Please don't ever make me drive one...

I hope you're only referring to an unmodified one.

I would never drive one...unless of course it had a bike motor.....

Oh snap the cops set up a road block!

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Hey honey, hold my beer and watch me blow by this Smart car in the wagon!!!

Actually I have driven a couple. First time in the first one brought into Canada (friend of mine writes for Car and Driver) and then my lawyer bought one.

Two big guys (and I mean big) can sit in it without touching shoulders and with lots of leg room, tap up tap down semi-automoatic tranny, reasonable accleleration (think 4 cyl Chevette) all the bells and whistles like AC, good stereo etc. and it is capable of sustaining freeway speeds (70MPH). For someone who puts on a lot of miles in and around a major city, getting 80 MPG on diesel goes along way to temper the fact that you are driving something that looks like this. The first one was driven from Montreal to Ottawa (120 miles), spent four days running around town and then out to the campsite about 50 miles south of Ottawa: all on six bucks of fuel While I certainly wouldn't want to be in one in a crash, it did fair reasonably well in crash testing in Britain:

On the down side it is:

1. Very ugly to the point the girls call it cute.
2. Corners like your mothers china cabinet though they say it has live suspension (no evidence of same in the two I drove)
3. Very ugly
4. After shoehorning two people into it you might get a bag of groceries into the back...maybe
5. Very ugly
6. Semi-automatic is tempermental regardless if you shift it yourself or let the computer do it for you.
7. Only holds 5 gal. of fuel (mind you that will take you 400 miles)
8. Controls are typically European and for the most part confusing. Try to turn on the AC and you end up opening the sunroof (yes it had one).
9. Did I mention it was very ugly?
10. Cross winds over 15 MPH (or traffic buffet) make driving interesting.
11. Haven't tried it but driving in ice and snow would be a challenge.

On the plus side, maintenance is dirt simple. Four body mount bolts, some quick dis-connects and the entire powertrain drops out of the rear of the car. Two guys can lift the body off the rear sub frame without even breaking a sweat. Total time out is 20 minutes and about 25 minutes back in. Don't even need a floor jack if your small enough to get under the back of the car. Even if your not, you could probably bench press it up onto a set of jack stands.

Bill

meh, I wouldn't drive one period.

Makes a good spare tire? loads onto roof rack of the wagon?

I'm not against them... they have their place, but don't EVER hit a wagon with it!

I have two in our neighborhood, both ladies driving them wear parkas in the winter as they have poor heaters.

Stretch

Spare tire? Makes a good anchor. Keep it in the back of the wagon. If your brakes fail, just tie it to the bumper and throw it out the back.

Stretch wrote:

Makes a good spare tire? loads onto roof rack of the wagon?

buickestate wrote:

Are the tree huggers visiting Dave's farm?? I am confused!!!!???? So many societal oxymoron s racing through my mind!!!