Good ink from AutoWeek

[rfernatt]

FWIW - Some good press from Bob Gritzinger at AutoWeek:

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../SUBARU1277451

[SmartPassion]

Pretty much confirms what most owners know already.

[Dunerunner]

Great!!! Now everone will want one! "LIKE THEY DON'T ALREADY" IT'S GOOD TO SEE THE LITLE GUY GET SOME GOOD PRESS!

[MinnySmart]

Yep, I like it. I still don't know if I entirely agree with the whole "Lift off before you shift" business. Is there still a consensus that doing this makes it better?

It seems to me that lifting off is in the driver's head. kinda like this...

"If my foot is in a fixed position on the accelerator pedal, the car should accelerate at a fixed rate. If I lift off for a second, the car should stop accelerating for that second." So it "seems" smoother, but it's really not any different.

the smart (I believe; this is not fact as I've not researched it that much) is smart enough to cut the throttle enough to allow the clutch to disengage and re-engage without the driver having to lift his foot. I haven't done "lift before shift" once in my first 980 miles, and it drives/shifts as smooth as a normal manual transmission. I couldn't be happier!

Or could I?

[NY Smartie]

nice review. as soon as I get past break in (500 mi), I am going to start with the manual shifting w/ the paddles.

[KingNine]

Gee**-I haven't considered myself as part of an 'alternative culture' since the '60s................I wonder if I should take off my 'NRA Life' sticker off my Smart?

[stevenvillatoro]

Thanks for the AutoWeek link. I found an email link to contact Bob Gritzinger, and wrote him the following email:

Bob, good morning,

I was delighted to read your recent and refreshing review of the smart. Very happy to know that at least one auto journalist ‘gets it’ AND has the backbone not to follow mundane mainstream ‘bashing’ of the smart. The controversial smart has become fodder for superficial and meaningless conjecture by your peers who should have neither pens nor keyboards.

It’s ironic that the ‘smart’ (moniker) might actually require uncommon intelligence to understand its essence.

I have been in the auto industry for 30 years, and have nearly 5,000 miles on my new smart. It has been a superb and entertaining car, and I would eagerly buy another, and another, and another. To say the smart is revolutionary is quite an understatement.

You are correct that the alleged quirkiness of the transmission completely disappears (actually with no ‘lift’ required). Too bad few self-serving reporters invested more than a few token minutes behind the wheel, and instead opted for a round-the-block test drive so they could do a ‘me-too-told-ya’-so’ report.

If any new car might deserve a long second and third look, it’s this one. It is odd and disconcerting that the press generally didn’t have the heart, sensibility, or intelligence to undertake a more in-depth analysis or offer more balanced reviews of the smart. What an injustice the self-serving press can do to a public that is not just eager, but hungry, for new alternatives. The visionary work of automotive pioneers, like Daimler and Penske, should be encouraged and rewarded… these are the people who are bravely taking risks and providing bold new solutions for a culture with quickly-changing transportation priorities.

Many kudos to you for being blessed in both the brains and balls department. Smart owners on our forums appreciate when a sharp reporter will resist taking obvious ‘cheap shots’ at forward-thinking non-Hummer-esque endeavors.

Long live the smart!

[Smart Enuf]

We shouldn't forget that it isn't just the automakers who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo of making and selling bloatware to the American driver. Many of those in the so-called automotive journals also have a built-in bias toward big American cars. For these folks, admitting that they like a revolutionary microcar like the smart would be akin to admitting they've been wrong all these years in supporting the big cars.

Those few who do get it understand the smart's message: We need to rethink what the car should be about, what people do with their cars, and how best to accomplish that with the least amount of resources and the greatest amount of style.

[rawlus®]

nice article.

[mrbadexample]

i haven't stuck my lifer member sticker on mine yet! (i have to look, i got a few "charlton heston is my president" stickers somewhere)