Actual Experience Driving the New Models?

[BimmerDob]

Went to the test drive at local MB deal in Columbus Ohio. Got it up to 45mph on main road, not fast to rev up, but not slow either. Trans shift lag was noticeable, but towards the end I started to get the feel for the "let up before shift" resulting in a smoother shift. AC blows cold. 6' 190lbs, room enough, feels spacious from drivers view. Passenger seat is offset a little to the rear compare to drivers position. Greta visibility. Lots of break pedal movement before engaging / gripping. Seemed to have some drag / roll resistance from a standing still to movement. Engaging parking brake like manual trans seems to be the proper method to park, unlike true auto trans

[SMARTYPOO]

...with the top up, and the ride was pretty quiet! There was very little road noise and I heard no wind noise.

...I briefly got up to about 75 miles per hour (and got a dirty look from the Smart Car "chaperone"), and the ride was surprisingly smooth at any speed.

...I made an extremely tight and fast U-turn (and got another dirty look), and I was really impressed with the turning radius and maneuverability. I wasn't expecting that from such a relatively "tall" car.

...it didn't take long to get the hang of how to perform smooth gear changes. I drove the car in both the manual and automatic modes, but the ride was too short to really compare the two modes...I'll just say, that for the very short time I drove the car, I couldn't really see any difference between the modes.

...overall, the Smart Car was more peppy that I thought it would be.

...I liked the exterior and interior...good attention to detail, and pretty good use of space.

...while lining up to drive the Smart Car, I noticed that most of the cars had a pleasant exhaust note, and that the engines didn't make the whiney sound that I was expecting from a 3 cylinder car.

...once you're sitting inside of the Smart Car, you really forget that you are driving such a small car. And you really wonder what everybody is staring at.

[SmartCard]

Originally Posted by SMARTYPOO

...I briefly got up to about 75 miles per hour (and got a dirty look from the Smart Car "chaperone"), and the ride was surprisingly smooth at any speed.

...I made an extremely tight and fast U-turn (and got another dirty look), and I was really impressed with the turning radius and maneuverability. I wasn't expecting that from such a relatively "tall" car.

That explains it!

I thought your "chaperone" was more of a regular blond when she got in the car with you, but left as a ghostly platinum blond!

[Felinae]

Originally Posted by SMARTYPOO

.

...I made an extremely tight and fast U-turn (and got another dirty look), and I was really impressed with the turning radius and maneuverability. I wasn't expecting that from such a relatively "tall" car.

You must have had "Lisa". She was, how shall I put it, less than exuberant.

[woodlow]

My husband and I both test drove the Passion and Passion Cabriole (European versions) during the road show in Hartford, CT on July 12th. I had the luxury of driving the SMART using both manual and automatic modes, backing up and doing some quick stops (to test the brakes). The auto shifting will take getting used to, but the manual shifting was fun and didn't have the "lag" that the automatic seemed to have. Having the reservation and the special invite meant there were no long lines, so we tested 3 of the 4 SMARTS. Great little car! 1st time around I was "timid" to see how it handled. After that, we REALLY tested it... Love it want it now!! We have a Cooper S that we love, so we have a good comparison car for the SMART.

[shack01]

Wow, another MINI owner. Eeerie.

tm

[kurier44]

I drove a Gray-Market SMART this past October at Ron Gaus' dealership in St. Louis (ASMARTCAR.com) and the 2008 SMART at the Indianapolis SMART USA "Traveling Road Show" two weeks ago.

In my opinion they both drove pretty much the same, but the 2008 model is alledged to have addressed all the issues found in the earlier models. Due to their small size they will be more than lilkely be a handful on the interstate when dealing with high winds or when being passed by larger vehicles. Anyone who has experienced driving the old VW Beetle on the interstates will know what I mean.

As for the 2008's Mitsubishi engine, I find that having to use premium fuel will be disappointing, and the mpg will be less than the SMART powered by the Mercedes engine, which uses regular fuel.

As for the peculiar shifting of the transmission in the auto mode, I guess this will take some getting used to.

Due to the size of the SMART car, being seen by other drivers will be important - the brighter the exterior color the better off you will be!

[DavidMcC]

How is acceleration from a dead stop?

I have a couple of on ramps on my commute that have full stop signs at the end. My current car (2000 Passat wagon, 1.8T,APR Chip) handles the acceleration into traffic with no problem. I do not want to get "caught" by an SUV in a Smart car!

How noisy is it at speed?

kurier44 says Premium fuel? That's a big minus in my book.

[SMART]

From a dead stop I was pretty impressed with the pickup of this car. I can not give any numbers as to the 0-60 of this car but I can say that it was faster then my first car, a 1989 Toyota Carolla. With that being said, I sure that the performance of this car will likely beat out many of the other same category when compared against the likes of the Nissan Versa, and some of the Hyundai make and models.

[SmartCard]

Originally Posted by DavidMcC

How is acceleration from a dead stop?

I have a couple of on ramps on my commute that have full stop signs at the end. My current car (2000 Passat wagon, 1.8T,APR Chip) handles the acceleration into traffic with no problem. I do not want to get "caught" by an SUV in a Smart car!

How noisy is it at speed?

kurier44 says Premium fuel? That's a big minus in my book.

0-60 (actually 62) is advertised currently in the European model as 13.3 s
Hopefully it won't change much with any tweaking for US emission standards.

The "premium" fuel surprised me too. I'm not quite sure how 95 RON recommended corresponds to our grading system at the pump.... 91 maybe??