Tiny Smart car gets crash test kudos

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by supergoat65

I just don't understand some of these posts on here sometimes. The car is small. Yes, we all know that. BUT, consider that it has been designed by modern engineers knowing the latest about airbags, safety cells, and retracting seat belts. I know I would feel much safer in this than in, say, an early 90's Accord or an 80's Volvo or even a 2000ish Cavalier, because they don't have this modern technology in them. This car isn't going to fare well head-on against an F-250, but then again, in that situation you're in a pretty big mess no matter what car you're driving. It's been designed for urbanites who want the safety of a car with the maneuverability and mileage of a larger motorcycle. It's not meant for a demolition derby or 80mph dives into oncoming traffic, but I can almost guarantee the engineers behind it certainly took that into consideration when they were making it.

Sorry for the rant, but I just can't understand some posts like "let's see it go against a semi or a train..." because NOTHING will fare well in those situations.

You seem to be using common sense in your thinking. Yeah...not a lot of that here at the moment, sorry. To me, it's safer than a motorcycle and I see no one here brandishing pitchforks and torches demanding that those be removed from the streets or relegated to special roads. Maybe if we all just paid attention on the road more often instead of consulting with the Nav screen to find the nearest Costco or talking with our 'Blueteeth' to our lawn service about the reappearance of crab grass, we'd be a little safer and no one would think twice about driving something small enough to not need a ZIP code.

Yeah, when gas hits $5 a gallon people may rethink the fortwo, but it's gonna take some time. Until then we're stuck with the comments like "A 767 would kill that thing but wouldn't even dent the bumper on my Hummer H2, what a waste of the word car...." or "my dog's bigger than your dog" and other charming 3rd grade classics.

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by CJ Thunder

I want to see a truck and a train hit it.

Yes, because a Tahoe can come through that without a scratch. Are people really that......oh, never mind.

[OldsReliable]

Originally Posted by CJ Thunder

I want to see a truck and a train hit it.

I want to see a truck or a train hit an impala. Heck, I would want to see a train hit my Delta(tank)88. There won't be much left. The smart in ingenious, hands down.

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by OldsReliable

I want to see a truck or a train hit an impala. Heck, I would want to see a train hit my Delta(tank)88. There won't be much left. The smart in ingenious, hands down.

Welcome to the minority that sees the smart fortwo as the brilliant piece of engineering that it is, and not, supposedly, as The Answer.

[chakis24]

Originally Posted by Saturn69

Yeah, Jalopnik might want to point out that that was the previous generation of the fortwo, not the one for sale in the U.S., but why do that when you can spread ignorance? There was no mention of the speed of the crash, I don't see where you found that bit of 'info'.

I hope I don't see anyone telling people to stop badmouthing SUV's after all the posts here. Funny how people are ripping into this car while demanding to let people make their own choices in vehicle ownership when it comes to something large and thirsty.

the guy polar, whos busddy was the guy in the smart car, made a comment with some more info about the accidnt.

im all for driving what you want, im just giving my opinion on why its not something i want.

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by chakis24

the guy polar, whos busddy was the guy in the smart car, made a comment with some more info about the accidnt.

im all for driving what you want, im just giving my opinion on why its not something i want.

There's no way that truck was only going 15mph and launched the smart across an intersection. I'm thinking it was going about 25mph to have enough energy to 'punt' a 1500 lbs (the first gen weighed a lot less than the one we have here) car across an intersection and in to parked traffic. That's about, what, 50 feet? 1500 lbs being punted 50 feet is going to need more energy than a 15mph tap in the butt. According to Polar's post, the driver estimated he was going about 35kph/22mph and didn't see the car, which means he was going 30 and hit the brakes right before he hit it.

[benroethig]

Originally Posted by chakis24

interesting, but the smart is totalled. and its a scary thought that a 15 mph crash (probably less) sends the car flying across an intersection and hits oncoming traffic (thankfully stopped at the time). the thing became a projectile.

best response ever (edited):
God *** it! Look what your golf cart did to my bumper! Jesus, I thought you were a kid in a power wheel truck! You scared the hell out of me! Son of a *****, now I am going to be late to work and my boss if going to murder me for this bumper. You ok man? Wow, that thing just flew across the road right? Haha. Glad you are alright though. Can we just handle this right here? How much did that go-cart cost? Couple hundred dollars? I think we can square up with cash if you want to follow me to the ban.....

Oh, wow-14 grand...really? No ****...14 grand? For one? Wow.

Depending on the circumstances this could be either good or damning for the smart. It seems like your average stoplight accident at 10-15 MPH based on the damage to the medium duty and the van. It does seem however, the designers accepted that the cars itself isn't going to be fixable after much more than a fender bender and did their best to protect the passenger compartment.

[steverino]

Did the IIHS repeal Newton Law of mass & velocity, or did some guy at the institute receive a big envelope stuffed with cash.

[Exploder]

I don't understand the argument that the car must survive a bus and a train crashing into the Smart at the same time. Aside from the fact that SUVs and trucks also die in such situations, how often do trains and buses crash into you everyday?

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by Exploder

I don't understand the argument that the car must survive a bus and a train crashing into the Smart at the same time. Aside from the fact that SUVs and trucks also die in such situations, how often do trains and buses crash into you everyday?

Really, maybe they should consider taking a different route to work or buying a used Abrams. If everyone cared about safety as much as some people on here pretend to, we'd all drive Suburbans. There would be no Corvette, no 911, no Elise...but fortunately it isn't that way.

[johnstarnes]

Originally Posted by Exploder

I don't understand the argument that the car must survive a bus and a train crashing into the Smart at the same time. Aside from the fact that SUVs and trucks also die in such situations, how often do trains and buses crash into you everyday?

"But what if a Smart got hit by a 747 loaded with depleted uranium in a power dive?" lol! Just got to chuckle at some of these posts!

[Ed753]

Few things being left out in this discussion, these crash studies are done with a “like kind” vehicle, meaning you will only fare “good” if you hit another SMART car, head-on, and even T-boned by a SMART and your going to be lucky if you only end up SILLY, but likely STUPID.

The amount of money you have to pay for one of these, vs. what you give up, safety aside, it not even practical for trips around town, unless you are going nowhere and buying nothing more than a $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks – there is some irony there, save 50 cents in gas to get a $5 cup of coffee – anyway this thing wouldn’t even hold my families groceries!

The other day, I see this “spec” tootling down I-696 about 60 mph, while the “flow” is clocking 75 – cars swerving, hopping the 10-day tag in the back window doesn’t slit their throat, when they run completely through that thing.

I’m sorry, SMART is not smart, it just a car, it can’t think, and IMHO the people (most) that own them are not either.

Doing a rough comparison vs. a Pontiac Vibe, you’ll save about $300 a year at 10,000 miles, yes most of us drive more than 10,000 but as this cars use is going to be different, not taking the family to grandmas for the weekend in this thing, you’ll have to use your other car.

Which leads to another fact, for most this will be a 2nd car in a 1-car family, or 3rd car in a 2-car family.

In summary:
PROS:

• Savings gas $25/month.

CONS:

• Additional car payment = $270/month.
• Additional insurance = $80/month.
• Lack of usability, no people or cargo storage.
• Safety, or lack there-of …..

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by Ed753

Few things being left out in this discussion, these crash studies are done with a “like kind” vehicle, meaning you will only fare “good” if you hit another SMART car, head-on, and even T-boned by a SMART and your going to be lucky if you only end up SILLY, but likely STUPID.

The amount of money you have to pay for one of these, vs. what you give up, safety aside, it not even practical for trips around town, unless you are going nowhere and buying nothing more than a $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks – there is some irony there, save 50 cents in gas to get a $5 cup of coffee – anyway this thing wouldn’t even hold my families groceries!

The other day, I see this “spec” tootling down I-696 about 60 mph, while the “flow” is clocking 75 – cars swerving, hopping the 10-day tag in the back window doesn’t slit their throat, when they run completely through that thing.

I’m sorry, SMART is not smart, it just a car, it can’t think, and IMHO the people (most) that own them are not either.

Doing a rough comparison vs. a Pontiac Vibe, you’ll save about $300 a year at 10,000 miles, yes most of us drive more than 10,000 but as this cars use is going to be different, not taking the family to grandmas for the weekend in this thing, you’ll have to use your other car.

Which leads to another fact, for most this will be a 2nd car in a 1-car family, or 3rd car in a 2-car family.

In summary:
PROS:

• Savings gas $25/month.

CONS:

• Additional car payment = $270/month.
• Additional insurance = $80/month.
• Lack of usability, no people or cargo storage.
• Safety, or lack there-of …..

It's no different than someone buying a Miata as their sole car. The fortwo is meant for urban runs, not for the family trip to Costco or Disneyland. It's a two-seater, what kind of passenger space do you think is there? A Corvette only holds two people, the insurance is more and the fuel economy is worse. Maybe we should tell GM to stop making them. Oh, wait, they're fun to drive. Well, perhaps to some people the smart is, too. The fortwo is meant to be a 2nd or 3rd car to be used as the commuter car since it's a waste of gas, space and seating to take the 7-passenger CUV 3 miles to work. It's not for everyone. Also, you can't compare it to a 5-passenger wagon, that's like comparing it to a Corvette because it has two seats also. Kind of an unfair comparison, and unequal. It is what it is. Don't buy one.

Originally Posted by Ed753

The other day, I see this “spec” tootling down I-696 about 60 mph, while the “flow” is clocking 75 – cars swerving, hopping the 10-day tag in the back window doesn’t slit their throat, when they run completely through that thing.

Ah, I love the smell of sensationalistic B.S. in the forum. Maybe those swerving cars should be paying attention to the road and the other drivers, eh? Whatever a 'spec' is, he/she was choosing to go 60...the smart will do 80 all day long, it runs on the Autobahn, remember? Completely run through it? Please. Let's get the motorcycles of the roads, too, while were at it. It's amazing to me have afraid people are about this car, and how much B.S. they can fling at it just because it's small. Thank goodness your girlfriends/wives/significant others/weekend hoochies aren't fixated on size......

If people hate it that much, why are they even reading a thread about it? It doesn't affect them. This is getting so stupid. Small cars are here to stay, get used to it. Maybe $5 or $6 a gallon gas, $7 or $8 dollar diesel and $8 a gallon milk will make people wake up and put their Freudian size complexes aside long enough to think.....oh who the hell am I kidding. We deserve the crap we get since we aren't smart enough to unlearn our behavior.

[chakis24]

Originally Posted by Saturn69

There's no way that truck was only going 15mph and launched the smart across an intersection. I'm thinking it was going about 25mph to have enough energy to 'punt' a 1500 lbs (the first gen weighed a lot less than the one we have here) car across an intersection and in to parked traffic. That's about, what, 50 feet? 1500 lbs being punted 50 feet is going to need more energy than a 15mph tap in the butt. According to Polar's post, the driver estimated he was going about 35kph/22mph and didn't see the car, which means he was going 30 and hit the brakes right before he hit it.

ok, so it got punted from a 20 mph hit. is that really much better? not to mention the car is totaled.

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by chakis24

ok, so it got punted from a 20 mph hit. is that really much better? not to mention the car is totaled.

And don't forget it isn't the same as the one for sale here. Is it really that much better? Than what, a motorcycle? Yes. Much, much better than a motorcycle. On a motorcycle YOU are the crumple zone AND the airbag, all in one. Funny, why don't you want those off the street?

It wasn't the smart's fault that it got hit, it was the mouthbreather driving the truck. So the car is totaled, at least the driver isn't. I don't see anyone saying that the fortwo is safe in all accidents, why are we arguing about this? No one is arguing that physics is on the side of the larger vehicle in an accident. Maybe we should ban all cars smaller than the Malibu, would that make everyone happy?

If SUV owners (since everyone keeps metioning the smart getting hit by an Expedition/Excursion/Exxonvaldez) would buy a fortwo to use as their commuter car instead of taking the tanker to work, the roads would be safer for all of us, and Sheik Abdullah would have to park a couple of his gold plated Rolls Royces.

I wonder if Corvette owners fret the possibility of a side impact since their head is right in line with the bumper of most full-size trucks and SUV's. Probably not, but since that car isn't being touted as a fuel saver, it's okay. No one has a problem with them, but the smart - which seats the driver up at nearly SUV height - is a death trap. I guess 'Ludicrous Speed' cancels out any desire for safety in a 2 seater or motorcycle. I see a lot of prejudice and ignorance about this car.