How Will New Smart Handle

[uncletony]

I wonder how the USA models will handle, as they have ESP and EBF. the cars that were test driven at the road show were European models and I dont think they had those features in them, will all that computerized stuff take away some of the fun driving feeling? BTW my test drive was in Edison N.J.

[lhoboy]

You won't notice anything different due to the ESP or EBF until one or more of the wheels start to loose traction. The only time that either of these functions become annoying in any vehicle is under hard accelleration if the computer overcompensates by reducing too much fuel. Hard accelleration is not even in the same universe as the Smart, so no issue.

The real handling issue comes from the high center of gravity of the Smart. Even at very low speeds that were permitted during the test drive, the car feels relatively unstable. It feels more like driving a small pick-up truck than a car.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by lhoboy

The real handling issue comes from the high center of gravity of the Smart. Even at very low speeds that were permitted during the test drive, the car feels relatively unstable. It feels more like driving a small pick-up truck than a car.

Maybe the front sway bars are too wimpy for us US drivers. I remember putting the next larger diameter bar in a Mustang I had made a world of difference in the cornering ability of the car. It didn't have a top heavy stance, though, like the Smart has.
Once I've got my own car to drive, I'll be able to tell what is what. I don't like to fool too much with something already well engineered by if I find it to be unsat I will.

[lhoboy]

Originally Posted by jonnysan

Maybe the front sway bars are too wimpy for us US drivers. I remember putting the next larger diameter bar in a Mustang I had made a world of difference in the cornering ability of the car. It didn't have a top heavy stance, though, like the Smart has.
Once I've got my own car to drive, I'll be able to tell what is what. I don't like to fool too much with something already well engineered by if I find it to be unsat I will.

Agreed. The Smart has the potential to be a great little car. The factory suspension tuning on most cars is a compromise (lowest common denominator) to suit the greatest number of customers. I've tuned too many suspensions to let the stock handling on the Smart dissuade me from the purchase.