i want one!

3/22/2006 5:40:36 PM

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/epa_test_confir.php
rom the lastest Smart Car ZAP press release: -- "Automotive pioneer ZAP (PCX:ZP) (NYSE Arca:ZP) announced today the results of fuel economy testing from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the Smart Car Americanized for ZAP. The 2005 model year Smart Car Americanized for ZAP is the nation's most fuel-efficient all-gas turbo-powered car with a fuel economy rating of 40 miles per gallon for city and freeway driving, according to the EPA testing lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It also ranks third overall behind two hybrid models according to the EPA's SmartWay(TM) Green Vehicle Guide (See http://www.fueleconomy.gov)".

ok, lame

they were reporting that it would get 60. 40? My scion gets 38, and it's way way cheaper and has room. I would have bought one of these if it really got 60, but 40? wtf?

3/23/2006 10:36:19 AM

yeah but it says they americanized it

3/23/2006 12:09:41 PM

well that's what i'm saying, wtf? why did they do that? the whole point is that the damn cars are cool and small and get 60 mpg. wtf kind of 'americanizing' did they do to drop it 20 mpg? put a ton of soccer mom and yellow ribbon magnets on it or something?

3/23/2006 12:15:36 PM

why not just get a diesel-powered VW?

3/23/2006 12:36:49 PM

^ whats the drawback for that solution?

3/23/2006 12:46:14 PM

haha, my first car was a '93 eclipse gs-t that got around 40 mpg highway... and was a hell of a lot more fun to drive

3/23/2006 2:04:00 PM

damn, i've never heard of an eclipse getting that high gas mileage.

3/23/2006 2:05:39 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060322/bs_usatoday/smartcarsfinallyrollpasthurdles

americanized meaning brought up to safety standards and emission standards.

[Edited on March 23, 2006 at 2:32 PM. Reason : also putting the steering wheel on the right side]

3/23/2006 2:31:26 PM

germany, and everywhere else in Europe except for Britian all have the steering wheel on the left side, and drive on the Right side of the road, so moving the steering wheel would have nothing to do with the Americanization process

3/23/2006 2:46:06 PM

its a fucking joke

3/23/2006 3:05:56 PM

NO JOKES ALLOWED

THE ITERNET IS SERIOUS BUSINESS

3/23/2006 3:07:47 PM

..... well it's a joke that makes no sense..... unless you're trying to play on the perceived notions of idiotic uninformed Americans who think we're the only people in the world who have the wheel on the left side of the car

3/23/2006 3:52:58 PM

Quote :

"wtf kind of 'americanizing' did they do to drop it 20 mpg?"

like someone else said, safety and emissions stuff. might've also bumped up the power a little to allow it to go fast enough to be useful to enough people here.

fuel economy is largely a function of weight (and aero, at speed) I suspect that actually has more to do with it (up to a certain point, of course) than how powerful the engine is (b/c, particularly in a turbocharged engine, you are only rarely using the full output of the engine).

I bet that thing is significantly (percentage-wise) heavier than the euro version. (I won't swear to these figures, but I believe Lotus had to increase the weight of the Elise from about 1750 up to 1975 lbs in order to get it ok'd to sell in America).

Also, from what I understand, to really get the most out of a hybrid, you have to drive it very carefully...you have to be careful to not engage the engine unless you really have to (let it run on the electric motor), and try to brake at the threshold of the regenerative braking, but limiting your use of the conventional brakes (i.e., start slowing down very early and apply the brakes very lightly).

it's really not all it's cracked up to be just yet, in my opinion.

3/23/2006 6:35:46 PM

but about that BiTurbo V6 Smart Roadster...

It's the right size, and for a stock $20k car, it has good performance (and since it's factory turbocharged, I'll wager that it won't be much trouble to extract a lot more power).

It's rear wheel drive (thank God...SOMEBODY knows the deal)

if it has a decent chassis/suspension setup, there's probably only one thing that might stand in the way of me buying one: the transmission. If it's a sequential manual, with or without automatic clutching, I'm game. If it's a "manumatic" with a gay-ass torque converter, well, that's an automatic deal-breaker.

3/24/2006 1:55:14 AM

well, i can't imagine any reason (except trendiness) that anyone would buy that thing if it only gets 40 mpg

[Edited on March 24, 2006 at 7:25 AM. Reason : .]

3/24/2006 7:25:34 AM

oh, it's not about the fuel economy. That's just a nice bonus. I'll be fairly impressed if the BiTurbo V6 model even gets 40 mpg (maybe highway...i seriously doubt in town, and it almost certainly won't after getting the mechanical engineer gone mad treatment. I'd want to give it 230-250+ hp)

I'm interested in it as a flyweight sports car. I'd like a Lotus Elise, but I'm not gonna drop 40k on a car at this stage in my financial path). Miatas and MR-2 Spyders are substantially bigger, and I hope the Smart isn't as "soft" as those two. We'll see.

it's a poor man's Lotus Elise/Ariel Atom/Super 7, except more daily driveable than the latter 2, and much cheaper.and half the price of the former two.

[Edited on March 24, 2006 at 7:46 AM. Reason : asdf]

3/24/2006 7:43:26 AM

i like the smart roadster because it reminds me of the old little sports cars... its loud, you can feel every bump in the road, it takes off like a rocket, handles great, and is only 20k

storage is almost none (barely fit my backpack in the little storage compartment) but who needs storage in a pocket rocket?

3/24/2006 8:05:06 AM

I go like 200 mph on a five hundred times daily basis

all you suckers going only 20 over the speed limit get the fuck out of my way

3/24/2006 8:43:33 AM

There's a display of 4-5 Smart cars arranged artistically in the front display of a building on Madison Ave. I walked past it last night. I'll try to go back by this weekend and take pictures, solely for the enjoyment of DirtyGreek

3/24/2006 1:51:59 PM

another funny pic -
i took this this evening when i got home from work again. Shows the parking versatility of the Smart



And something that I just remembered - I saw a smart car for the first time when I was in Montreal last spring. So at somepoint, someone somewhere has imported them to the US or canada. I guess ^ you saw them in Raleigh?

3/29/2006 4:01:06 PM

Looks like they're already here

3/29/2006 4:06:27 PM

^^NYC. I also saw one a few months ago at my local diner, 4 blocks down.

3/29/2006 5:57:36 PM

POW-POW-POWER WHEELS

They give me a thrill!

3/30/2006 10:45:35 AM

^^^ that looks funny,

3/30/2006 11:50:39 AM

Quote :

" looks like they're already here"

lolololol

[Edited on March 31, 2006 at 1:42 PM. Reason : ]

3/31/2006 1:41:22 PM

we're famous

http://www.google.com/search?hs=IsR&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&q=smart+biturbo+roadster+america&btnG=Search

3/31/2006 5:47:46 PM

this could be a problem

4/1/2006 12:47:57 PM

there'll be a car show this weekend in raleigh and the smart car is gonna be here

4/12/2006 5:34:15 PM

so does anyone know anything about the two transmission choices in the Smart Roadster?

will that biturbo V6 model have a real manual (automatic clutching is ok), or a "manumatic" with a torque converter?

4/12/2006 5:36:28 PM

Saw one at European Performance the other day

4/12/2006 5:38:25 PM

my dad wants one so bad...

4/12/2006 5:57:38 PM

dude, how am I the first person to bring this up? the biturbo v6 is a one-off developed by a bunch of bored brabus engineers. There IS a brabus smart roadster, cranking out ALMOST 95 hp compared to the stock 70 or something, but the v6 biturbo was just for fun. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that even if they could build it (the v6 is a custom block that works like two of these three-cyls mounted on the same crank), it'd still only get 180-200 hp and the mileage wouldn't be worth it. The one that guy claimed to have driven was definitely NOT the biturbo v6, as there is ONE of them, and it's locked up in a factory storeroom somewhere.ok, I was wrong about the amt of them,

this says there's at least eight, but they're prototypes...
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2003/07/22/165301.html

[Edited on April 13, 2006 at 4:13 PM. Reason : first edit]

4/13/2006 4:10:36 PM

^with 170 hp, 0-100 kph (0-62mph)<6s, top speed 220kph=136.4mph, 4.9 kg/hp=10.78 lb/hp

for reference, mustang gt=3483lb/300hp=11.61 lb/hp, wrx (2002)=3201/227=14.1 lb/hp, sti=~3280/300=10.93)

[Edited on April 13, 2006 at 4:21 PM. Reason : reference lb/weight]

4/13/2006 4:15:21 PM

pix here:
http://www.allsportauto.com/english/smart_roadster_v6_bi-turbo.php




Nov 2001 short of the 101 hp brabus smart roadster, up from 80 hp
http://www.thecarblog.com/big_reviews/brabus_smart_roadster.php

[Edited on April 13, 2006 at 4:25 PM. Reason : .]

4/13/2006 4:22:41 PM

Saw one on Jones Franklin the other day with an older couple in it...could be the one at the avent ferry shopping center pictured above but I thought it was navy blue.

4/13/2006 4:26:23 PM

^^down near the bottom of that last link,

Quote :

"the negatives get more press than the positives: suffice it to say, we love our Roadsters! Oh, and incidentally - the red coupe in the picture here looks like one of the (10?) V6 Biturbo demo cars Brabus put together at some ridiculous cost. 170bhp and insane acceleration; sadly not available to buy. "

more pix of the 2003 biturbo v6
http://www.infocoches.com/fotos/brabus/2003-Smart_Roadster_Coupe_V6_biturbo/

[Edited on April 13, 2006 at 4:28 PM. Reason : .]

4/13/2006 4:26:54 PM

this is what it would look like if we were being invaded by an army of smart cars

4/20/2006 3:42:44 PM

Some lady had one parked at the College of Management on Wednesday. anyway

4/20/2006 7:20:36 PM

^ yeah, a silver one

[Edited on April 20, 2006 at 9:44 PM. Reason : .]

4/20/2006 9:43:09 PM

^^^ That at the Olympic Village?

4/20/2006 11:45:10 PM

tl, yes it definitely seems like the Olympic Park in Munich from what I saw when I visited there. Plus the cars have a .de website on them.

4/21/2006 2:27:00 AM

yeah, at Munich Olympic Park. It was kinda weird - i went up in the tower that day, and there were "flocks" of little orange smart cars everywhere. I saw several rows of 10-15 identical Smart Cars driving in and around the park. I guess some kind of promotion or something

4/21/2006 3:11:09 AM

I could see the small car being helpful in largely populated areas, or in the case of a family/couple that needs two cars. Then one car could be the small efficient one, and the other be a regular efficient one, to save room and gas. But if the small car is used just for going to work and back, especially if you can avoid interstates, then I think I'd look into:



http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/04/10/003557.html

4/22/2006 11:26:54 AM

4/22/2006 11:37:38 AM

^ haha first tihng i thought

4/22/2006 11:41:28 AM

KANEDAAAAAAAAA

TETSUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

4/22/2006 11:44:01 AM