I am able to park this behind my bikes with room to spare. Woot! I might sell one of the bikes now, but here it is. I've named it, 'SpacePod'. I plan to get a decal made with the word 'SpacePod' from one of the online decal-making sites and stick it on the back (white text). Should be awesome! I figure when I wanna use the bikes more I'll just reverse the process and put the car in front.
Driving home, I'm loving the car, but I've noticed the steering is a bit squirmy, as if the tires are hunting a bit. I am not sure if this is due to the car's sheer diminuitive size and the tire/wheel set up or an indicator of some kind of camber/caster/toein/out issue. Is there any simple acid test for this? I think I just need to drive it more at lower speeds and see how it tracks compared to 65+ as mention in a thread I found on this board.
My experience with Smart Car of Universal City, CA was excellent. Highly recommended, thorough and friendly folks over there.
Welcome to the club--SpacePod looks like its got some great company in the garage! You'll notice the wheels might get tracked a little bit on grated roads sometimes, and it'll be blown a bit in the wind. However, you'll get very used to it fast. I did. If its really squirrely, you might want to get the dealer to check your alignment.
Keep us posted with pics once you get the decals on
Congratulations on your "smart" acquisition. The steering on the smart is a bit funny if the wind hits you right you it can feel like it's trying to move on it's own.
Huh! First, congratulations! I've had my smart not quite 2 weeks now, and am loving it.
Mine is also parked behind my motorcycles, one
of which (the Goldwing) is getting tuned up and such prepping to sell.
You've voiced a concern I've had as well. I've noticed, especially at low speeds, a bit of squirmyness. It's there on the highway a little as well, but just presents as needing to adjust my steering a little bit. At low speeds it almost feels like an alignment issue, but I doubt it with a new car.
Tire pressure makes a big difference on these guys. Using higher pressures will give you better mileage, but it will ride rough and every crack in the road will pull you around. Wind also has a ig effect. it has to do with the light weight and the high profile. It sometimes helps to crack open the windows and let the air pass through
Just because the car is new does not mean the alignment is correct. Most people are used to front wheel drive cars and since this is a shorter wheel base and rear wheel drive, plus the motor is in the rear, it takes a little getting used to.
Wow, I just read almost the entire blog at Edmunds, and they HATE this car. I saw a couple mediocre reviews, but the fallacy I see is that people compare this car, which is unique in its class, to cars totally boring (imho) and not unique such as the station-wagony 'Fit' or the Mini Cooper (way more money and much bigger).
What gives, is Edmunds funded by the competition or something? Depressing.
At the end of it all, I still love my lil' Smart. I just noticed a blinker not working, gonna check with my dealer tomorrow about that and if I have to take it in will have them look at the front-end alignment. ;)
Has anyone wondered if they could further improve any of the transmission 'pause' issues with another chip upgrade? Seems this could be better, but overall the car is manageable with manual shifting. Heck, it's kinda fun that's it takes a little effort to drive.
First, Your in CA and a lot of folks have had problems with the grooved pavement and these cars. Since the car is so small you have plenty of room in your lane to squiggle a little. If it realy is a problem for you some have replaced the front wheels with rears for better tracking.
As to the reviews, I have yet to see one that didn't have an error in the smarts specification. Lots of misconceptions about the transmition, mentions of front wheel drive, MPG way off, didnt like the interior color?, etc.
It always appears they took a quick test drive like many owners first did. As many of us know, a 10 min drive doesn't even allow you to explore the two different ways of driving this car. Manual and automated. You have to live with this car for a while to experience it. You know they didn't spend time with it because I have yet to see a review mention the lack of available Cruise control. If they had actualy taken it on the highway they eventualy would have been loooking for it. Since they didn't notice, Its my assumption they didn't realy drive it enough to enjoy it.
As far as the automatic, what works the best for me is just keep your foot steady on the foot feed and let the car shift as it wants. If you try to anticpate the shifts it seems to confuse the car and me. So keep your foot in it and let it do it's thing. Or use the manual mode. Enjoy you new ride, it's a blast to drive.
If it's windy, and you have short hair (or a ponytail that's in a band, or if you're bald), try opening both windows. It allows the wind to pass through (along with any loose papers you have in the car, LOL) and greatly cuts down on the buffeting. A bit noisy but, if you ride a bike, probably no big deal. I just add "five minutes for hair combing" into every trip.
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I figure when I wanna use the bikes more I'll just reverse the process and put the car in front. 
1999 Ford Expedition
Smart
1 - LT N FLFY
2 - Forests ride
3 - Little Blue
4 - Big Red
Today
Linear Mode
