Tiny Smart car gets highest rating in crash tests

[jpak]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080514/smart_car_080514/20080514?s_name=Autos&no_ads=

The smallest car for sale in the U.S. market has earned the highest rating in front-end and side-impact testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The 2008 Smart Fortwo's seat and head restraints also earned the second highest rating of "acceptable" for protection against whiplash in rear impacts.

"The Smart engineers have done their homework," IIHS spokesman Russ Rader told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday. "They've designed safety into a very small package."

The IIHS classifies the Smart Fortwo as a micro-car, meaning it's smaller even than mini-cars such as the Mini Cooper.

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[SharonRB]

1. I got mine three weeks ago

and I love it!

[Dude_CalmDown]

4. 2 Questions

Does the brake pedal still sit 6 inches higher than the gas pedal? We were going to try and get the car for my mom but the one I test drove last year when they had that tour had a brake pedal that sat 6 inches higher than the gas pedal. To hit the brakes you didn't just lift your foot off the gas and over but you had to bring your foot up to the brake pedal. It was frustrating and I was worried about my mom being in an emergency braking situation and getting her foot caught under the brake pedal.

Did you get an automatic or have you driven an automatic from the new cars? My mom doesn't like cars that are "Shifty Shifty" so if we get one it's got to be an automatic. During the test drive it was pretty bad. It would hang in the gear forever before upshifting and it was just about impossible to get it to downshift once you were in a higher gear. They said this would be fixed when the cars are available for sale and that the transmission mapping was not finalized for the cars on the tour.

[SharonRB]

5. As for the brake issue

I don't notice that it's higher. I drove on during the tour last summer and didn't notice that then either, though. Braking is fine as far as I'm concerned.

There is only one transmission -- it's a combined automatic and manual without a clutch. I've only been driving it in auto, but it doesn't seem like shifting with the paddles would be that difficult. The transmission is definitely better than what I drove during the tour, but it does take a little getting used to. When it goes from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd you definitely feel it, but I've gotten used to it and learned how to accelerate to minimize the feeling.

[izquierdista]

2. I'm impressed!

They are so small, I'm surprised it can be so safe. Any car that can park perpendicular to the curb, where other cars are parked parallel is pretty darn small!

[tinrobot]

3. Nice, but.... the gas mileage...

The mileage is only 33 city and 41 highway. For some reason, I'd expect more from such a small car. The fact that it's designed as a "city" car suggests that you'll be getting the lower end of that range.

My Ford Escape Hybrid gets better mileage in the city (35-36mpg). But my car is also much bigger and twice the price of the Smart.

[SharonRB]

6. I've been driving mine a lot on the freeway

My first two tanks, combined city and highway, I've gotten about 35. It should get better after the break-in period (1,000 miles). I'm having so much fun with it -- it's the only high mileage car I could find in this price range that I could get the options I wanted -- leather/heated seats, etc. I got the cabriolet and love how I can use it like a sunroof -- just open it as much or as little as I want and easily do it while I'm driving.

[MercutioATC]

7. Are those tests rated by car size?

I just can't see my 4000-pound Audi hitting that thing and the other driver living...and my car's made of aluminum.

My point is that it could be the safest micro-car, but that doesn't mean much unless everybody's driving micro-cars. A Suburban would turn one of these things into a grease spot.