Does anyone know of any modifications for the smart fortwo US model. I have seen the Brabus kit but am looking for other unique upgrades for my car when I get it.
I will be very interested in installing new seats and probably new big brakes if that is possible.
I doubt I will care to lower the car but I would like to upgrade the suspension if possible.
Why not try the car without making any changes to it first? The manufacturer has gone to alot of trouble to optimize the Smart design already so why change a good thing. Personalizing the car is another thing that is more likely done by the younger generation and that's acceptable. If it ain't broken, don't fix it!
Why not try the car without making any changes to it first? The manufacturer has gone to alot of trouble to optimize the Smart design already so why change a good thing. Personalizing the car is another thing that is more likely done by the younger generation and that's acceptable. If it ain't broken, don't fix it!
Amen. Isn't the beauty of this car the fact there isn't any more than you need?
i don't think you are going to get it going fast enough to overdrive the brakes....
even at an auto-X or track event.
if you have seen the cars, (i think) it's going to be hard to make an alternate wheel and tire combo look better than stock. they really have the "big & little " thing going with the front wheel and tire package being much narrower than the rear.
not saying negative (i do have one of the first deposits down) but just saying i've seen a lot of the cars in europe and this "feature" stands out to me.
cheers, haas
Last edited by haasfogle; 06-28-2007 at 04:11 AM.
Reason: spelling
After talkign to a few builders of aftermarket parts... it sounds like many dealers think this car will stay very eco-friendly and not atract the aftermarket crowd as much....
BUT I think differently and I plan on helping the smart fortwo make it all the way in to the aftermarket tunning industry!
Please bare with me, as this is my maiden voyage...
I like most of you, have been bitten by the "Smart Bug"
and I haven't been the same since...
I have this vision of me towing a Diesel Smart Car behind my motorhome,
a Silver and Electric Blue with Tan interior Smart, with the early body style...
I love the early body style with three tail lights and "Spider Eyes" headlights...
I don't think I will buy a new Smart Car, unless an aftermarket "Early Style Body kit"
is offered, for a Diesel Smart...
I guess as a US citizen my options are few... I would love to buy the Canadian version
early body style diesel that gets 70 MPG...But for a reason that escapes me, our bureaucrats
don't want us to have that option...
If anyone can help me figure this out, I would appreciate it...Has anyone been successful with
importing a Diesel Smart from Canada?
I was bit by the Smart bug and I am a US citizen and I have a vacation home in Canada which makes me a Canadian resident. I purchased a 2006 Smart Passion convertible in St. John, NB with all the Brabus accessories. It is all silver with the bungee red interior. Great looking car.
My plan was to not only drive the car in Canada but to bring it to the US to enjoy so I had a custom trailer made for it to tow behind my Honda Pilot.I live 800 miles away in New York from PEI and I did not want to put the mileage on the Smart.
My first attempt to bring car/trailer across the border was a fiasco. I called US customs in advance and stated that I wanted to bring a Canadian registered car in my name down for the winter to the States and that the car CANNOT be sold in the US. I was told no problem so I trailered the car 250 miles to the crossing in Calais,Me last February. The crossing agent looked at the trailered Smart and stated the car was illegal in the US!
I asked to speak to a supervisor and stated that I had called customs and received assurances that the car could cross and I stated that the Smart cars are driven back and forth over the border all the time. My difference is I was trailering the car and being US with a Canada residence. He said he remembered a memo 2 years earlier that this car was illegal and I was forced to drive back to PEI. My wife was furious.
What I ended up doing in March is that my future daughter-in-law is Canadian and was in Toronto at the time finishing the wedding plans before flying back to NY. I had her fly into Moncton, NB, I picked her up in my Pilot trailering the Smart and went to the border crossing in northern Me where I took the car off the trailer, let her drive the Smart across. No problem. I followed her with my Pilot/ emptytrailer. Again no problem. Re-trailered the Smart and kept the car in NY for 6 months.
Going back was no problem because Smart Car/trailer had Canadian plates and I carried valid registrations for both.
Pain in the neck but worth it. I am going to try and trailer car across again now that the Smart Car is better known and is a year old.
The diesel Smart is the way to go and if you have the ability to register a car in Canada and drive it here do it!
I was bit by the Smart bug and I am a US citizen and I have a vacation home in Canada which makes me a Canadian resident. I purchased a 2006 Smart Passion convertible in St. John, NB with all the Brabus accessories. It is all silver with the bungee red interior. Great looking car.
My plan was to not only drive the car in Canada but to bring it to the US to enjoy so I had a custom trailer made for it to tow behind my Honda Pilot.I live 800 miles away in New York from PEI and I did not want to put the mileage on the Smart.
My first attempt to bring car/trailer across the border was a fiasco. I called US customs in advance and stated that I wanted to bring a Canadian registered car in my name down for the winter to the States and that the car CANNOT be sold in the US. I was told no problem so I trailered the car 250 miles to the crossing in Calais,Me last February. The crossing agent looked at the trailered Smart and stated the car was illegal in the US!
I asked to speak to a supervisor and stated that I had called customs and received assurances that the car could cross and I stated that the Smart cars are driven back and forth over the border all the time. My difference is I was trailering the car and being US with a Canada residence. He said he remembered a memo 2 years earlier that this car was illegal and I was forced to drive back to PEI. My wife was furious.
What I ended up doing in March is that my future daughter-in-law is Canadian and was in Toronto at the time finishing the wedding plans before flying back to NY. I had her fly into Moncton, NB, I picked her up in my Pilot trailering the Smart and went to the border crossing in northern Me where I took the car off the trailer, let her drive the Smart across. No problem. I followed her with my Pilot/ emptytrailer. Again no problem. Re-trailered the Smart and kept the car in NY for 6 months.
Going back was no problem because Smart Car/trailer had Canadian plates and I carried valid registrations for both.
Pain in the neck but worth it. I am going to try and trailer car across again now that the Smart Car is better known and is a year old.
The diesel Smart is the way to go and if you have the ability to register a car in Canada and drive it here do it!
Michael
Michael,
Thanks for sharing the knowledge in this area as I would love to have the diesel model but would have no idea how to go about getting it legalized in the US.
Unfortunately I do not know anyone with property in Canada but I do have many friends that have brought Skylines down and went through the hoops to register those vehicles from Canada...
I guess this might be the first path to look at for getting a cdi Diesel model to the states!
I was bit by the Smart bug and I am a US citizen and I have a vacation home in Canada which makes me a Canadian resident. I purchased a 2006 Smart Passion convertible in St. John, NB with all the Brabus accessories. It is all silver with the bungee red interior. Great looking car.
My plan was to not only drive the car in Canada but to bring it to the US to enjoy so I had a custom trailer made for it to tow behind my Honda Pilot.I live 800 miles away in New York from PEI and I did not want to put the mileage on the Smart.
My first attempt to bring car/trailer across the border was a fiasco. I called US customs in advance and stated that I wanted to bring a Canadian registered car in my name down for the winter to the States and that the car CANNOT be sold in the US. I was told no problem so I trailered the car 250 miles to the crossing in Calais,Me last February. The crossing agent looked at the trailered Smart and stated the car was illegal in the US!
I asked to speak to a supervisor and stated that I had called customs and received assurances that the car could cross and I stated that the Smart cars are driven back and forth over the border all the time. My difference is I was trailering the car and being US with a Canada residence. He said he remembered a memo 2 years earlier that this car was illegal and I was forced to drive back to PEI. My wife was furious.
What I ended up doing in March is that my future daughter-in-law is Canadian and was in Toronto at the time finishing the wedding plans before flying back to NY. I had her fly into Moncton, NB, I picked her up in my Pilot trailering the Smart and went to the border crossing in northern Me where I took the car off the trailer, let her drive the Smart across. No problem. I followed her with my Pilot/ emptytrailer. Again no problem. Re-trailered the Smart and kept the car in NY for 6 months.
Going back was no problem because Smart Car/trailer had Canadian plates and I carried valid registrations for both.
Pain in the neck but worth it. I am going to try and trailer car across again now that the Smart Car is better known and is a year old.
The diesel Smart is the way to go and if you have the ability to register a car in Canada and drive it here do it!
Michael
Michael, great post!
You proved that no matter what obstacles are put in a guys way, a good Man will always find a way to get what he wants! It gives us diesel guys hope...
My hope is that sometime in the near future these fuel efficient diesels in Canada will be allowed to be licenced in the states...
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