They don't like the transmission and it scored the lowest lane change speed they've ever recorded, yet they still seem to like it overall.
The person reporting simply has not allowed himself enough learning curve to understand how to drive the car properly and he should NOT condemn the transmission just because it is different from any transmission ever used in the US before.
I have nearly 50 years of driving experience with all kinds of motorized vehicles and it has taken me around 75 miles of driving so far to have a full appreciation of HOW to effectively drive the car for both performance and gas mileage and decent pickup and most of this has to do with when to shift the transmission for best of all of the above. This car is no slouch as has been suggested many times by many different so called auto journalists.
I really wish these guys reporting on the Smartcar would be alittle more qualitative in their remarks. The writeup, for the most part was fairly good but I really hate it when they trash the transmission just because using it is different than any other they have ever driven. Like BMX calling it a *lab experimental transmission or some crap like that...try adapting alittle bit for God sakes!!
Different does not mean junk just because you're not familiar with it. We all have to admit that this whole car is different all the way around so why beat the transmission *differentness* to death. It's just fine in my book.
Anybody who enjoys manual transmissions, but had their left leg get tired in traffic is going to love this car. It's the best of both worlds. It's too bad some people just can't deal with new things. With each mile the driving experience just gets better for me.
Today I had to drive my other car (a Toyota Camry) and it felt so sluggish and big (I felt like I was driving a 70's cadallac) that as soon as I got back home I had to take the Smart out and drive around the block a few times just for the fun of it to get back my road feel. Since getting this car I can see it is going to be impossible to enjoy driving anything else.
Is the car more fuel efficent in automatic or in manual?
Meaux
AT this point in time, Meaux, I am going to stick my neck out and say that overall, it will most definitely be more fuel efficient in the manual mode. I say this because I feel that most who will drive in automatic mode with a light pedal will experience early shifting into a gear too high for the speed they are at and as a result, will simply apply more accelerator to increase speed even slightly rather than kicking it down. That practice, which causes the engine to lug more, (unless they depress the pedal alot and kick the transmission down) will absolutely result in poorer gas mileage because you will be asking the engine to make more power (to go faster) than it can produce in the time you want it to. Alot of people will not associate a better mechanical advantage (downshifting a gear or two) with better mileage or performance. I saw this same thing with my S-2000. Write ups and bloggers condemned the car saying it was a slouch on pickup....that's cause they didn't know how to drive the car!!! They thought they were driving a torky 390 (5500 red line) Mustang instead of a 9000 rpm, Honda Vtec engine (mildly torky from 4500 to 6500 rpm and very torky from 6500 to 9000 rpm) Similar scenario as with the Smart.....there's that learning curve thing again.....
Overall, Meaux, I believe what I am saying will be so and once I have my car broken in, I will begin doing gas mileage tests to prove both driving modes out...... so stay tuned.
I'm pretty sure the manual mode will beat the auto mode by leaps and bounds in both performance and economy.
Anybody who enjoys manual transmissions, but had their left leg get tired in traffic is going to love this car. It's the best of both worlds. It's too bad some people just can't deal with new things. With each mile the driving experience just gets better for me.
Today I had to drive my other car (a Toyota Camry) and it felt so sluggish and big (I felt like I was driving a 70's cadallac) that as soon as I got back home I had to take the Smart out and drive around the block a few times just for the fun of it to get back my road feel. Since getting this car I can see it is going to be impossible to enjoy driving anything else.
Boy you got that right, Davis! And you are finding, as I am, that the more familiar you become with the manual shifting, the more fun you are having, ......RIGHT?!! Taking away the clutching and just tapping the shift lever forward and aft ( I like that method better than the paddles...personally....) The paddles are too modernish for me...Don't know how else to say it. And if you want to shift with the paddles while turning, hitting the correct paddle can be confusing to me as the upshift and down shift are in reverse positions and hitting the wrong one is likely.
They can't like it too much. The last paragraph asks that you "do them a favor" by test driving a smart, and then follow that by driving a 3-door Toyota Yaris, stating that "you might prefer a more conventional approach," and that they are "lean[ing] in that direction."
"you might prefer a more conventional approach," and that they are "lean[ing] in that direction."
Yeah, whatever. We didn't buy this car for what others might write about it. After all, it's a *Smart* car. Don't expect most to get it. Just smile knowing what we know.
there's a great article in the Feb issue of the UK edition of CAR magazine about driving a smart cabrio through/across Mexico City. Not a road test, more a global piece (the big picture), but very well written. Follows up on a 2002 piece they did about a drive across USA. Couldn't find either online anywhere.
None of the reviews who are confused/disappointed by the transmission, or making other claims about it not comparing favorably in their view to established market tested cars sold here have affected in the least my decision to get one, nor my enthusiasm.
we're getting a great price (compare the pure @ $11.570 with the same model in France at 9,450 Euros or $14,000, or UK at 6,900 pounds or 13,800.) on a great car, and it really doesn't compare to anything else out there. Part of the problem is, I think, that the US motoring press is so far removed from reality, they can't recover from the shock of the new (even the 10 year-old "new") or the queasy feeling of not knowing what to say in proper context.
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