Smart ForTwo Comes Out on Top in Roof-Strength Test

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released the results of its first crash test to determine roof strength for small cars. Only one of the six cars tested — the Smart ForTwo — earned the top rating of Good. The Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Mini Cooper and Toyota Yaris earned Acceptable ratings, while the Chevy Aveo managed only a Marginal rating.

These new tests are important because they will be included in the 2010 Top Safety Pick awards that IIHS hands out. The roof tests require a car to withstand a force four times the vehicle’s weight per 5 inches of crushed area. That produces a strength-to-weight ratio. A ratio of 4 is the minimum to earn a Good rating, 3.25 is minimum for an Acceptable rating and 2.5 for Marginal. Anything below that is a Poor. The Smart Fortwo earned a 5.4 rating.

IIHS points to rollover crashes accounting for 10,000 deaths a year as the main reason to add the roof test to its side, rear and frontal crash tests. However, IIHS points out that while a strong roof helps prevent injuries after a rollover, the cars themselves should be more stable to prevent such accidents. The Smart ForTwo has a three-star rollover rating from the government, while the Fit, Cooper and Yaris have four-star rollover ratings.

Last year, 84 vehicles earned Top Safety Pick status, including the Honda Fit, which looks to lose that status with its score of Acceptable in the roof test. 

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.

Smart's Success Leads to Caution

The smallest kid on the block is willing to stay that way for a while.

Smart, a Daimler-Benz subsidiary, has sold about 17,000 ForTwos since launching the tiny two-seater in the U.S. in January. Yet 30,000 potential buyers are still on waiting lists.

Even so, the automaker has no intention of boosting output to bring supply in line with demand, says Smart USA president Dave Schembri, who says auto graveyards are littered with companies that reacted too soon with too much.

"Only a year ago we didn't have a car or a dealer in the U.S.," he said. "We can grow volume, but we want to make sure we have everything in place first before we expand. Profit margins are relatively thin on a small car, so we always want to be one car short."

Essentially, a supply/demand imbalance allows dealers to sell each car for full list price.

Smart Wants Even More Awareness

Despite at least a year-long waiting list in the U.S. from order to delivery, Smart is going to return to the Chicago Auto Show next February. 

It hasn't had an exhibit at the show since 2005, when it wasn't even on sale in the U.S. So why is Smart spending money and resources on getting the word out when it seems the word is already quite good?

It's especially surprising when you consider that other small automakers, like Porsche and Suzuki, dropped out of the Detroit auto show to save money. Even some major automakers have cut back on exhibit space on the auto show circuit to economize.

"When you cut back space from 180,000 square feet to 170,000 square feet, that's still one heck of a chunk of space, but at $8 a square foot it's also one heck of a chunk of savings," an auto show source said.

Clearly, Smart's action flies in the face of an industry that's pinching pennies and, in many cases, losing money. It helps, of course, that Smart is selling every car it can build and has people willing to wait a year or more to get one of its high-mileage machines.

ForTwo Sales Make for Lengthy Wait

Cars.com didn't exactly give the Smart ForTwo rave reviews, but what do we know?

The market has spoken, and in these days of the fuel crunch, the ForTwo is selling like hotcakes to a hungry lumberjack. Smart USA has sold more than 14,000 units so far. Back in January, Smart had a list of potential buyers with 30,000 names on it. Now, ForTwo buyers must add themselves to a waiting list that's nearly a year long.

A search of Cars.com's inventory revealed only one Smart dealer in my area, and upon calling the Knauz Auto Park in Lake Bluff, Ill., I was told that, indeed, once I put in a reservation on Smart's website for $99, my wait could be "15 months and up."

Starting at under $12k and getting 41 mpg on the highway, it's not hard to see what's boosting demand for the ForTwo.

Cars.com Faceoff: 2008 Mini Cooper Clubman, Scion xB, Smart ForTwo

You probably just read that headline and said to yourself, boy, these Cars.com people don't know what they're doing, comparing three cars of different prices and configurations. That would be true if we were basing it on just their MSRP, but this is the Iconic Car Faceoff, so we chose three radically styled yet relatively affordable and fuel-efficient cars.

They're also three of the most eye-catching rides around, for various reasons. Check out how the hype mixes with reality, and where it pays off for each, in the throwdown below.

Cars.comparison: Iconic Cars

What's Next? Smart Monster Truck

The Smart ForTwo is one of the smallest cars on the road. It comes standard with 15-inch wheels, which were clearly not big enough for the owner of the ForFun2 monster “truck.” 

There’s not much more to say. Just check out the somewhat-windy video below to bask in its full glory.

Smart ForFun Monster Truck (TransportTrends)

IIHS on the Smart ForTwo: Officially Safe?

You can call the Smart ForTwo cute and cuddly, but can you call it safe? That's the word many consumers have been waiting to hear based on the car's petite size.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash tested the 1,800-pound Smart ForTwo, and it earned the agency’s highest rating, Good, in front and side impacts. Its seats and head restraints earned IIHS' second-highest rating, Acceptable, for protection in rear impacts.   

But IIHS president Adrian Lund stopped short of saying the Smart is safe.

Smart ForTwo Tops Cars.com Best Bang for Your Buck List

We’ve crunched some numbers and come out with our latest Best Bang for Your Buck list of affordable rides. The list factors in the base price of a new car plus the cost of filling it up for eight years. We used an average gas price of $3.40  — which just a month ago was the national average  — and a projected 15,000 miles driven per year, 55% city, 45% highway.

The results had the Smart ForTwo on top with a lifetime cost of $23,863. Less than $5,000 separated our top 10 list, which also includes the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa and Honda Fit.

We also have a separate list for hybrids. All five of the top hybrids had a more expensive lifetime cost than any of our top 10 traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. Check out the full list here.

NHTSA Raises Questions About Smart Safety

The tiny Smart ForTwo already passed European safety standards, and recently the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also cleared it for the U.S. Side-impact scores were high — five out of five stars — but NHTSA raised concerns over the driver’s door opening during impact.

NHTSA usually gives high ratings because its testing system isn’t as strenuous as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s, which Cars.com prefers. The Smart received four stars for front crashes on the driver’s side and only three stars for the front passenger. Its rollover rating was also just three stars, a rating usually reserved for large SUVs. (Three stars is the rollover score the 2008 Ford Explorer got.) 

In comparison, the small Chevy Aveo and Toyota Yaris get higher front and rollover scores, but lower side-impact ratings. And, of course, no added warning about the doors flying open.

NHTSA Smart crash test page with video (Safecar.gov)
More Smart News (KickingTires)