Now I Want this Cute Little Smart Hybrid Car Coming to US in 2007

Anything that comes out of Detroit. Really? I sold my 2005 Mustang GT convertible for $200 more than I paid for it in 2004 when I bought a 2007, last August. ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter
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That's because it was bought for show, not transportation.

Reply to
Some O

I showed the back end of it to every Toyota I passed going up the grades around here, that's for sure ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Ya, this is true!

I like Toyotas best of all, but I had an Accord in the late 80's and it was a GREAT car. Mine was made in Ohio.

Reply to
Hachiroku

Three cars. Actually 4 but the "Hachiroku" isn't inspectable right now...

Ya, especially around here!

I have full ins. on the Good car, and I let my agent talk me into Comprehensive on the van. He mentioned something about replacing the windsheild...he must have been psychic!!

The interior is actually in good shape. And it has an MP3 player. No Bad Sound! (The system is not as built up as the Supra, but it does have the Factory Infinity speakers and amps!)

And the MP3 player...

Nah, I bought a 5 speed. I used to let her drive the Tercel when she needed to, and the LHS was too big for her.

I like all my cars, even the beater Voyager! We had one back in '94, when it was 2 years old, then a couple years ago I was given a '92 Gr. V'Ger w/o AWD. The 'donor' asked for it back...what could I do? He gave me the Tercel AWD wagon, the V'Ger, and the LHS! But, about 2 weeks later, someone traded the AWD for an Explorer, and the boss didn't want it. It has it's problems, but the '92-95 Caravan/V'Ger/Town&Country were pretty nice vehicles. I was totally surprised by how good they were! I'll miss it when it goes!

Reply to
Hachiroku

Psst! This was supposed to be an essay on "The Zen of having a Good Car and a Beater Car - I wasn't intending to critique you personally.

People still have the "Good" and "Beater" car mentality in sunny places too, but to different levels and for far different reasons. Ours is simple: "Nobody Walks In L.A." Either you have a spare car, or someone nearby in the family does.

The buses suck boulders, and what little subway/light rail/train service we have is usually not where you're going. It's so spread out that nothing is within walking or bicycle distance, and the taxis will rob you blind at regular rates - and doubly so with the blatantly hacked fare meters that the City doesn't try very hard to eradicate.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Best car I've ever had was made in Ohio too, but it isn't Japanese, it's a Jeep made in Toledo. (300,000+ and going strong!)

Jeff DeWitt

Hachiroku ???? wrote:

Reply to
Jeffrey DeWitt

Made By Chrysler? Yeah, I'd geuss so, either that or it's REALLY old!!!

Reply to
Hachiroku

LOL! Not taken that way! I just get used to defending why I have so many cars!!! ;)

Hmmm...it doesn't appear to have dawned on many people around here (I mean, HERE...in Mass) that...I LIKE CARS!!!!!

Hint: I like cars!!! ;)

Reply to
Hachiroku

It's a 96, yeah it was made by Chrysler, but it's got a lot of AMC in it.

Jeff DeWitt

Reply to
Jeffrey DeWitt

That certainly wouldn't have been a Smart then. They're astonishingly tough.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

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Have you actually been in one ?

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

Not at the same time as anyone/anything else. The car is useless for anything but a second or third car, or perhaps a first car in a third world country. But it is horrendously overpriced.

cordially, as always,

rm

Reply to
rm

I know ppl who've quite happily bought them as first cars. If you're not in the habit of driving very long distances they're ideal. Great for single ppl or couples too. They're actually quite spacious inside too btw and quite high up, so you get an excellent view of the road, better than your average sedan and more like a small SUV in fact.

They are expensive though. I'm puzzled why they can't fix that.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

They tend to be damn strong but unfortunately humans inside arent. Theres only so much force the connection between your kidneys and their blood vessels can take and when you exceed that you bleed to death internally on the spot, among other possibilities. In a

Reply to
Coyoteboy

Cars that only seat two are not "quite spacious", by definition. You can buy a Yaris for a lot less and it has a lot more functionality.

cordially, as always,

rm

Reply to
rm

It is possible to design even a small vehicle like a Smart to minimize intrusion into the passenger compartment during a crash, but it is not so easy to design the occupants so that their organs can withstand crash forces. Minimizing passenger compartment deformation is not the only component of making a crash-worthy vehicle. The other major component to vehicle crash-worthiness is to spread the dissipation of energy over a greater distance and time so that the occupants' internal organs have a chance to stay put.

An analogy is those competitions where contestants design packages to protect eggs that are dropped from heights. If you wrap an egg in padding and place the egg in a container that is roughly double the volume of the egg and drop it from a height of 3 feet, the container may not deform or break open but the egg inside will probably crack. If the container is bigger, there is more opportunity to provide a means of absorbing the energy and preventing the egg from cracking.

Another analogy is when stopping a car with a greasy pizza that is secured on the front seat. At 60 MPH, if you apply the brakes to stop the vehicle over a distance of 100 yards, the pizza toppings will remain on the crust. If you apply the brakes at 60 MPH to stop the vehicle over a distance of 20 yards, the pizza's toppings will probably slide off the crust even though there is no damage to the box.

In a vehicle, more real estate in front of the passengers means that energy can be dissipated over a larger distance and time than with a smaller vehicle.

A small vehicle can be designed to accelerate, brake, and handle as well or better than a larger vehicle while consuming less fuel and being able to park in smaller spaces, but in crash-worthiness, bigger is better.

Reply to
Ray O

Spacious as in the front of the 'front' of the car has lots of room. Far more than most normal cars and way more than any Yaris. Check one out.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

The Yaris in this photo

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to have more room in front of the passenger's torso than the Smart for two in this photo
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The Smart forfour seems to be roughly comparable in size to the Yaris.

An engine in front of the passenger compartment affords a little additional frontal crash protection, while a rear engine will afford a little additional rear crash protection.

Reply to
Ray O

As one who helped in designing crumple zones I can tell you it is nearly impossible to build in proper crumple zones in a vehicle that small. Larger vehicles allow for more time in microseconds during which the zone can reduce the speeds between the three collision and thus the speed at which they occur. The problem as with any of the smaller vehicles is the terminal speed at which ones body, the so called third collision, strikes the skeleton is too high. The second collision is when ones body strikes the SRS.

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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