Reader Review of the Week: 2008 Smart ForTwo
We're delighted to feature a reader review of the 2008 Smart ForTwo. Since the ForTwo's debut, there has been a lot of interest in seeing how much consumer interest it would generate. With an assist from high summer gas prices, the compact has found a niche. Even though our own reviewers found it somewhat lacking, Bruce from Colorado is so pleased with his that he plans to buy another. Read his review after the jump, and submit your own here.
"Ordered my Smart Passion in October '07 and still haven't gotten that one, but was able to pick up an ‘orphan’ (a car ordered but not taken by a customer). Drove it home 67 miles on the interstate and was very surprised at how it held 80 mph, as I did not buy the car for anything other than city driving. Now I have about 2,000 miles on the car and my wife has kept detailed mileage records. We are getting 42 miles to the gallon in town!
"Typical commute is about 10 miles at about 45 mph. We have parked our other cars whenever we are running errands. Between the gas savings and the insurance savings we are paying for the car, the other Smart is to be delivered in late December or early January, and we are taking it. I changed the order to the Cabriolet. It's a great car if you don't need to spend more than 15 to 30 minutes per drive at speeds lower than 60 mph. It's adequate if you occasionally need to get on the interstate. I did drive it at 75 mph for over 150 miles twice in one week, and it got about 36 mpg, but the seats are a bit hard for two hours. It's a fun car to drive and it gets lots of attention."
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"Drove it home 67 miles on the interstate and was very surprised at how it held 80 mph"
How could this possibly be the "reader review of the week" when he's writing about breaking the law? Holding a speed of 80 mph is dangerous and illegal in any state and any vehicle. Cars.com shouldn't be promoting this type of driving.
Above poster,
If you travel less than 80-85 in houston- you are dangerous, since everyone else is dodging you, lol. I think the review answers a legitimate question many of us have- for freeway jaunts which even a "city car" will sometimes have to make- can it keep up with traffic and not be a dangerous obstacle for everone else to avoid.
Broq
Grow up and act your age, I would have done the same thing
Not really impressed with the mpg on this vehicle on the highway.
Then again I always thought it was designed more for urban use and congestion reduction than it was for fuel economy and long haul transportation.
RE: "80 mph is dangerous and illegal in any state "
It is 5 mph over the limit in Colorado. Dangerous and illegal? Not so much.
RE: "It is 5 mph over the limit in Colorado. Dangerous and illegal? Not so much."
The speed limit is the maximum lawful speed, anything above that is illegal. Ask a state trooper if exceeding the speed limit is dangerous and they probably won't shrug it off and say, "not so much."
Nameless,
you should type in some fake name so we could call you Mr. Someone.
Well, mr. Someone
"80 mph is dangerous and illegal in any state "
This is philosophical statement, which is also more complex then you might think.
"...illegal in any state..."
Not so true. In Texas 80 is legal speed, in some counties.
"...80 mph is dangerous..."
This is where philosophy begins. It can be dangerous but it will depend on:
Where you drive
Who drives it
What kind car
Condition of tires, brakes, etc
Weather conditions.
I don't think, if a resposible and experienced driver in good physical condition, without cell phone, in a top model Porsche in good condition, on dry road with good visibility, in one of Texan counties with population density of 1 per 5 sq.miles... I don't think
that would be dangerous.
Well. All above on streets of Boston - would be.
The reviewer is from Colorado and 80 isn't legal in Colorado.
While driving over the speed limit is the driver's choice (a poor one under any circumstances, in my opinion), that's not my point here. Bringing up some hypothetical scenario where it may or may not be illegal and/or dangerous is also not my point.
The point is that cars.com is being irresponsible by commending the person's review when the reviewer clearly admits to driving the vehicle in an unlawful manner. Cars.com is free to do so, but I'm just voicing my disagreement with their choice.
yada yada yada
Glad you are spending time backing up you stupid statement.
Tony, the max speed limit in Texas is 70 MPH. Anywhere close to cities is usually 60 to 65.
We have a new 6 to 8 lane toll road north of Dallas. The speed limit is 65.
Nameless,
you've got legit point there!! (when you clearly stated that)
"The point is that cars.com is being irresponsible by commending the person's review when the reviewer clearly admits to driving the vehicle in an unlawful manner."
I can agree that such extreme tests should be
performed on specially prepared tracks, etc., not on the streets. And posting such review might encourage others to do the same. User review should contain normal or standard road driving experiences, unless review was covering a test performed within boundaries of specially equipped facility.
Come on people - we've surely all driven over the speed limit and I don't think it's down to the editorial staff at Cars.com to legislate on how we should behave.
The important thing to note is that if the cars is stable and happy at 80, it means that you are within the envelope of safe performance at the legal limit. Just because a car is primarily aimed at the city, doesn't mean it's ok for it to get twitchy and unstable on the highway.
If i choose to do that, I dont want my car to be "at the limit" i want to be within the performance envelope of the car. This review tells me that the Smart is well engineered enough to be a serious (and safe) everyday car and not just a city commuter.
Unless you live in a large city with few parking spaces available, I'm not sure why one would buy a ForTwo. 42 MPG is good, but you have to consider the premium fuel requirement.
JimC,
I think, you don't know your state well enough. There is legislation in Texas that on certain roads the speed can be up to 85mph. Read my post again and you'll see that I stated that in "some counties of Texas".
"The legislation creating the Trans-Texas Corridor allows speed limits of up to 85 mph"
Why don't you just read this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_States
And there is another news for you about Texas:
In texas the speed limit is of
"Prima Facie" type.
In Rhode Island, Texas, and Utah driving faster than the speed limit is Prima Facie evidence of unreasonable speed. One can argue in court that one was exceeding the speed limit but should not be convicted because the speed was safe.
so here we go. You go on empty Texas road 20mph over speed limit and you have a witness. The cop stops you and charges you. Hey, you have good chance to show that you were safe.
I don't know anyone who drives the 65 mph speed limit, too dangerous to go that slow in CA, at least when there is not traffic..
The question should be, how livable is the transmission?
Mr. No Name should read up
http://www.progress.org/fold40.htm
http://medicolegal.tripod.com/speedlimits.htm
C'mon people, the reviewer was just making a point that the car was OK at 80. Our interstate speed here in Idaho is 75, and people regularly drive 85-90. I'm not condoning it, it's just the reality of the situation. On our interstate a trooper wouldn't blink at someone doing 80. Lighten up.
That said, the FourTwo might be right for some people, but it isn't my cup of tea. My little '07 Spectra regularly gets 33-35mpg combined, on 87 octane. I have space for two adults in the back seat and a decent sized trunk. All that for under 14 grand out the door.
Regardless, it was nice to read a review of the FourTwo by a "civilian" for a change.
I drove 10,000 miles in 25 days in my smart car. I loved it! So much for being a "city" car!
Aaron Lephart
smartcar451.com
The Smart is not my cup of tea because of safety concerns but it is a gas saver and takes up little space on the road. The ability to put more cars on a mile of roadway is one way to ease chronic traffic congestion. Smart drivers, I salute you.
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