Smart Cars in Pitt? (Pittsburgh: how much, dorm, buy)

[CuriouserGeorge]

Just curious, but does anyone drive a Smart car in Pittsburgh or surrounding area? What's it like during the winter (or summer for that matter) on the hills?

[greg42]

The most surprising thing to me has been to see several of them way out this way. Someone who lives just down the road has one, and I've seen it many times. Plus I've seen a few in Cranberry. Just seems odd to me out in almost the sticks. The craziest was when I followed one (or it followed me) onto I-79 one morning rush hour. I kept thinking "No, it's not actually going to get on the highway" but it did. And it kept up pretty well! I know the top speed is around 80-ish.

I can't give you any firsthand info though. I gather it should be about as useful in the winter as any other front driver, though the light weight could hinder it in spots. Would be a good candidate for snow tires probably. At least they'll be cheap with the small wheels.

The idea of the car intrigued me a little at first, but everything I've seen suggests it's not at all fun to drive. Plus it doesn't seem quite good enough mileage to give up the utility of at least having 4 seats. (Plus takes premium gas?! That's what it said on fueleconomy.gov, that's going to negate cost savings of the mileage I suspect.)

[BrianTH]

It has really old powertrain technology, which is why the fuel savings aren't what they should be.

[john7104]

Just buy a Civic or a Mazda 3. What you save you can put towards the MPG difference. You'll also a.) have a safer car. b.) have a more reliable car. c.) have a car with a better resale value.

[KoobleKar]

I can't give you first hand experience of how a Smartcar would handle in the snow. But as a general rule of thumb, the shorter the wheelbase the more a car is prone to swap ends easily. For example a Jeep CJ5 might look great to drive in the snow. They'll go almost anywhere. But that is providing you go SLOWLY. When a car with a longer wheelbase begins to slide sideways, you can correct them by steering into the slide. But a Jeep CJ5 will snap around too quickly for that to work. Either that or your correction will cause it to snap back to center and then slide the opposite way.

[Mugatu]

I'm sure it would do fine with these simple modifications.


YouTube - Monster Smart

[CuriouserGeorge]

Originally Posted by KoobleKar

I can't give you first hand experience of how a Smartcar would handle in the snow. But as a general rule of thumb, the shorter the wheelbase the more a car is prone to swap ends easily. For example a Jeep CJ5 might look great to drive in the snow. They'll go almost anywhere. But that is providing you go SLOWLY. When a car with a longer wheelbase begins to slide sideways, you can correct them by steering into the slide. But a Jeep CJ5 will snap around too quickly for that to work. Either that or your correction will cause it to snap back to center and then slide the opposite way.

Thanks. That's useful info, and something I'd never thought about.

[CuriouserGeorge]

Originally Posted by john7104

Just buy a Civic or a Mazda 3. What you save you can put towards the MPG difference. You'll also a.) have a safer car. b.) have a more reliable car. c.) have a car with a better resale value.

Good choices, but I really wouldn't anticipate driving it much: mainly short bursts for shopping a couple times a week, or when parking might be an issue. Seems it would fit nicely into a small garage as well (or a dorm room).

[Pitts10yrs]

They are too overpriced....for that amount of money you can get a better car, with more room, and same gas mileage. They are cute though.

[bradjl2009]

I'd never buy one because they are overpriced, too small (have fun going away for more than 2/3 days in it), crappy fuel economy for the size (a regular small car does just as well and can be used for a lot more things), and too slow. I will give the Smart car though I was surprised at how much room I had in the front when I sat in one at the auto show once.