behind you deserves frequent attention checks. Tailgaters are MUCH closer in a smart.

My point is: the smart has made me a better driver and I'm having more fun behind the wheel.

My first car was a Fiat 128 with 49hp from 1,116cc four-cylinder engine that just loved to rev. Even at less than 1,800lb curb weight, that was not a lot of power.

Driving in the mountains, on two-lane roads with relatively short passing zones, conservation of momentum and far-sighted anticipation was very much necessary. Using all those skills it was actually quite easy to consistently be one of the faster vehicles on the road.

Learning to plan a pass long in advance required being very much aware of the road, all other vehicles on it, and to make contingency plans for unexpected hazards. No question, driving a great handling and braking, but low-powered, car teaches one to be a far better and more involved driver.

While I haven't driven a Smart, from what I hear it lacks the flexibility of my old, beloved Fiat, especially because of that perverted transmission.

I still think that younger drivers should learn to drive a manual transmission, small displacement engined car so as to learn the realities of the road. And no silly toys to distract them, like navigation and entertainment systems beyond a simple radio/CD/iPod player.

I agree with carguy622, but driving a weak car like this is just too much work. It was fun when I was in my 20s, but now, in my 40s, just gimme a Bimmer straight-6 with a manual tranny, please.

sgude, I've got both. My daily driver is a 2009 Smart Fortwo coupe, my 2nd car is a 2007 BMW Z4 M Coupe with 3.91 "Motorsport" gears: http://home.att.net/~epbrown01/widesig.jpg.

The cars have complementary atttributes. The Smart does teach the importance of looking down the road, planning ahead, and everything that could be called "situational awareness." The M Coupe's 8000-rpm redline reminds me not to be afraid to rev the engine, something we torque-crazy Americans tend to forget to do. A lot of the Smart's perceived slowness is simply people that don't work the little 3-cylinder hard. No, it will never pin you back in the seat, but it can actually scoot a bit. People have told me it's a little disconcerting seeing one pass at speed, since the car is so small you expect to see the occupants pedaling. :)

As for the transmission - it's actually not that bad. Smart should never have gone with the PRND layout for the US, it encourages people to treat it like an automatic, and it's not. Read any review of a single-clutch sequential gearbox, from SMG to F1 to whatever they call the version in Aston Martins, and nobody likes them, or even expects to like them. Auto-mode in the Smart is no worse, yet people see that PRND and expect it to drive like a TH400. I shift it like a manual at all times, and I'm much happier than the people that just stick it in Drive and forget it. I really wish Smart had stuck with the N/R/+/- layout from overseas.

epbrown --
They probably changed the tranny layout to PRND because they think we're too stupid to get NR+-. Thing is, they're probably right!

I learned to anticipate changing conditions, my braking, my acceleration and lane position while driving a Dodge Charger 2.2 back in the day. It wasn't slow -- especially for that time -- but it didn't get any respect from the billions of Camaros, Mustangs and Firebirds on the road at the time. Not to mention all the giant GM, Ford and Chrysler vehicles prevalent in the early 80s.

Now, I see things so clearly and easily. I always talk to my son while driving... "Look, this guy, he's going to go THERE," and he does it. Or "Look, this lady's not paying attention. I need to move to lane three because she's going to cross over into my lane..." and she does it. It's incredible. The preponderance of people talking on their phones while driving has increased bad driving exponentially as well.

Me and the 325i sport package just carve right through 'em. I love it.

This editorial about the driving style of a former Formula 1 driver is the best advertisement I've ever read for that kind of driving. It's what I aspire to.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20080205/FREE/750278998

If people aren't doing these things as drivers already thats sad. Being aware of your surrounding, planning ahead, and not slamming on your breaks and then excelerating out of control are the main parts to driving. So what is everyone else doing? Great write up though, maybe people will put the word out on what the correct way of driving is!

Jeremy Clarkson once wrote that you could insult a man's wife, his sexual p;rowess, and his religion and stil be friends, but insult his driving and you've made an enemy for life. Driving is one of those things everyone thinks they're good at - even if they flunked their driver's test 12 times, can't get insurance due to too many fender-benders, and have run over their own dog. And the worst thing about that surety, that blind faith in their ability, is that they will never, ever see any reason to improve.

Why would you think anyone does this stuff? Surely nothing you see on the road indicates it? Heck, I passed a woman yesterday reading the paper while she was driving!

Same reason I enjoy driving my 1980 240D. You actually have to think when all you have is 67 HP -- on a good day!

We didn't get the Euro shifter because the PRND layout is required by US law.

In the words of that great thespian, Gary Coleman, "To what are you referring, Willis, old chap?" We're swimming in cars that use semi-auto gearboxes that use the N/R/+/- shifter. It's on every SMG-equipped BMW.

Really? No Park position, and Drive and Reverse right next to each other? Wonder how they got that in...