Aparently Neon was off last night.
He usualy covers yahoo answers for us
He he he, in the attempt on Thursday and Friday to pick one up I've almost completely forgotten my online life... Time to get back into the game...
I tend to make my answers similar or even nearly the same. Most YA questions involve safety or just the general "Why is the smart this?" and "Should I get a smart?" type of questions.
Here's my page filling answer:
Quote:
Well this is from one teen to another. I plan on getting mine ASAP.
I'll tell you what I usually preach on here to the others. The car would be perfect for those short trips. Several owners have even taken them on long distance road trips. I do not live in Florida but regardless this car should perform well to your needs unless if you're looking for a 0-60 of 3 seconds and be able to haul 20 people at the same time.
Here are the basics of the smart, the car is actually quite remarkable.
Lets see here.
It got some of the highest crash test ratings of all subcompacts
It is owned by Daimler and Mercedes
Some drivers experience 50+ mpg
Parks anywhere
Great when gas prices are a killer
Speed limited to 90mph
0-60 in about 12.8 seconds, even faster in manual mode.
USB 2.0 Upgrade makes the transmission shift faster and smoother.
Tridion Safety Cell
Exchangable body panels that cost not even a fraction of the cost of traditional body parts
ESP - Uses Bosch Stability Control systems to keep you from a wipe out
Hill Start Assist - so you don't fly back when starting up a hill
Roomy - It fits some of the biggest people (Shaq bought one)
Luxury - cabrio model - pano roof - A/C - iPod compatible stereo with optional subs - on 08 and early 09 models had Automatic headlights and automatic wipers
Halogen Headlights provide the path through the night
Rear mounted engine - provides extra traction and torque
Side airbags - an addon to the already rigid NASCAR quality safety cell
Turning radius of 27ft
Uses synthetic oil
Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV)
low MSRP sticker price
custom made for you or pick up an orphan
There are 4 US trims available, all current model 451 smart fortwo…
The pure - $11,990 – all the essentials, nothing else, not even AC
The passion coupe - $13,990 – the smart in its luxury form, options go on from a premium sound system with tweeters, mid-range, and a subwoofer to the comfort package with leather seating, seat heating, power steering, and fog lamps, panorama roof designed by Bayer Material Sciences is included.
The passion cabriolet - $16,990 – this smart comes with everything that the passion coupe can have but with a cabriolet roof. One touch and the roof will open like a sun roof. Another touch and it’ll move into a full convertible position. This can be done at any speed. To add on, you could remove the upper Tridion Cell bars to full the effect.
The BRABUS coupe and cabriolet - $17,990-$20,990 – BRABUS is just one of Mercedes Benz’s most famous modifiers. The US versions come with an upgraded exhaust system and suspension upgrades along with the BRABUS styling and body kits.
There are more models one could obtain in the USA by the “grey market” These are:
The smart city coupe – this is the original smart fortwo, made for Europe and is imported to the USA by G&K. These come in very limited numbers and are actually shorter than the USA model.
The smart roadster – this is the fastest smart to come off the production line. These had a limited production of only 5,000 models. These were never imported to the USA and got here by other means (military, ect.). These are extremely rare to find in the states and as the numbers aren’t solid, there’s probably less than 50 of these roadsters in the USA, making it a very rare find. They don’t have an electronic limiter so they’re top speed is whatever your red line is in 6th gear. Stock red line is at 125mph.
As for safety the smart has received the highest ratings of all subcompacts. And has received the IIHS highest rating of “GOOD”
The smart brand (spelled in lowercase by the manufacturer) is an abbreviation for Swatch Mercedes Art. Watches did have a part in the smart’s design.
The smart plant in Hambach, France opened its doors in 1998 rolling the first city coupe off the line. But smart’s roots go all the way back to around 1996 when ideas were rolling and the first “smarts” were on the road.
That is the smart Yahoo answer to end all answers. Well done.
You might clarify this:
Quote:
The smart brand (spelled in lowercase by the manufacturer) is an abbreviation for Swatch Mercedes Art. Watches did have a part in the smart’s design.
to something like,
Quote:
'The smart brand (spelled in lowercase by the manufacturer) is a combination of Swatch, Mercedes and ART. The Swatch company had the idea for removeable body panels, but is no longer involved with the smart'.
Otherwise, I like your writeup. Nice and thorough, covers just about everything one could want to know aboot the smart (with jwight's corrections too heh).
That is the smart Yahoo answer to end all answers. Well done.
You might clarify this:
to something like,
Otherwise, I like your writeup. Nice and thorough, covers just about everything one could want to know aboot the smart (with jwight's corrections too heh).
Edited!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwight
Neon, good stuff! Just some minor points:
We've seen nothing showing better 0-60 times using manual shift mode vs. autoshift. Do you have any test data?
ESP will not prevent a wipeout; it will do its best up to the point where the laws of physics take over.
The rear engine design doesn't provide extra torque.
Edited again!
And I beefed it up a bit more with the more recent low speed crash tests in which the smart was the only car to pass.
Quote:
ESP - Uses Bosch Stability Control systems to help keep you from losing control of your smart.
Rear mounted engine - helps to provide better traction to the road. It also eliminates the need for the extra bulky parts required for a front engine. Also without a front engine, the front end of the vehicle could be as space saving as possible
'The smart brand (spelled in lowercase by the manufacturer) is a combination of Swatch, Mercedes and ART. The Swatch company had the idea for removeable body panels, but is no longer involved with the smart'. The smart brand continued this idea of low cost, high quality removeable body panels to this day.
And because of this, the smart was the only car to pass the IIHS' 2.5 mph bumper test. The damage caused to the vehicle would have to cost less than $500.The smart's body panel totalled around $190. All others had failed because of their poorly designed and expensive bumpers.
Last edited by Neonspinnazz; 08-15-2009 at 11:22 AM.
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Time to get back into the game...
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