Still Passion but no Cabrio fer me!

[Fredvon4]

Went to the Dell Diamond Parking lot today in Round Rock Texas for our Smart tour street rides... Had a great time...light crowd...less then 20 folks in line at any time (several waves during the 2.5 hours I was there)

Had to cycle through the line a few times before I got a shot at the rag top.... I liked it a LOT for style and how easy it worked and looked...

I finally asked to be a "passenger" and I conned the Smart tour "driver" to rag on it some and get some serious speed up (our test drive route barely got out of second gear and was mostly under 30MPH)

He was tired of the mind numbing short route and series of tight turns so he grinned and off we went to thrash the little beast a bit...

Top down there is more wind then I prefer at 60 mph... Top up and there is MUCH more road noise and fabric flapping then I want to listen to..

Now this is just me... I will NOT be using this as an inner city low mph car.

I live out in the sticks 32 miles and my commute is on a 75mph highway, through a 5 stop light 45mph town, and on to Ft Hood where some 5 (50mph) miles later I am at work. I love my radio; music, and news and I am old enough to be grumpy about external noises...

Well that drive fixed that nagging issue. Up to this point all I had been in or driven were hard tops. Rag top is not for me.

Also changed my mind on the color..I would love a darker Red and Black. The Smart Red is too orange in the bright Texas sunlight

So my next love is the Yellow/Black Passion hard top.

I also decided finally that I will order the comfort group and leather package .... I was hedging on getting cloth for the better colors inside and having the seats recovered in leather until I saw that the side air bags blow out of the seat back sides...I do NOT want to screw around with or have warranty issues with the air bags.... still on the fence about electric power steering... the manual steer is very light with good return to center...but I probably will get the Power steer just because I am building a "full option" car

now I need to find a Yellow/Black slidways avatar!

[Walrus]

Originally Posted by Fredvon4

Now this is just me... I will NOT be using this as an inner city low mph car.

I live out in the sticks 32 miles and my commute is on a 75mph highway, through a 5 stop light 45mph town, and on to Ft Hood where some 5 (50mph) miles later I am at work. I love my radio; music, and news and I am old enough to be grumpy about external noises...

Sounds exactly like me except for the being old part. Its gonna be my primary and only car and will be used to get me to school which is a 30 minute highway drive so I hear you about it being to noisy to try and listen to some music or grab the news in the morning. (Plus I wouldnt want a convertible living near Buffalo)

As for the red looking orange in the sun...that is interesting because that is my first choice with a black tridion. Hoping this really isnt the case though cause I dont want to be driving around in an orange car

[2micro4u]

Ahh Im sorry to hear that but I can understand your opinion. I drove in the convertible and for me it was not that bad. I will be using the SMART for a daily driver as well. I have an SUV but to save on gas I will be using the SMART as much as possible unless im going out of the state or need to fit more than one other passenger.

[SmartShanna]

I'm with you, Fredvon4, the Cabrio is cute as heck but the Passion is for me

[uncletony]

so what colors would you go with for the interior(YELLOW-BLACK PASSION)

[Fredvon4]

I am leaning toward full boat build will all available options including Black leather (only leather color) with black interior trim

It looks like several of the interior "panels" that are cloth covered can be easily removed. If true, then my crafty wife and I might try to find light weight leather (or fake leather) close to the exterior Yellow and recover selected panels. The curved dash insert and both door trims should soften up the full black interior much like the red does....

Pity the red was not very red (to my eye) but the more I visualize the Yellow/ Black "Bumble Bee" Smart, the more I like it. Might eve play with some wide Black vinyl exterior Striping tape to make the back 1/4 of the sides look like a Bee

Came close to Blue/Black exterior but I think the little Smart (should be one of damned few in the Ft Hood area) should stand out and be noticed.... Most of the bright yellow trucks around here catch your eye first on the street... The Black, Blue, Silver, or White Smart cars would just blend in around here because they would not contrast with all the giant vehicles in the same basic colors

At the "road show" I did see one Soldier in uniform and met two other $99 "reserves" from the Ft Hood area and one of them is dropping off the list. I bet this time next year there will be only three or four Smart Cars in this area.

[2micro4u]

Id say Black Leather would be a great option for the Yellow and black passion.

[MicroNut]

Found these on the United Pictures site:

[uncletony]

sounds like a plan! I am with you, it will be a yellow and black passion and a black interior,waiting for that email I registered in late may though(UGH)

[2micro4u]

Great pics!