So all the tree huggers Still Want A SMART Car?

[Fordman]

This was in West Jefferson Parish, Louisianna (Near New Orleans).



I'll Take my F-150 any day!

Drive one of these, end up like this guy, just Hug that tree and you'll hug the roots of it!

 

Fordman

[wp34]

I've seen some pretty impressive crash footage of the Smart Car on Youtube.  They can handle some pretty serious front-end crashes.  Interesting to see a real world example.   I'll pass.

[pinballwizard79]

 

Smart cars btw have 3 lugs not 5, thats a ford focus I read....guy below says suv...hahahaha, thats hilarious it was a FORD!!!!

[smalltownguy]

This was in West Jefferson Parish, Louisianna (Near New Orleans).



I'll Take my F-150 any day!

Drive one of these, end up like this guy, just Hug that tree and you'll hug the roots of it!

 

Fordman

Sorry, Fordman, this one's bogus. The car in the photo is actually an SUV, believe it or not. It's a FORD ESCAPE 

You can't see the whole car -- the accident was offset to the passenger side of the Escape, leaving the driver's side largely unharmed. The driver of the Escape survived the crash.

Check out the real deal on snopes.com:

Small car crash is a fake

[Justin Z]

lol, thread full of fail

[SavannahLion]

I am not about to give up my pickup just to save on fuel or save someone else's life no matter what the tree huggers, Obama or whatever anyone else says. Whether or not the photo is real. I'm not an entirely huge fan of those 100lb cars with dual hamster pellet injected motors. Those ---uvulas--- got it all mixed up anyways. If people want to save on fuel and go 75+MPH to work, they need to look at public transit or something. Seriously, why is the U.S. still without high speed rail? Retarded ---fudgesicle--- nuts keep going on and on about saving the environment, yet they do everything possible to prevent the very projects that would reduce our dependencies on oil (not just foreign oil, any oil). A train that does nearly 600MPH and it doesn't even reside in the U.S.? Hhmmmm a five hour drive in a car to L.A. or 45 minutes on a high speed train? Which one saves fuel again? Oh right... it doesn't even matter.  

Ahem... I feel better now.

Speaking of accidents. I recall a Geo Metro meeting a similar fate. This guy had a 1960-something Ford F150 and had his dogs taken away. In a fit of rage, he drove through the brick wall at the pound, then drove off on a high speed chase through town smashing into other cars along the way with police right behind him. He eventually collided with the Geo Metro, driving it into a light pole. The car was effectively cleaved down the center with the engine and transmission ending up in the back seat. The camper shell on the F150 ended up on top, but otherwise the truck appeared to be drivable. Truck guy was stunned and subsequently beaten but I have no idea if the driver of the Geo survived. He probably popped right out like an overripe banana.  

[CheffoJeffo]

Sorry, Fordman, this one's bogus. The car in the photo is actually an SUV, believe it or not. It's a FORD ESCAPE 

Fordman Fail!

 

[Fordman]

I guess I was HOOK-LINE-SINKERED and mounted on the wall! 

MY BAD! Now that I look at the pic a little closer, I see the tire under the front of the dump truck!

That was sent to me from a person that must have also been hook-line-sinkered-mounted on the wall also1

 

Fordman

I'll still take my F-150 over the smart-car anyday! I like my chances of walking away from the F-150 vs the Smart-car

[Cakemeister]

In that kind of collision no car would have a chance.

A lot of engineering went into the smart to make it safe.

The only problem I have when driving my smart is with crosswinds, not with traffic.

[shardian]

In that kind of collision no car would have a chance.

Exactly.


As for the Smart car, no amount of engineering can magically create enough impact absorbtion when your legs are 2' or less from the bumper. I'll pass, because a REAL accident could get ugly.

[ChadTower]

Moral:

Don't stick around when you have a dump truck behind you and in front of you.  Pull over and let them go away.

[Cakemeister]

FYI, smart enthusiasts / evangelists will point out that proper usage is "smart", not "Smart car". Lower case, without the word "car".

e.g. "I drive a smart", not "I drive a Smart car".

Personally, I don't give a hoot, and I doubt any of you would be posting on smart enthusiast boards, but I thought I would give y'all a public service announcement for the day.

[ChadTower]

FYI, smart enthusiasts / evangelists will point out that proper usage is "le", not "Le car". Lower case, without the word "car".

e.g. "I drive a le", not "I drive a Le car".

We've seen these d-bags before.  We can handle them. 

[Cakemeister]

I had a Le Car in high school. It was not a chick magnet.

[whammoed]

If I was gonna go for a little two seater, I would have gotten a Miata, personally.

[Fordman]

Someone beet me to it!

Isnt the Miata the choice of those that want to live the 'Alternative' lifestyle? 

Gay men for some reason love the Miata. 

The 2 seater for me is the Pontiac Solstice or Saturn Sky. 

I wish Ford had bought Saturn, but OH well! 

Fordman

[whammoed]

Meh, I guess.  It's a ripoff of all the British roadsters and I wouldn't consider them particularly gay. 

If we're gonna 'go there', I'd say the Smart Car and new Beetle have it beat and I doubt either of them will do 130.

I don't think they could make the new Beetle any less cool to own for a man.
Not sure where the miata thing came from.  My BIL used to own one and my wife and I tease him about it.

[shardian]

I thought the Subaru Outback was the optimal choice for butch lesbians, and sock/sandal wearing gay men.


Miata is just a poor man's 2 door sports roadster.

[ChadTower]

Outback is just an options package that goes across nearly Subaru's whole line of vehicles. 

I had a Legacy Outback for a while.  Adam Sandler couldn't begin to sing about what a piece of SAFDSAF that car was.

[orion]

I own a 93 Miata, but in my defense when I bought it I had no idea of the reputation that they have. I have in fact taken my fair share of abuse for it. One incident in particular stands out to me. I'm 6'2 and myself and a date (a woman...so don't try going there) were just leaving the movies after seeing "The Incredibles" and apparently someone else who had just gotten out of the movie saw me getting into it and just started laughing his ass off at me. I'm assuming I got this reaction, because of the scene with Bob and his small car... that's what I tell myself anyway. Even though this car has these negative connotations associated with it,  I have to say that its one of the funnest cars I have ever driven. It's like driving a souped up go cart. Even when going 50MPH it feels like your doing 150MPH. It also seems rather bullet proof and I have never had any major mechanical difficulties with it. After getting married and having kids though, I had to go out an buy an old Saturn, as a Miata is not at all practical for hauling them around in. It's been sitting in my garage for quite a while now and I should probably just sell it.

[danny_galaga]

Meh, I guess.  It's a ripoff of all the British roadsters and I wouldn't consider them particularly gay. 

If we're gonna 'go there', I'd say the Smart Car and new Beetle have it beat and I doubt either of them will do 130.

Well, since the new Beetle is based on an Audi floorpan, it probably CAN do 130 (assuming you mean MPH. Even an OLD beetle can do 130 KPH!)

[HaRuMaN]

Wouldn't take an Audi if you paid me.  Biggest pieces of junk on the road, second only to Mitsubishis.

I dunno....  I'd take this Audi, even if they didn't pay me...   

[ChadTower]

jim is just going to tell you it has toethumbs.

[orion]

Yeah, we had a 99 Miata for 5 years and my wife loved it. 

I suppose the irony now is that I'm thin enough to drive it and have mastered the stick and we no longer own it. 

But the trunk seal was shot and it got a crack in the top and it really needed to be repainted as it had been in about 6 fender benders (I call it the Miata Curse).  $2,500 later and the $3,000 car would have been worth $4,00.    Thankfully, there were a couple of 'thin-ish' periods where I got to tear it open out on the highways and the beach a couple times. 

Double irony is that it's barely rained since and we could have ignored the seal issue - no more standing water around the battery!

That's the thing about roadsters, they're fun at any speed.  My dad was into Triumphs when I was a kid so never any 'gay' factor here.  You see plenty of men driving them in San Antonio - I know one of them and he is like 300lbs and 6 feet tall, I have no idea how he manages - I couldn't get my knees under the wheel at 6'3" 308lbs.



(we were also thinking "no backseat, no babies" but then graduate school has been hell on her and that Scion backseat still sits lonely.  ho hum.)

The top on mine is shot as well. If I decide to keep it I think I am going to attempt replacing it myself, but it looks like somewhat of a dicey proposition. In regards to the Miata curse, I have never had an accident in mine (knock on wood) I tend to be extremely alert when I'm driving the thing as I realize that to larger vehicles such as 18 wheelers you are practically invisible to them. Not as bad motorcycles though.  I wouldn't want to get into a wreck in the thing, I have found it to be nimble enough and responsive enough to avoid them so far. My dad was also into roadsters, as a matter of fact I bought the Miata off of him when he wanted to upgrade. When I was a child he owed an Alpha Romeo (not sure if it was a spider or not) Back then there was only one mechanic in the region that worked on them. Well as it so happens my father had his in the shop and this particular mechanic had it in pieces with certain parts shipped out over the country. The guy then quits in the middle of the job... that was pretty much it for my dads Alpha. I can also relate to having a spouse in graduate school, mine is currently working on her CPA and we have an 11 month old on top of that. Yea, it's pretty much hell all around...

Wouldn't take an Audi if you paid me.  Biggest pieces of junk on the road, second only to Mitsubishis.

I agree with you here as well. I actually owned an Audi once..... can you say Bosch electrical system 

[Level42]

A smart wouldn't fold up like that because it's mainly plastic parts. It's like a big tennisball (at least that's what a guy at a car-painter told me when they were new).

The point is that most cars would have been crushed, yes even a pick-up truck (which it turned out to actually be ! . There's nothing you can do against the weight of a full-size truck and speed.

The real issue is that you guys get your drivers licenses WAY too easy.

[Level42]

Oh, and this is interesting:
Problems With Trucks & SUVs - Representing the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, consumer activist Joan Claybrook presented the following information to the House of Representatives in 1996 and 1997: "Each year nearly 5,000 Americans die in truck crashes. According to the IIHS, in 1995, 98 percent of the people killed in two-vehicle crashes involving passenger cars and big trucks were occupants of the passenger vehicles.  Since 1992, there have been more fatalities in collisions involving SUVs and cars than in car-to- car crashes, largely as a result of the disparity in vehicle weight (mass), height, and front-end aggressivity between SUVs and passenger cars. Of those persons fatally injured in SUV-car collisions, the vast majority, eighty per cent, were car occupants (see NHTSA report, 'Relationships Between Vehicle Size and Fatality Risk')."

Four-wheel-drive pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are designed to be driven for work, hauling, and off-road purposes.  They were not designed to be people movers, and don't handle nearly as well as passenger cars or minivans.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that SUVs are four times more likely to roll over than passenger cars in high-speed maneuvers.  In addition, some smaller top-heavy SUVs have rolled over in NHTSA side impact collision testing.  SUV-to-car collisions are six times more likely to kill the occupants of the smaller vehicle when compared to a normal car-to-car collision.  You may be safer inside an SUV, but you're at greater risk of killing others in the event of an accident.

Think about it....

[shardian]

Think about it....

I did. After realizing there is nothing I can do to stop retard latte drinking single parent moms from driving Suburbans, I went ahead and got an SUV as the family vehicle.

[Ed_McCarron]

Regardless of how well the small vehicle is designed, physics is an evil ---smurfette---.

The big vehicle is almost always going to win.

[Level42]

Ahhhh no, don't wanna get into this...

[Ed_McCarron]

Heh, sorry.  Forgot where I was.  Thought this was in P&R.

[Dartful Dodger]

I own a 93 Miata, but in my defense when I bought it I had no idea of the reputation that they have.

It's been sitting in my garage for quite a while now and I should probably just sell it.

Don’t sell it, race it.

The guys in my car club either love or loath the Miata.  It's perfect for racing it's easy to drive, cheap to buy, cheap to convert into a race car, cheap to maintain and did I mention it was cheap.

To restore my Dart cost about half the money a big block muscle car would have cost me, and that’s still twice as much as preparing a Miata.

Most of the Miata guys drive their cars to the track on weekend and then use their cars as a daily driver during the week.  EVERYONE else needs to tow their cars to the track.


Since the Miata is so cheap their drivers are less concerned about the cars and more concerned about racing.  I doubt there is a Miata on the track that doesn't have matching colored duct tape covering up a gaping hole or dent in its body/fender.  Since the Miatas all go about the same speed, they tend to race in a packs, but they are all out to beat each other.  It looks like they are trying to kill each other, but after the race they all gather around and laugh about the great time they had.

The guys that hate the Miata are the guys that spend tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours on their cars and then have to share the track with these nuts.

[SavannahLion]

Think about it....

I did. After realizing there is nothing I can do to stop retard latte drinking single parent moms from driving Suburbans, I went ahead and got an SUV as the family vehicle.

Ditto.

And on a side note, most roll overs occur because the dumb ---smurfs--- don't know how to drive them. There's nothing wrong with SUV's, trucks or any other big Class C vehicle, it's the moron ---uvulas--- that drive them. California has a split Class M license, maybe it's time to seriously consider a split Class C license?

[orion]

I own a 93 Miata, but in my defense when I bought it I had no idea of the reputation that they have.

It's been sitting in my garage for quite a while now and I should probably just sell it.

Don’t sell it, race it.

The guys in my car club either love or loath the Miata.  It's perfect for racing it's easy to drive, cheap to buy, cheap to convert into a race car, cheap to maintain and did I mention it was cheap.

To restore my Dart cost about half the money a big block muscle car would have cost me, and that’s still twice as much as preparing a Miata.

Most of the Miata guys drive their cars to the track on weekend and then use their cars as a daily driver during the week.  EVERYONE else needs to tow their cars to the track.


Since the Miata is so cheap their drivers are less concerned about the cars and more concerned about racing.  I doubt there is a Miata on the track that doesn't have matching colored duct tape covering up a gaping hole or dent in its body/fender.  Since the Miatas all go about the same speed, they tend to race in a packs, but they are all out to beat each other.  It looks like they are trying to kill each other, but after the race they all gather around and laugh about the great time they had.

The guys that hate the Miata are the guys that spend tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours on their cars and then have to share the track with these nuts.

That actually is probably a good idea for me. As I mentioned before I bought it off my Dad in the first place. My father used to be into racing when he was young. He used to race high powered go carts when he was in high school and fancies himself a racer, who goes so far as to bad mouthing Nascar because he considers them a bunch of "pansies" who can only race in a circle and cry whenever it rains. We sometimes go to this indoor go cart track in Charlotte http://www.377fast.com/ and the old man gets really competitive over it. A few years ago he approached me with a crazed look in this eye and proclaimed  "Don't tell your mother, but I'm going to buy a legends car!" His buddy rated him out though, so that never happened. But you know what, this might just be a hobby that the old man and I could really get into together.... I just have to figure out a way to keep his testotorone in check, as I don't think his 65 year old reflexes can keep up, but yea, all we would really need to do is slap a roll bar on the thing and we would be good to go. Of course we would have to figure out  how to go about this with out my wife and mother figuring out what we are up to. Good suggestion Dartful Dodger! 

Edit: Did I say slap a roll bar on it and be good to go??? Perhaps I could "tweak" the engine a bit kind of like this guy did... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3147519 
This thing is like a poor mans Shelby Cobra!  Me likey!

OK, perhaps I should stop this train right now... the bad, bad thoughts are starting to run wild in my head!

[pointdablame]

That miata looked pretty interesting until I saw those god awful Lambo doors.  Ugh.

[orion]

That miata looked pretty interesting until I saw those god awful Lambo doors.  Ugh.

Yea, he should have stopped with the engine transplant.

[RayB]

What you doofs citing SUV "security" are ignoring is that just because statistics show people are less likely to DIE in an SUV crash, that doesn't mean they come out unscathed. So what you're really saying by choosing a car that has a higher chance of being in an accident thanks to being less maneuverable, etc, is that you don't mind a higher risk of you and your family suffering injuries, possibly life-long debilitating ones. Real "smart".

 

[Ed_McCarron]

What you doofs citing SUV "security" are ignoring is that just because statistics show people are less likely to DIE in an SUV crash, that doesn't mean they come out unscathed. So what you're really saying by choosing a car that has a higher chance of being in an accident thanks to being less maneuverable, etc, is that you don't mind a higher risk of you and your family suffering injuries, possibly life-long debilitating ones. Real "smart".

 

Oh, so the folks in the tiny little boxes come out better than in the bigger SUV?  But they're so strong!  Those little boxes are SOLID!

F=ma?  The more time my car/body spends decelerating, the less force my brain smacks the inside of my forehead with.  SUV = 3' of crumple + 2' to the airbag.  Tiny car?  Half that.  If not a quarter.  That small, strong car with no crumple zones produces a very nicely preserved brain dead body.

I still side with the laws of physics.

As for the car being more likely to roll over, sure.  Its higher.  Did you notice that higher tends to equal safer?  There's a reason buses sit so high.  Cars crash into the passengers feet.

Driver skill plays into it, too.  Drive your SUV like its a Camaro and sure, it'll roll.  Have some common sense and responsibility and drive it like its a truck and you just might be better off.

[shardian]

F=ma?  The more time my car/body spends decelerating, the less force my brain smacks the inside of my forehead with.  SUV = 3' of crumple + 2' to the airbag.  Tiny car?  Half that.  If not a quarter.  That small, strong car with no crumple zones produces a very nicely preserved brain dead body.

I still side with the laws of physics.

This is not entirely that simple. Little cars get very creative with energy dispersion. The engine compartment is designed to fold under, creating a bigger effective crumple zone than a straight line. The car also can be designed to better dissipate the force through other frame members - all stuff bigger SUV's could do, but the don't need to due to cost effectiveness.

The big problem with compact cars is point of impact. Many SUV's hit the cars much higher than the crash test simulations use. Bumper to face is much, much worse for these cars than bumper to bumper impact.

[Ed_McCarron]

I swore I read that that was Smart's big claim to fame; that they didn't need a crumple zone because the internal cage was so strong.  I probably misread.

Off to search.

[HaRuMaN]

The main structure of the car is a stiff structure called a Tridion Safety Cell, which is designed to activate the crumple zones of a colliding vehicle. This design creates a very strong safety cell around the passengers.

So basically, it's designed to cause the other vehicle to crumple.  Which is fine...  but what if you hit a smrt car with a smrt car?