Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Marshall
Remember he drives a MINI. Does that car look safe? Coming from a the driver of a MINI Cooper, that comment seemed incongruous  . . . or at least ironic.  |
Have you looked at the doors of a Mini vs the doors of a Smart? The Mini doors are over twice as thick as our Smart's. There is a lot more car there in the Mini vs the Smart, but this Mini owner's reaction is strange considering how the Mini was received and viewed when it was first released. But like the Mini, the Smart's construction BEHIND the skin of those doors is very safety-minded and engineered quite well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fredvon4
the OP fails to cite empirical evidence and overstates the micro car rating...
the cited ratings are not rational considering many of the cars in this list provided that I have owned
Like magazine comparisons...many of the studies and ratings are seriously suspect of graft and corruption..... sort of like Obama promise of change... nothing changes but the depth of the lie
this is NOT a Mercedes, and has Zero Mercedes craftsmanship applied..IMO
I say this as a owner of several older Mercedes products....
I like my Smart cars for what they are....BUT!!! superior craftsmanship is seriously lacking...fact
Sorry, I own three of the Lil buggers now, and none the less they are NOT an inherently safe vehicle relative to a 7800 pound F-350 or any similarly large vehicle..... period
Let the " but it ain't safe" folks have their say... and acknowledge that we who own the dinky micro car are required to drive defensively or die... fact....
I am aware that this is sacrilege, but i really get tired of the "smart car" as religion crowd
this site has indeed become exceptionally stale
Bottom line
Drive defensively and with 100% full attention to DRIVING in ANY car, and do Not let some BS study lull you into a false belief that you are safe and secure in this particular micro car
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You post is full of all sorts of fail I don't even know where to begin. Facts and sources were stated, not over stated. The majority of the first part of your post seems to be trying to say that the OP and the safety board are part of some big conspiracy to dupe the public. Source? All you did was state that quoted report data was not rational due to the fact that you owned many of the cars on the list that were rated lower than the Smart. Just how many cars built since 2008 (the oldest build date of any model on that list) have YOU actually owned? Prior models were NOT tested. This was data ONLY on the newer ones and I see no evidence proving that every new vehicle is ALWAYS safer than the old. But regardless of that, had you owned those vehicle what does that prove about how they stand up to a side impact from a 3300 lbs object? Did you design them? Have you been involved in a side impact collision with ANY of them by a 3300 lbs vehicle? These are NOT rhetorical questions, please answer them.
Me? I've been involved in several accidents in a wide variety of vehicles (all but one I was a passenger so no comments about my driving from the peanut gallery, please
) including one where the car hit a palm tree with the door I was sitting next to. I am here able to post on teh intarwebs because of the side impact safety features (namely steel reinforcement bars) that most well built cars have. Those cars do very well on the side impact test that was cited by the OP. And guess what, the Smart has at least two of these bars. How many does a Crown Vic have? What about a Focus? The Yaris (which wasn't even listed on that data but I know from personal research did NOT do well unless you optioned the side air bags)? I'm pretty sure these safety features, as well as the traction control and other electronic aids are part of the Mercedes craftsmanship that you seem to think is lacking in the car. A Mercedes isn't defined purely by the smell of the leather or the quality of the stitching for the seats. There is so much more to a car than what most people see that the majority of the owners never even realize what level of craftsmanship and engineering really HAS gone into the vehicles.
Yes, there are people that may be carrying on a bit much about the "Smart Religion" as you put it. But unless you have any real facts to throw into the conversation proving a point as wrong, please just be quiet.
And I do agree with your bottom line that EVERY driver has to drive defensively and not get complacent about what happens out on the road. But we all know that there are still things outside of our control in this world and I for one feel better knowing that the car I'm in will be able to protect me better than everything else on that list SHOULD I be involved in that type of side impact accident. I'm not looking for it to happen, but I am better protect in case it does. Owners of those Jeeps and Titans can't say that, stock for stock.
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