Speed-O

sweet. Don't know why I'm a fan of them...but I am.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_521707.html


Ten years ago, Mercedes Benz introduced to Europe what a decade of innovation, experimentation and perspiration can do when directed toward a mini-compact car: the Smart Fortwo.

Now, more than 800,000 sales in 36 countries later, Fortwo, ("for two people"), is holding its American coming-out party, a 50-plus city tour that stopped this week in Pittsburgh. Test drives are being offered this weekend at Southside Works, off South 27th Street on the South Side.

The master distributor in the United States is former racing great Roger Penske. When the car becomes available in January, Mercedes-Benz of Pittsburgh, a Bobby Rahal dealership, will offer the vehicles locally.

"I believe the car, with the fuel economy that it offers, and the features that you usually don't find on a car so inexpensive, will be very popular," said Gregg Szabatura, general manager of the Mercedes-Benz dealership.

Fortwo combines a reasonable price, less than $12,000 for a base model, excellent gasoline mileage, 40 mpg-plus combined city-highway, wrapped in a steel cage-like frame with the roominess of its cousin, the Mercedes E-Class.

"The Fortwo is not about a person's age and income, it's about attitude and lifestyle," said Lisa Ray, a Smart spokeswoman and part of the traveling roadshow.

Everything about the Fortwo shouts "different," from its eight-foot, eight-inch length, small enough to fit two end-to-end within a standard parking space, to its three-cylinder, 12-valve, 61-cubic-inch Mitsubishi-built gasoline powered engine, capable of 90 miles per hour on the highway. Rear-wheel drive, coupled with rear-engine design means the Fortwo goes in the snow, Ray said.

But it's Fortwo's safety package and interior room upon which Mercedes really is touting its baby. "The idea of a microcar has been around since the 1970s. We've had small cars before, but they just weren't very safe," Ray said.

Every Fortwo comes with a built-in steel roll cage that includes front and rear crumple zones that absorb the energy of a collision and dissipates it throughout the entire shell. Smart makes sure people know the cage is there by painting it a different color than the rest of the exterior.

"It's the kind of roll cage you find in race cars," Ray said.

Fortwo's body panels are made of dent-resistant material that allows adventurous owners to exchange body parts, to mix and match colors.

The Smart comes in two body styles and three models, including the base model Pure, but still packed with safety features usually reserved for expensive vehicles, such as anti-lock braking, an electronic stability program, power-assist brakes and traction control. Four airbags are standard equipment, but air conditioning, power windows and steering and alloy wheels are options.

Next up the price ladder is the Passion, starting at less than $14,000, which includes a stationary sunroof, air conditioning, power windows, heated and electric outside mirrors, and AM/FM radio with CD player. Shift paddles, on either side of the steering column, also are an option.

The top end is the Passion Cabrio, a convertible Fortwo priced at less than $17,000, but including upgraded sound system that includes an MP3 compatible, in-dash six-CD changer.

"Heated seats, leather seats, a navigation system, Bluetooth (wireless connection) are available," Ray said.

Potential buyers who want to get in on the Fortwo can join a 20,000-plus-name waiting list by going to www.smartusa.com, clicking on "reservations" and filling out the form and charging the $99 refundable fee to get in the queue.

"We've taken almost 200 reservations, and our initial allocation only is 220 cars," Szabatura said.

Dmac

the gas mileage is cool but in an impact bye bye I'd rather die on a bike than a smart car haha

dave22

Good thing, because you're WAY more likely to die that way.

delxsol

umm, they did safety crashes and actually it had some impressive results. They crashed the thing into a mercedes and The driver nor the passenger would die. Now if you hit a dump truck its another story

Speed-O

I saw a vid on youtube where they were doing crash tests. The smart car held up better than a mercedes. I couldn't tell you which mercedes it was, cause I didn't care.

Kris.Is.Foamin

The fuck?


What if you hit a dumptruck... say crusing just over 4 mph. I think you'd be okay.

4drgsr

we already have one(european model) and i love it. 65mpg in ours on avg,but it has the 3cyl turbo mercedes motor. fun to drive,and i never feel ain any more danger when driving it than when i drive my chrysler 300. one more tidbit to add,the inventor of the smart car was not originally mercedes,the original design was done by the gentleman who invented the swatch watch,mercedes bought the design from him. in the name,smart,it stands for swatch,mercedes,art. feel free to come by and check ours out anytime.
here's a few pics i have

TheJoe-Y88

i remember seeing a video where they did a head on crash into a divider at 70mph and it did fine
heres the video

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/60538/smart_car_crash/

euthorus

IMHO - buying one is not smart...

B-Well

If you hit a dump truck in most cars its not gonna be pretty. Outcome rainging from scratched paint to death.