What's hot, what's not...

**jwight** · 04-29-2008, 05:00 PM

so far, after 5 days with our new smart:

What's hot

- Transmission - still using it in Auto (D) with the throttle keeping it at about 4500 rpm gear changes. It will hold to 5K rpm if you tell it to.
- Interior - roomy, comfortable, great viewpoint from the drivers seat. All the controls are where they should be.
- Radio 9 - yeah, not thousands worth of aftermarket but once you get it set for your ears it sounds fine for a small, inexpensive car.
- smart quirks - the wipers switch to interval when the car comes to a stop; rear wiper comes on when the car goes into reverse. Transmission creep mode works as advertised and can be modulated with the brake pedal.
- climate control - very simple, works great, lots of control over temp and defrost (yes, uses A/C in defrost but the A/C button doesn't light up; so what?)

What's not

-Suspension is harsh - not pitching due to short wheelbase, but the thud from going over manhole covers. Tough on the kidneys.
- Door pockets are too small for anything unless you want to lose it.
- Aux input in the glove box; whose idea was that? Needs to be moved to below the instrument panel or somewhere.
- Single CD player is flaky; hangs on some tracks, then is OK when restarted.
- AM/FM presets - Russian roulette getting those set; operator error I'm sure so still reading up on it. Radio 9 reception is average or less.
added - the two clocks are now 20 minutes out of synch. Resynched today; will see how long that lasts.
Oh yeah, forgot the lack of DRLs - a definite NOT

All of these are subjective personal opinions, of course. YMMV. More to come.

xcrew229x · 04-29-2008, 05:13 PM

CD player really really hates scratches. And it rides better than my oxcart '73 Vette. Which ain't saying much. Hey, it's all good at 40 mpg.

curtis · 04-29-2008, 05:18 PM

I think the aux is in glove box so you can conceal your mp3 player easily. I like it .

burtandnancy · 04-29-2008, 05:22 PM

jwight, check your air pressure, ours came with WAY too much. It calls for 29 front, 35 in back, I'm still playing, but getting close to 30/30

**jwight** · 04-29-2008, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burtandnancy

jwight, check your air pressure, ours came with WAY too much. It calls for 29 front, 35 in back, I'm still playing, but getting close to 30/30

Air pressure is right on factory settings; doesn't feel like the tires to me, more like shocks (or maybe springs but don't think so.)

mfoster · 04-29-2008, 06:38 PM

Aux is in the glove box because in most countries there is no glove box. It is for the most part a tray area and you purchase the door of the glove box as an option.

Mr. Incredible · 04-29-2008, 06:40 PM

In each of my door pockets, I have placed a smart umbrella. Fits great!

Mark
aka Bob_Parr

**jwight** · 04-29-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfoster

Aux is in the glove box because in most countries there is no glove box. It is for the most part a tray area and you purchase the door of the glove box as an option.

Absolutely right; but the glove box door changes the original concept of use and one would think (and one would apparently be wrong) that would trigger a re-evaluation of the use of the aux outlet and accompanying cord. Sometimes known as systems engineering.