Comments on: Why I Bought a Smart Fortwo and Sold My Mini Cooper

By: Parma Vic

Parma Vic — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:57:27 +0000

I don’t get it. 3 cylinders and it gets ONLY 33 MPG. The Chevy Cobalt gets that kind of mileage and can get that on the highway and through downtown.
The local channel reviewed one the other day and it had a very loud exhaust note. Kind of like a lawn mower.
This is a niche product. Not a complete solution and for the size the mileage is terrible. In the suburbs this thing would get eaten alive by people on side roads who think they can beat it. And they’re right.
So think about how many times you’ll get cut off by a $$$ BMW or Lexus laughing at you and thinking they have the right-of-way no matter what. You’ll be having the breaks repaired all the time. And those small tires will unravel just as quickly.
Goog luck.

By: bob kaufman

bob kaufman — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:44:12 +0000

I don’t consider the 99 vintage, I own a 72 vette but took it off road for a while. That is vintage. The 99 got 28.1 mpg only because in 6th gear it was only tached out at 1500rpms.

By: Pascal Levensohn

Pascal Levensohn — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:09:51 +0000

Hi Bob
It’s pretty impressive that a vintage Corvette will get better highway mileage than a Lexus hybrid. I agree with keeping both. By varying your useage pattern to optimize for the best city mileage, you will materially reduce your total consumption. Let’s keep moving those aggregate statistics down!

By: bob kaufman

bob kaufman — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:43:45 +0000

I just put a reservation in on the passion, keep in mind last weekend coming back from hot rod weekend at the beach,my 99 corvette with 6 speed manual tranny got 28.1 mpg at 72mph average for the two and a half hour drive. the point is,I will drive this neat looking car to save some gas when I can. Hey, I’ts no vette but,I’ll keep them both.

By: J. K. Bounds

J. K. Bounds — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:11:05 +0000

You should probably compare apples with apples. Your 3-year old supercharged Mini got 15 mpg city. We’re sorry, perhaps you should have read the many reviews of that car that made it clear fuel efficiency was not that vehicle’s forte. The Honda Fit does as well as the Smart, can be used for all modes of travel, and will carry as much as a small minivan to boot. Even the MINI after a complete redesign in 2007 routinely gets 30 mpg city and 38 highway — in a car not predominantly designed for fuel efficiency. Your parking advantage in the Smart somewhat evaporates if cities don’t adapt and make pull-in parking for small vehicles in parallel spaces legal — which was the NYT reporter’s complaint.
I’m not down on fuel efficiency or even on making sacrifices for the sake of conservation. But many of us are extremely disappointed with the Smart; wearing sackcloth and beating yourself in the head only to get mediocre efficiency is not going to change Americans’ profligacy. The reality is that the Smart does not deliver fuel efficiency commensurate with the compromises most people would be forced to make. It seems pretty unlikely it will be around in the US market for long. Frankly it seems likely to just convince Americans that the sacrifices required to be more responsible are simply too great as they leave the Smart dealer to go buy that midsize-SUV.