The best argument for energy research in existance. Smart cars....

[wacki]

http://www.smart.com/is-bin/intershop.static/WFS/mpc-uk-Site/-/Editions/Root%20Edition/units/mpc-uk/default/Media/UK_images_05/fortwo_coupe/product/586x256_main_fortwo_coupe_pure3.jpg

My brother just came back from Europe and saw a bunch of these on the autobahn.

Amazingly this guy goes 82 mph and still manages to have a decent safety rating. I'm not sure I would trust it though. No crumple zones /images/graemlins/confused.gif

See the rest here at thesmart.co.uk (http://www.smart.com/-snm-0140278236-1118396636-0000012211-0000001829-1118984457-enm-is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/mpc-uk-content-Site/en_UK/-/GBP/SVCPresentationPipeline-Start?Page=issite%3a%2f%2fmpc-uk-Site%2fmpc-uk%2ecom%2fRootFolder%2fsmart%2fmodelle%2epage)


http://www.smart.com/is-bin/intershop.static/WFS/mpc-uk-Site/-/Editions/Root%20Edition/units/mpc-uk/default/Media/UK_images_05/roadster/product/586x256_main_roadster_brabus3.jpg

This one is kind of cool though.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
Amazingly this guy goes 82 mph and still manages to have a decent safety rating.

[/ QUOTE ]
82mph top speed? That blows.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

I'm a fan of energy-efficient cars that don't look like they're trying to look futuristic. Put a freakin' normal looking body on the damned things.

[Wes ManTooth]

[ QUOTE ]
See the rest here at thesmart.co.uk (http://www.smart.com/-snm-0140278236-1118396636-0000012211-0000001829-1118984457-enm-is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/mpc-uk-content-Site/en_UK/-/GBP/SVCPresentationPipeline-Start?Page=issite%3a%2f%2fmpc-uk-Site%2fmpc-uk%2ecom%2fRootFolder%2fsmart%2fmodelle%2epage)


http://www.smart.com/is-bin/intershop.static/WFS/mpc-uk-Site/-/Editions/Root%20Edition/units/mpc-uk/default/Media/UK_images_05/roadster/product/586x256_main_roadster_brabus3.jpg

This one is kind of cool though.

[/ QUOTE ]

definately not cool...maybe for midgets

[wacki]

http://www.smart.com/is-bin/intershop.static/WFS/mpc-uk-Site/-/Editions/Root%20Edition/units/mpc-uk/default/Media/UK_images_05/fortwo_coupe/dimensions/fortwocoupe_dimensions.jpg

I agree. However, it's not the easiest thing to do when the car isn't much bigger than a crotch rocket.

On the other hand I think the roadster is that bad lookin. I'm just not sure I would fit in it.

[joecash]

damn, that roadster looks like my RX8!

http://mazda.jbcarpages.com/RX8/2004/Bilder/2004%20RX8%20Black%20rear%20left2.jpg

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Amazingly this guy goes 82 mph and still manages to have a decent safety rating.

[/ QUOTE ]
82mph top speed? That blows.

[/ QUOTE ]

Would you really call 82 mph slow if you were sitting inside of a car not much bigger than you were?

Also, how often do you drive faster than 82 mph? Just curious.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
damn, that roadster looks like my RX8!

[/ QUOTE ]
I was thinking more like a jacked up S2000.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Amazingly this guy goes 82 mph and still manages to have a decent safety rating.

[/ QUOTE ]
82mph top speed? That blows.

[/ QUOTE ]

Would you really call 82 mph slow if you were sitting inside of a car not much bigger than you were?

Also, how often do you drive faster than 82 mph? Just curious.

[/ QUOTE ]
It's not that I need to go faster than 82mph (although I actually do somewhat often - every time I go to the airport or drive somewhere outside of town), but more that it's an indication of a very slow 0-60 time, which blows.

[wacki]

Well the roadster goes 110 and has a 0-62.9 of 10.9 seconds. Which isn't too bad.

The shitbox has a 0-60 of 18.3 seconds... which blows.

This is the reason why I titled the thread the way I did.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
Well the roadster goes 110 and has a 0-62.9 of 10.9 seconds. Which isn't too bad.

The shitbox has a 0-60 of 18.3 seconds... which blows.

This is the reason why I titled the thread the way I did.

[/ QUOTE ]
Meh. I'm accustomed to 0-60 in about 5.4s. 10.9 I guess isn't the worst thing in the world, but it's not very good. Decent for an energy-efficient car, I guess. What kind of mileage does the roadster get?

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
damn, that roadster looks like my RX8!

http://mazda.jbcarpages.com/RX8/2004/Bilder/2004%20RX8%20Black%20rear%20left2.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]
It looks less like this picture than your first one, of the grey RX-8 from the front quarter.

[DrPublo]

[ QUOTE ]
Well the roadster goes 110 and has a 0-62.9 of 10.9 seconds. Which isn't too bad.

The shitbox has a 0-60 of 18.3 seconds... which blows.

This is the reason why I titled the thread the way I did.

[/ QUOTE ]

10.9 is HORRIBLE. Most 18 wheelers can beat that.

The Doc

[Emmitt2222]

They plan on bringing an SUV smart car to the states at some point if my memory serves me. Im not sure if that is a newer model of the roadster but when I saw it in Europe I liked it more and thats why I looked up if they were ever coming to the States.

[joecash]

here it is from the front.

http://mazda.jbcarpages.com/RX8/2004/Bilder/2004%20RX8%20Black%20front%20right3.jpg

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
What kind of mileage does the roadster get?

[/ QUOTE ]

65.7 mpg highway

[Zeno]

Good post.

I can just see Ray Zee bouncing around the gravel roads of Montana in that oversized gocart. Ray could also strap some intertubes to the sides and use it for a boat, flyfishing out the window.

-Zeno

[Alobar]

wacki wacki wacki. When are you going to realize, you will never see these in america??


and to everyone bitching about 0-60 times. My frist ride was a 79 chevy luv. 0-60 in 28 seconds. I would have jizzed if it did it in 10.9

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
wacki wacki wacki. When are you going to realize, you will never see these in america??

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.peakoil.net/uhdsg/weo2004/UHDSG2004.jpg





I wouldn't be so sure. Remember China is starting to develop an oil thirst too.

www.peakoil.net (http://www.peakoil.net)

[Emmitt2222]

[ QUOTE ]
When are you going to realize, you will never see these in america??

[/ QUOTE ]

I beg to differ (http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specialreports/articles/101361/article.html)

[Il_Mostro]

You might of course be correct.

But not for the reason you belive (I belive).

[Zeno]

Engine type

3-cylinder in-line engine at rear with turbo charger, charge cooler

Engine capacity in cc
698

Max. torque in Nm at rpm (edit: 80 Nm is ~ 59 foot lbs force)
80/1,800-4,000


Compression ratio
9.0: 1


Fuel delivery
Multipoint fuel injection with electronic accelerator


Exhaust: gas purification/exhaust gas standard
3-way catalytic converter/EU 4

CO2 emissions in g/km
113 - 116



Maximum speed in mph (km/h)
84 (135) [2]


Acceleration 0-62.5mph (0-100km/h) in s
18.3


Fuel type
Premium unleaded


Gross vehicle weight in kg
990 (edit: that's about 2,180 lbs.)

[Il_Mostro]

I saw lots of then in Paris though, makes a lot of sense, not the least for parking.
There are a few of those around here too, not too many, but some. But then again, there are (I imagine) a lot more small cars around here than in the states, already getting decent mileage so there is little point in getting the extra 30% or so that the Smart will give you.

Until gas is expensive enough, of course, but by then, who knows, we might not drive at all.

[Frequitude]

I see these all the time in Vienna. A couple days ago, one of the small ones drove by with it's top off. Now, THAT looked like a go-kart.

It seems they're handy for parking. I see them squeezed into the smallest spots imaginable.

[Matty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
wacki wacki wacki. When are you going to realize, you will never see these in america??

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.peakoil.net/uhdsg/weo2004/UHDSG2004.jpg





I wouldn't be so sure. Remember China is starting to develop an oil thirst too.

www.peakoil.net (http://www.peakoil.net)

[/ QUOTE ]If I see you post that graph one more time I swear to god I'm going to bitch about it.

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
here it is from the front.

http://mazda.jbcarpages.com/RX8/2004/Bilder/2004%20RX8%20Black%20front%20right3.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]

There are no chicks to pick up here

hahahahahahahahahahah

[OrangeHeat]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
wacki wacki wacki. When are you going to realize, you will never see these in america??

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.peakoil.net/uhdsg/weo2004/UHDSG2004.jpg





I wouldn't be so sure. Remember China is starting to develop an oil thirst too.

www.peakoil.net (http://www.peakoil.net)

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll be dead by the time we run out of oil. Screw you youngins.

Orange

[Blarg]

It would be great to see 40 guys getting out of one of these.

[MMMMMM]

[ QUOTE ]
It would be great to see 40 guys getting out of one of these.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd rather see 40 girls getting into one.

[djoyce003]

i've been to germany, they do not drive the smart cars on the autobahn unless they have a death wish...they are mainly for tooling around in the city. Do you have any concept of how ridiculously slow 82 mph is on the autobahn? We were passed like we were standing still going 180 mph in a big mercedez diesel by a guy in a BMW M5. 82 mph on the autobahn is suicide.

[SomethingClever]

I rode in one of those smart cars back in 2000 in Italy.

I'm 6'1", 170 lbs, and it was a TIGHT FIT!

I don't think your average 5'9", 250 lb. American will find it very comfortable.

[djoyce003]

laugh, won't see these in Texas either. I can look out of my office window right now and see more full size trucks than cars. Any concept of what a F-250 super duty diesel truck would do to one of these smart cars in even a low speed accident? needless to say the results would be catastrophic to anyone in the smart car at speeds of even 30 mph. these trucks weigh in the neighborhood of 3-5 tons, versus probably 1000 lbs for the smart car. It's physics regardless of any safety features.

[SomethingClever]

Just thought I'd add that I wish everyone was forced to drive motorcycles. It'd solve a lot of problems.

The only other vehicle available would be a truck, and you'd have to show proof of need.