Smart in the US?

[dlloyd1975]

Yesterday I saw a Smart ForTwo in the parking lot at the St. Louis airport. It had Illinois plates, so someone obviously registered it here. Could this be one of the Canadian gray market imports?

[Kaz]

Are they selling em in Canada yet? I know there are plans to officially sell certain models in the US, but not for a couple more years.

Out here, we see non-US-spec cars all the time with manufacturer plates so having a plate doesn't mean anything.

[dlloyd1975]

Are they selling em in Canada yet? I know there are plans to officially sell certain models in the US, but not for a couple more years.

Out here, we see non-US-spec cars all the time with manufacturer plates so having a plate doesn't mean anything.

These were regular 'ol "Land of Lincoln" illinois plates. I did dig up a Smart Canada website, but no pricing, so who knows if they're selling them yet.

[Jever]

Those are cute little death traps!

[Terry Kennedy]

Yesterday I saw a Smart ForTwo in the parking lot at the St. Louis airport. It had Illinois plates, so someone obviously registered it here. Could this be one of the Canadian gray market imports?There was one in the BMWNA parking lot (Woodcliff Lake, NJ) the night of the NJBMWCCA annual meeting. It had Illinois plates as well. Odd...

[ZBB 325Ci]

I saw one a couple months ago at an outlet mall north of Atlanta...

But it had German plates (Dusseldorf if I remember correctly) on it and may have been a tourist car or someone trying to grey-market it themselves (you can bring a foreign-registered car into the US for up to 1 year)...

[Dave 330i]

Anyone buying one of these is not too smart. I saw this one in Munich.

[swchang]

Anyone buying one of these is not too smart. I saw this one in Munich.

Are you kidding me? It's perfect for city dwellers. I think it'd make a great commuter car as well. It's such a shame to see people driving huge SUVs when they're the only occupant. Actually, it's a shame even when people drive 3ers and similar-sized cars and they're the only occupant.

[Dave 330i]

Are you kidding me? It's perfect for city dwellers. I think it'd make a great commuter car as well. It's such a shame to see people driving huge SUVs when they're the only occupant. Actually, it's a shame even when people drive 3ers and similar-sized cars and they're the only occupant.

Smart (short for Swatch Mercedes Art, sometimes called the MCC Smart ) is a very small 2-seater automobile manufactured at the purpose-built factory complex of Smartville in Hambach, France established in 1994 as a joint-venture of Daimler-Benz and the watch manufacturer Swatch. The project was originally supported by Swatch (the Swiss watch company), and was nicknamed the Swatchmobile. Today it is part of DaimlerChrysler as Micro Compact Car GmbH. The car was launched in 1998.

The car, intended primarily for urban use, is powered by small petrol or diesel engines. It is light (740 kg), its construction based on a reinforced steel shell with plastic body panels. Its short length (2.5 m) means that two Smarts can share a normal-size parking bay.

I've seen Smart parked perpendicular to the sidewalk. :rofl:

The car was supposed to be full of very innovative features (such as hybrid engine) and to be an affordable car for young people.

Being inexperienced in automobiles, Swatch teamed in a joint venture with Daimler-Benz to finalize and produce the product.

When the car issued it was far from expectations: technology was conventional and it was more expensive than most small 4-seater cars sold in Europe.

The joint venture experienced heavy losses and Swatch pulled out.
Facts and figures: smart fortwo coupé technical data at a glance.



Engine/type
3-cylinder in-line engine at rear with turbocharger and charge-air cooler

Engine capacity (cc)
799


Rated output (hp)
40.2 at 4,200/rpm


Max. torque (lb-ft)
73.8 at 1,800 -2,800/rpm

Bore x stroke (mm)
65.5 x 79.0

Boost pressure control
Mechanical

Maximum charge pressure
1.15 bar

Compression ratio
18.5: 1


Fuel delivery
Common-rail direct injection

CO2 emissions (g/km)
90

Maximum speed
135 km/h [1]

Acceleration 0-100 km/h (s)
19.8

Fuel type
Diesel


Fuel consumption (l/100 km)

City
3.9

Highway
3.1

Combined
3.4

Engine position


Transmission
Automated, sequential 6-speed transmission (softip)

Brakes/dynamic handling control system
esp® (Electronic Stability Program) with Hill Start Assist
Anti-lock Braking System (abs) with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD)
Acceleration Skid Control (ASC)
Electronic Brake Assist.
Dual-circuit brake system with servo assistance
Disk brakes at front, drum brakes at rear.

Tires/wheels front
3.5 J x 15 / 145x65 R 15

Tires/wheels rear
5.5 J x 15 / 175x55 R 15

Vehicle length / width / height (mm)
2,500 / 1,515 / 1,549

Turning circle (m)
8,8

Track width front/rear (mm)
1,286 / 1,354

Wheelbase (mm)
1.812

Curb weight in kg (without driver) / Payload (kg)
730/250

Permissible total weight (kg)
990


Luggage compartment capacity (l)
150 to waist line/260 to roof


Fuel tank capacity/reserve (l)
22/5

Warranty in years
4 year or 80,000 kms, whichever comes first.

[1] electronically limited



There are Japanese cars that are just as economical, more reliable, better control in cross wind situation. And, they look like real cars.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/gasmileage/

[swchang]

There are Japanese cars that are just as economical, more reliable, better control in cross wind situation. And, they look like real cars.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/gasmileage/

Yeah, but in terms of pure size? I want something that can parallel park in between almost anything. :)

[ctbmw]

I saw my first Smart in Stonington last summer.Very small/cute! People checking it out.
I was flipping through a European magazine a few months ago, and saw a lot of their very cool looking cars. All small. Cool though.
Nothing I'd take on the interstate! I was nervous in my Miata.
-Mel

[JB330Ci]

:doh: In Texas we call those "speed bumps". :bigpimp:

[Dave 330i]

Yeah, but in terms of pure size? I want something that can parallel park in between almost anything. :)
How about the old reliable bicycle? Do attach one of those tall fiberglass fluorescent triangular flag to the rear if you are concern about your safety among SUVs.

[Scott ZHP]

Yesterday I saw a Smart ForTwo in the parking lot at the St. Louis airport. It had Illinois plates, so someone obviously registered it here. Could this be one of the Canadian gray market imports?

I've never seen one here, but they're all over Europe. I ran into this one while on a project assignment in Essen, Germany.

They're fine for city traffic I guess, but you'd never get me on the highway in one of these.

[dlloyd1975]

They seem to fare surprisingly well in crash testing, though the reduced crumple space places a larger load on the retraint systems:

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/Smart_crashtest.html

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/pix3/Crashtest_Smart_W210.jpg

[Toast]

The Smart is available in Canada since the beginning of 2004, FYI. :)

[MG67]

Aaah, "Le Petite Auto Pour Invalide" or "Little Invalid Car" as we call them in the Netherlands... Same ball game as the Mercedes A160....:eek: :eek: