The first public appearances of the smart brand in the USA produced an extremely positive response to the products and the core brand values anchored in them. It became clear that potential customers in the USA associate the smart brand with terms such as “unusual design”, “unique”, “creative”, “individual” and “innovative”. smart will be taking up these values at the Detroit Motor Show and specifically addressing the subjects of design, safety and ecology.

Click here to see more Pics and the Full Press Release.
http://www.lastofthebreed.com/News/Smart/Smart.htm

 

I'm still debating on if I want one 4-4 or two 4-2's and get rid of the Z. I've got my down payment readdy for two of them... I'm undecided Or maybe even a roadster? I haven't even seen that before.

 

how much will it cost?

edit: got to the bottom and click on the shell of the car. it brings up a vette, wierd?

 

Yea same thing happened for me too Figured it was a cache glitch, guess not though.

I think the 4-2 starts at $10-12K

 

ooppss.. My Bad... fixed.. lol

 

I'm sorry, I dont' care how fuel-efficient those things are...I wouldn't be caught dead driving one. Period. Well, except for maybe the roadster...

 

With all the Suburbans and Semis on the road, these things will get the label of rolling death trap. The only way this whole idea will fly is if we have another gas crisis like in 1974.

 

10-12k?!?!?!?! holy crap, that car is awesome for that price.
edit: i'm just now noticing that it has a 3 cyl 80hp engine.
but i'm sure by the time it gets to the US it will have something better.
awesome car!

 

the 4-2 and 4-4 are just butt FUGLY! the roadster looks pretty cool though.

 

not if it has the shell of the smaller smart car.
if you get killed by a semi in that thing you will get killed in any other car

 

You have to see them in real life. They're too small be 'fugly' its just like an exension of a person that has wheels or something, its hard to define... They're unique, and ugly I guess if you look at it as the size of a regular car, but they're really just really neat to look at more than anything.

If they keep promoting it as a safe vehicle (which it certainly IS) then I don't think its in any danger of getting a false perception as an unsafe vehicle. Look at it crumble up that family sedan

 

The roadster only weighs about 1700 pounds (790kg). That is a 21.25:1 weight:hp ratio.

By comparison, my wife's beetle's curb weight is 2850 pounds with a 115 hp engine. That's a ~24.75:1 weight:hp ratio. It has a 5-speed...it isn't a rocket by any means, but has enough acceleration to get ont he itnernstate at 75mph without any issues with both of us in it and some cargo. So I would think these cars would be accelerating similarly to the beetle which i would be able to deal with especially considering the gas mileage.

 

i have a video of the small smart car doing a almost head on (like 87º) with 4+ ft worth of concrete barriers. it hit it and cracked one of them. even though the the car and manakin looked ok. they said you would have died from the g-force decelleration.

 

but at 1700lbs, i could easily see some suspension mods, and a turbo/supercharged i-4/v6 to get 200-280hp out of it. that thing would fly

 

The engine in these cars weighs only 120 pounds. So bear in mind additional weight from engine - i wouild imagine if they are going to put an engine making 200HP in it you are going to gain some weight too. And then you need stiffer suspension like you mentioned - that is going to add more weight. A turbo I-4 making the kind of power you're talking about is going to need forged internals and a boatload of other things. This engine was designed from the ground up to be light - i bet they are not really capable of making much more power. I bet the camshaft(s) are even carbon. Probably EXTRMELY thin walls on the pistons...a very light alloy crank, etc. Then you have to stiffen the body up to handle the torque so you are adding more metal to the frame (well, not "frame" i guess...but it has to go somewhere). There is a reason a corvette or any car with that power can't weigh 2000 pounds.

EDIT: Oh yah, and don't forget the drivetrain...once you are making THREE times the power like you suggest i'm sure the current transmission and other drivetrain components are going to need to be MUCH stouter. Then take into account all these components and add up the new price for the car and suddenly you are defeating the entire purpose of a super light cheap automobile and you have a $25k-27k car that is built like a Miata.