But the problem appears to be with many car reviewers. None of them take the smart seriously as a real car, nor do they properly compare it (smart is a Microcar, Fit, Yaris, and otherwise are Minicars), nor do they seem to do any research and will take a simple video to heart.
For example, when the IIHS crashed the smart into a C-Class, they gave it a POOR rating and compared it among a Yaris and a Fit. Well there are problems with these tests.
The smart is the smallest and lightest car, it was put up against the heaviest of the sedans.
The C300's Curb Weight: 3,560 lbs
A Ford Explorer's (AWD) curb weight is 4304 lbs
So technically speaking, they slammed the smart into a SUV weighing vehicle...
Then are the comparisons, the Fit did okay, although there was footwell intrusion and the dummy took a blow to the pillar. The Yaris' roof crumpled under the force of the other car and the dummy's head even hit the hood of the car, then there was severe footwell intrusion.
In the smart there was a little bit of footwell intrusion, enough to break a leg but the dummy's head really didn't get any "injury" in their test...but they did complain of a tad bit too much force of the dummy's head on the wheel...
In the end, the smart performed better than cars in a larger class and it had to face the heaviest vehicle.
And unfortunately, life is not a lab test, you're not going to hit the other car exactly 50% offset or even at exactly 40mph. And that's the problem with crash tests in the States, they don't have ANY variables in their tests. And then the tests are a one shot test, so if something is wrong with the car (they said the smart's seatbelts were slow, it could've been a defect)(In the side impact test, the driver's door popped open), that goes down as a problem with the car...
It's not fair that a car only has one shot to prove itself knowing that there could be a billion variables to taint their tests. What if they didn't set the car exactly straight on the barrier test?
It could be the reason behind why the front passenger only got 3 stars while driver got 4. It also would explain why the car jolted off the LEFT in the NHTSA test, even though the car was "straight". Usually cars in the NHTSA test just bounce backwards, the smart actually turned a bit as if it were not aligned. And the test results reveal more force was put upon the passenger, something that would happen if the right side would be the first side to hit the wall. Even in the European tests the smart just simply bounces back...
If there were do be an alignment problem that caused that, it was ignored because it was a one shot test. Which is just plainly stupid.
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