NorCal Represent!

[smartagent]

That is a compelling reason. However, for us, this will be exclusively a city (lower speed) car.

[Smartdavis]

For me it is a "city" car as well, but my hunch is that this later model is a better bet. It's like a go-cart with airbags. It's a blast to drive.

[SmartAzz]

Originally Posted by smartagent

We've lost our desire to wait and will probably buy a 450 Passion this weekend from one of the Bay Area dealers who still have this "older" stock. Would anyone discourage us from such a decision?

I'm also wondering how Smartcars manage on our steep San Francisco hills. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Jason

You might want to poke around other threads and reviews to glean some more info. We opted for the 451 for several reasons including not wanting to deal with the post production modding the 450s had to undergo to conform to emissions and safety standards (as I recall there were safety related modifications needed). For us the factory supported out of the box good with emissions/side airbags, etc 451 is a better bet. Plus I've heard the tranny is an improvement, but YMMV - best thing is to drive them yourself and decide

Fwiw I was also concerned about the little Smart on our steep hills but a recent test drive buoyed my confidence, although I still am a bit concerned about the ESP and launch off the line lag for merging...

[smart1]

Originally Posted by smartagent

We've lost our desire to wait and will probably buy a 450 Passion this weekend from one of the Bay Area dealers who still have this "older" stock. Would anyone discourage us from such a decision?

I'm also wondering how Smartcars manage on our steep San Francisco hills. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Jason

I would also think that the odds of being able to get an orphaned 451 in the Bay area should be pretty good. Have you tried to talk with one of the Bay area dealers about getting on an orphan list or something like that?

[smartagent]

The list in SF is looong. Haven't tried the surrounding cities. I do know of about 10 450s for sale at various dealerships in northern California.

I have a friend in Florida with a 450 and he insists the turbo is critical for pick-up, merging, hills, etc.

[tivoboy]

What is the differance btw the 450 and 451?

[DanSFBayArea]

I procrastinated and didn't reserve one until September, so it will be quite a while until I get mine.

I'm getting my 3rd set of rear tires for the Elise tomorrow, so I'll probably stop by the dealer in SF and check out the place.

Waiting for the Smart may be worse than the wait for the Elise since I'm already seeing them on the road. At least with the Elise, I got one of the first ones and didn't see any on the road to cause any jealousy.

[race911]

Would not even consider a gray market car.

As far as perception of acceleration, or lack of, the thing drives fine. I'm used to some seriously fast cars (fleet of 911's) and slow-ass trucks (GMC W4500 20' box delivery van). Smart drives just fine, and I'm 90+% freeway. Is it quick? No. Is it a hazard? Hardly. More torque would be welcome, but that's not how it's configured.

[tivoboy]

I've driven the Brabus Turbo version in Europe and the kicker is the launch window. You loose time on Launch, but then acceleration is pretty quick. But, the puppy just cannot put the power DOWN to the wheels fast enough. It isn't like a Kart, where it just rolls up and goes. There is a bit of a lurch, then power laid down, then WEIGHTED MOMENTUM finally kicks in and you gain speed. I don't know what the numbers are for the higher end model, but it FEELS faster, but probably is nothing like it feels. Not 911 GT3 fast, or MF1, both of which I have driven. Fastest car ever putting power down was a 2005 RS6 wagen. I think I was at 30mpg in 2 seconds. It was CRAZY! The MF1 feels like lift off though,

[smart1]

Went by the San Jose smart dealership today, and it appears they've gotten 4 more cars this weekend, and apparently more are on their way this week(including mine, I hope). According to Steve, the problem has been just stuff at the port, like not being able to take the cars off the boat, and then having too many cars in the port. I'm not sure I believe that, but that's what I was told. Anyways, good news about cars, and I think I'll be getting mine on Friday if all goes well.