Harley Rose

[Harley Rose]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the Forum and hoping for information as I await delivery. I ordered my car in April. Now, it does seem that there are quite a few more color choices and model choices, or am I reading forum information incorrectly?

My biggest concern is the Consumer Reports article about the necessity of premium gas (I confirmed that.) and the rough ride.

Any feedback on these concerns?

Charlotte

[gingerm]

We figure its costing us .10 max per mile using the premium - really hasn't seem to be an issue with us its only like a 8.6 gal tank - and the ride compared to the 70 vw i use to have, the honda civic and the geo metro its about the same. But the smile factor is priceless - it makes me smile on my way to work and brightens the end of everyday when I get to leave work and jump into my car.

[rwjrn]

At generally .20 per gallon more than regular, you'e looking at an extra $1.60 per fill up. I usually go around 300 miles on a tank. If that sounds like it won't work for you then you can use regular. For the extra $2.00 a week I prefer to go with the manufacturer's recommendation.
The ride is a bit rough if you are on rough roads. I have driven on trips of over 800 miles at a time and don't have a problem with the ride. The real issue comes when you hit a pothole. It can be a bone jarring experience. Potholes are few and far between for me so I can handle the occaisional wake up bump.

[yuckmoon]

I've read all the same articles from Consumer Reports as well. They do not like the smart at all. They like the Honda Fit. They tend to recommend the Fit over a lot of other cars. I think Honda is paying them off. (my opinion)

From what I've read it looks like they had either test drove the 450 model and from my understanding the 450 is not as smooth as a ride as the 451 model. I could be wrong. The other thing is that it sounds like they are testing brand new smarts that have not been broken in.

When I first got mine yes, it did ride a bit lurchie, but it has since been broken in (break in at about 2,000 miles) and no longer lurches.

As for the bumpy ride itself. Yes, it is a bit bumpy. It's a little car and there is no room for great big giant shocks. If you're driving on a nice road you won't notice. If you're on a road full of pot holes like all the roads are here in the DC area (ha ha) then you'll notice. However, I have found that the smart is small enough to drive around most of the bumps and still be in your lane.

Happy driving!!!!

[a2jack]

HR. going on 18k on our 08.

Car is real rough on Railroad crossings, in particular. However if you hit the tracks straight on, as if you are riding a motorcycle the bump is nothing.

The above holds true for all road conditions. You learn to drive around the bumps.

As for the gas, we run 93 premium at all times. At 47.5 MPG (checked last week ), who cares. A2Jack.

[yuckmoon]

Oh yeah. One more thing that Consumer Reports said about the smart that I in NO way agree with; They said that the smart should be fun and zippy and that it was neither. Totally False!!!! This is the most fun car I've ever driven. AND the smart is the zippy-est car I've ever driven. The smart is perfect in the city. Traffic isn't so bad any more when you can drive around it. Example: Sometimes I'll get around traffic at a light to turn right by hopping over into a bike lane. No bikes in the lane of course. And so much fun to see the looks on the faces of the other drivers.

[msminibenz]

just got mine, it rides like a few mgs, and spitefires i have driven, not bad at all. as for the petrol even at a higher price i still only fill up with 50% of the fuel that i put in my bmw! wow pocket money!!

[mvaldes]

I haven't had this much fun with a car since I was a teenager. (And that was a lot of cars and a long time ago.)

[scdaf]

I've only owned two cars I'd consider "fun" in 40 years of driving. The other one was a Sunbeam Tiger...

[gbryers]

Having owned and driven cars and trucks at both ends of the spectrum (and in-between, too), I liken the ride to the VW Beetle (not the new impostor they came out with more recently). As far as pep goes, now that I have broken it in a bit, it is really quite peppy - enough to rattle the feathers of mustangs, corvettes, etc. that I pass when accelarating (at least, until they put their foot in it). However, I run regular gas (which is a good thing, since I would have to drive a fair bit to find premium these days), and get between 40 - 42 mpg combined mileage. At some point when the gas thingy (I hate to call it a crisis - I feel that, like the 70's (both times), it is a manufactured thing) quiets down, and I can find all grades of gas on a regular basis, I may run premium through a few times, just to see what it does. But at $0.25 a gallon more than regular, it is going to have to be pretty substantial a change in mpg to convince me to pay extra...