Smart ForTwo on MotorWeek Saturday 1/19

[Carnut]

Very reasonable review from a non commercial program. The bottom line is when he closes with "driving it will make you smile."

Nit pickers will hone in on comments like:

Choppy hard ride
34 MPG in mixed driving
Slow quarter mile

Who cares, I'd rather be driving with a smile!

[SmartBob]

Rubik: thanks for the post. Saved me from hunting it down on tv. Good review but 34 mpg? I'll wait to see what our SCOA members get, eh? He kept calling the car a 4 2...not fortwo...that was annoying. Should sound like bicycle built for two or tea for two, ya know?

[jwight]

Originally Posted by Carnut

Very reasonable review from a non commercial program. The bottom line is when he closes with "driving it will make you smile."

Nit pickers will hone in on comments like:

Choppy hard ride
34 MPG in mixed driving
Slow quarter mile

Who cares, I'd rather be driving with a smile!

Add aggressive ESP; I think they said firm ride. Their 0-60 time was 12.2, .6 sec better than smart has been showing. Overall a positive review with an objective look at the car. They did use the term "fashion statement" but at least didn't mention anything about how "scary" such a small car would be.

John

PS - I forgot the "transmission similar to a Ferrari Formula 1 car" comment; nice thought but it's not even close.

[thefitness]

Just watched it off of my recording; I'm not sure what I expected, as I've never watched the show before. But that guy made the smart seem boring!

[mdfortwoguy]

That's kind of a standard with Motorweek... they make everything seem boring.

Still though - they are my favorite car show period - they are mostly unbiased, and very rarely either gush over or beat a car into the ground.

I'm happy with the results. I had yet to see a 451 on a skidpad... looks to corner relatively flat for its height. My VUE is shod with some meaty rubber and corners well, but there are times when it will pin you to the door and lean - it sticks, but it has to look odd.

With the supportive seats, I can really see this thing being tossable, within reason.

[mdfortwoguy]

Hmm, I was just watching this again.

They incorrectly call it 1,080 lbs - not 1,800.

[partsrme928]

I wonder why they did not do a brake test?

[SmartAzz]

Originally Posted by partsrme928

I wonder why they did not do a brake test?

I wondered why too. In the end, though, their brake tests are executed terribly - they never really stomp hard on it to show actual emergency braking numbers. It annoys the heck out of us when we watch them brake softly and call that the stopping distance