The Smart Fortwo has a Critic

2010-01-19T15:52:51.203Z

Hey, Smarties!

There's a mean-spirited guy named "priggly" (gregg_vw?) acting like a wet blanket to us Smart owners. He's apparently based on the Edmunds website, and likes to make derogatory remarks about Smarts being "unsafe", referring to some weird combo of two "safety studies". Based on his remarks, I doubt that he owns a Smart and probably wouldn't be caught dead testing one.

Well, "Priggly", feel free to do your own thing. After all, we have free speech in America. Your version of what's "safe" is not necessarily other people's version, and most safety studies I've seen come to a conclusions diametrically opposed to yours. You must not have read them, or you'd feel a bit less free to protect us poor misguided souls who drive and love Smarts.

Every day, we see horrendous pictures of what huge SUV's look like after tangling with 18-wheelers, so yes, size does matter, but not as much as you like to believe. I've been riding two-wheelers for more than 50 years, a conveyance Mommies everywhere condemn as being "death-machines", but here I still am, also driving a Smart car. And I don't consider myself to be a very good motorcycle rider.

I traded my 3/4-ton Chevy G20 van in on a Smart recently. The Insurance Institute considers this van to be near the bottom of the list when it comes to occupant safety, yet I found the flaw in handling that it had and fixed it. I have yet to find a flaw in the handling of the Smart Fortwo. Go look at the "Smartuki" video on U-Tube if you doubt that the Smart handles well. It has a very low center of Gravity, so it corners like a Go-Kart. Think "ACCIDENT AVOIDANCE".

I know that accidents can be deadly, but they can also be avoided by small, nimble vehicles. The Smart also gives us a built-in roll-cage, something that Japanese cars and most American pig-iron only wish they had. Finally, I used to run rallies in France with a PV-544 Volvo in the early sixties. This little car had perfect 50/50 weight distribution and regularly outran the likes of the Austin-Healy 3000 and Jaguar 120's on the back-roads of Alsace-Lorraine and came in second in most Gymkhanas behind the Healy Sprites/ MG Midgets.

So please, "Priggly", while you mean well, don't pick on our lovely little Smarts! I for one would appreciate it more if you would redirect your efforts & advice to drivers who fail to signal lane changes, turns and who run red lights.

Thank you - Herb

Getting stuck in 1st gear

2009-11-30T06:36:28.471Z

My Smart gets stuck in first gear when the accelerator is pressed hard, and yes, the trans is in "D". Removing foot from gas pedal has no immediate effect - the car just doesn't upshift for what seems an eternity while the engine just screams. Most embarrassing! Is there any way around this other than shifting manually?

451 smart fortwo

The Smart Fortwo has a Critic

Getting stuck in 1st gear