For those contemplating getting a Smart car. . . . .

cars · Post by **cars** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:42 pm

You just may want to re-think the idea!:wah:

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G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:52 pm

cars;1294358 wrote: You just may want to re-think the idea!:wah:

Good grief ! My sister bought one of those about 4 years ago, and it's been brilliant, but it isn't much good on the bumpy potholey roads on the Isle of Skye, so she's sold it and bought a 5 seater family car instead (thank goodness, having seen that horrible pic !)

This is what a Smart car should look like - I think this one is parked next to a Volvo Estate. The idea I think, was to make it small enough so it could park with it's rear end towards the kerb and not take up much room. Inside the car the front seat area is no smaller than a family car tbh. There is no back seat, and the boot is small, but OK for a shopping trip. What I didn't like about it was the front wheels were a bit smaller than the back wheels, which meant that you would have a problem if you had a puncture, unless you carried two wheels around with you all the time - difficult with such a small boot !

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:44 pm

cars;1294358 wrote: You just may want to re-think the idea!:wah:

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

I do think they are indeed economical but if ever in an accident?

bingo!

AussiePam · Post by **AussiePam** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:36 pm

It's got a lot more protection than a bicycle or motorcycle. Great car for tootling about the city, any city. Lots of them in Sydney, where parking anything of normal American type length is impossible.

FUBAR · Post by **FUBAR** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 5:52 am

I had one of these, used to be made by Smart but no longer. My oldest daughter loved it with the top off but no good for two kiddies as it only seats two. Drove like you had put glue on the tires...........:-6:-6

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 5:56 am

FUBAR;1294427 wrote:

I had one of these, used to be made by Smart but no longer. My oldest daughter loved it with the top off but no good for two kiddies as it only seats two. Drove like you had put glue on the tires...........:-6:-6

very cool Fubar, I like that!:-6:-6

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:03 am

I'd imagine not many cars would have withstood that action. Very careless of at least one of those truck drivers. I see a replacement coming. I hope no one was injured.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:22 am

Ahso!;1294438 wrote: I'd imagine not many cars would have withstood that action. Very careless of at least one of those truck drivers. I see a replacement coming. I hope no one was injured.

Looking at the crushed state of the Smart car, I would say that the driver and any passenger would be very dead! The truck driver that ploughed into the poor guy should be done for manslaughter, have his truck driving licence permanently taken from him, and he be jailed for a number of years.

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:38 pm

cars;1294358 wrote: You just may want to re-think the idea!:wah:

G#Gill;1294361 wrote: Good grief ! My sister bought one of those about 4 years ago, and it's been brilliant, but it isn't much good on the bumpy potholey roads on the Isle of Skye, so she's sold it and bought a 5 seater family car instead (thank goodness, having seen that horrible pic !)

This is what a Smart car should look like - I think this one is parked next to a Volvo Estate. The idea I think, was to make it small enough so it could park with it's rear end towards the kerb and not take up much room. Inside the car the front seat area is no smaller than a family car tbh. There is no back seat, and the boot is small, but OK for a shopping trip. What I didn't like about it was the front wheels were a bit smaller than the back wheels, which meant that you would have a problem if you had a puncture, unless you carried two wheels around with you all the time - difficult with such a small boot !

IMG]

first point if ya look at the pic dont look like a crushed smart car too much metal

2nd as for spare wheel they are the same size but diff widths so ya use a front as spare

i had one and it was gr8

cars · Post by **cars** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:46 pm

el guapo;1294502 wrote: first point if ya look at the pic dont look like a crushed smart car too much metal

2nd as for spare wheel they are the same size but diff widths so ya use a front as spare

i had one and it was gr8
So guess you don't have the gr8 bugger any longer. :wah:

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:34 pm

el guapo;1294502 wrote: first point if ya look at the pic dont look like a crushed smart car too much metal

2nd as for spare wheel they are the same size but diff widths so ya use a front as spare

i had one and it was gr8

Too much metal? But the vehicle is crushed like it would be at the scrap metal merchants ! But check out that wheel - that is a Smart car wheel, unless I'm very much mistaken. The 2003 model had 5 'spokes' !

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:38 pm

cars;1294503 wrote: So guess you don't have the gr8 bugger any longer. :wah:

sold it 4 months back

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:39 pm

G#Gill;1294506 wrote: Too much metal? But the vehicle is crushed like it would be at the scrap metal merchants ! But check out that wheel - that is a Smart car wheel, unless I'm very much mistaken. The 2003 model had 5 'spokes' !

that one a smart 1st one is cruched metel smart is fibre glass/plastic

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:50 am

I enquired of my brother-in-law (my sister owns a Smart car), concerning the materials the Smart car was made of, and this was his reply.

"The bonnet area, the door panels and boot lid are glass fibre, the rest of it is steel. It is basically a steel frame with the white bits filling the gaps in glass fibre."

My sister's Smart was black and white, so I'm assuming that Eric is referring to the white areas of the car, when he says they are made of glass fibre. The black parts would be metal. You could change the colour scheme of the Smart car by just replacing the glass fibre parts for a different colour.

As I recall, the bonnet was white, the door panels were white and the rear boot door panel was white, the rest of the vehicle was black, so it would seem that the wings and all other black parts are steel, so with the frame being steel, of course, it would be about 50/50 steel and glass fibre. The roof is glass or plastic (my sister's shattered on one occasion, which really shocked her at the time, as she was busy driving - it seemed like a case of very cold outside, and heater going inside caused the problem!).

On an impact like the one shown in the photo, the glass fibre parts would break into shards rather than crumble into powder, so that there would be chunks of glass fibre panel squashed with the steel frame and wings, and presenting a crushed 'block' as in the photo. I would severely doubt that ANY car would come out at all well after a 'crush' impact as in the photo shown in the OP.

Below is a Youtube film of a Smart car (same paint work as my sister's and probably the same year), undergoing an impact test at 70 mph! I think it says a lot about the sturdy build of the Smart car.

YouTube - Smart Car Stunt

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 4:28 am

G#Gill;1294568 wrote: I enquired of my brother-in-law (my sister owns a Smart car), concerning the materials the Smart car was made of, and this was his reply.

"The bonnet area, the door panels and boot lid are glass fibre, the rest of it is steel. It is basically a steel frame with the white bits filling the gaps in glass fibre."

My sister's Smart was black and white, so I'm assuming that Eric is referring to the white areas of the car, when he says they are made of glass fibre. The black parts would be metal. You could change the colour scheme of the Smart car by just replacing the glass fibre parts for a different colour.

As I recall, the bonnet was white, the door panels were white and the rear boot door panel was white, the rest of the vehicle was black, so it would seem that the wings and all other black parts are steel, so with the frame being steel, of course, it would be about 50/50 steel and glass fibre. The roof is glass or plastic (my sister's shattered on one occasion, which really shocked her at the time, as she was busy driving - it seemed like a case of very cold outside, and heater going inside caused the problem!).

On an impact like the one shown in the photo, the glass fibre parts would break into shards rather than crumble into powder, so that there would be chunks of glass fibre panel squashed with the steel frame and wings, and presenting a crushed 'block' as in the photo. I would severely doubt that ANY car would come out at all well after a 'crush' impact as in the photo shown in the OP.

Below is a Youtube film of a Smart car (same paint work as my sister's and probably the same year), undergoing an impact test at 70 mph! I think it says a lot about the sturdy build of the Smart car.

YouTube - Smart Car Stunt

the wings are fibre glass to over a steel safety cell

Bill Sikes · Post by **Bill Sikes** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:17 am

cars;1294358 wrote:

It's not a Smart, it's a Ford Escape.

cars · Post by **cars** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:59 am

Bill Sikes;1294576 wrote: It's not a Smart, it's a Ford Escape.
And you know this how? What kind of metal is that car made out of? No matter, small is small, and crunched is crunched! :wah:

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 7:03 am

As I have already said, I don't think that there's a car around that could withstand a sandwich like that between two heavy trucks ! Even a Volvo or Mercedes !

cars · Post by **cars** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:11 am

G#Gill;1294594 wrote: As I have already said, I don't think that there's a car around that could withstand a sandwich like that between two heavy trucks ! Even a Volvo or Mercedes !

Yes you're certainly right! But given the choice, I would rather take my chances in a larger Volvo or Mercedes, rather then any small car, in that scenario! :-2

Bill Sikes · Post by **Bill Sikes** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:37 am

cars;1294589 wrote: SIZE=3]And you know this how? What kind of metal is that car made out of? No matter, small is small, and crunched is crunched! wah:

I know this because *I* can use an Internet Search.

If *you* want to use a Google search, too, put in "smart car Jefferson Parish" and see what turns up. You could also go straight to Snopes, at:

snopes.com: Save the Planet with a Small Car

Now, perhaps you'd prefer to be in a thing called a "hummer"? OK:

Hummer Vs School Bus - Top Speed

No matter, big is big, and crunched is crunched.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:58 am

Thanks, Bill, for clarifying that for us. Wow, just goes to show, as I said earlier, any car would finish up crushed when hit from behind by that 'dumper' and the truck infront. I still say, though, that the visible wheel is a Smart car wheel, so perhaps the other car involved and pushed onto the grass (off picture) may have been a Smart car? It doesn't actually say in the Snopes report.