and love it! I put my name on the waiting list at SmartCenter San Jose, and, lo and behold, got a call to come in and look at a Passion (someone changed their mind) that had everything that I had ordered last summer (my 'reservation' still shows delivery of a car between june and september 2008). Quite surprising! Needless to say, I rushed right over, and drove the car home about 90 minutes later! Good bye old reliable but thirsty 1997 Mercedes!
what a blast! some city driving, a bit of freeway driving (surprisingly solid feel), and some mountain road driving, and still 5/8 of a tank of gas remaining.
First impressions: the transmission is 'smoother' than I expected. Since my wife cannot drive a manual transmission, I expected her to drive in automatic (she does) mode, and for me to use the paddles, but I haven't bothered. As others have written, the transmission is 'learning' my habits (hopefully not the bad ones!) and is much better than the ride offered during last year's test drives/tour.
Seems pretty solid for a small car, comfortable seats, plenty of headroom, good sound system, logical dash, a surprising amount of storage space.
I would like to see some accessories start to show up soon- - easily available, like floor mats, a privacy cover for the back, that kind of thing. I've googled accessories, and seen some like bike racks, rear deck extensions (canada) but nothing like HomeLink systems, armrests, etc. Obviously this will happen as we get Smarts on the road ... I've actually seen four or five in my immediate area!
Added benefit: very narrow driveway used to require backing out. Now I can make a u-turn (3-point turn more correctly) on the apron of the garage, and drive out!
These cars really are generating lots of buzz, mostly positive. I've gotten the most comments from SUV drivers, asking about gas mileage (is it electric?). Go figure there! Lots of thumbs up, and no middle fingers yet (that I've seen).
Anyway, so far so good.
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