Smart Test Drive
Matt and I took a trip to Indianapolis today to visit the new Smart dealership and take a test drive. Unfortunately we forgot to take a photo of me with the car, but we had a great time.
After a 30 minute wait ,we were able to each take a turn test driving the tiny car with the very friendly and somewhat overly helpful sales person. I really enjoyed the car and could definitely see myself driving one in the future.
The sales person seemed somewhat surprised and impressed by how much Matt and I already knew about the car and by my spirited driving. He was ultimately very helpful and not pushy, so if we do buy one, we will be sure to go through him.
Here are the pros and cons after our test drive experience:
Pros:
- Plenty of head and leg room inside the cabin: Matt, who is 6′1″, was able to get in the car and sit comfortably with the seat still being able to slide back even further.
- Cute!: The Smart is absolutely adorable, and it comes in a variety of attractive colors. Matt and I both agree the metallic blue is our favorite.
- Great gas mileage: It is rated for 33 mpg city and 40 mpg highway. With only having an eight gallon tank, it won’t hit your wallet quite so hard every time you fill up either.
- Eco Friendly: Not only does the Smart get great gas mileage and have the lowest emissions of all non-hybrid cars, but the entire production process has been designed with environmental friendliness in mind.
- Lots of storage: While there isn’t a backseat, the Smart does have a reasonable trunk that could easily hold groceries, a days worth of shopping plunders, or an average size dog. There is also a storage compartment in the fold-down tail gate for holding things like jumper cables, a first-aid kit, and other emergency essentials.
- Great handling: The Smart has an electronic stability program, anti-lock brake, brake assist, automatic hill start assistance, and quite a few other active technologies that help improve the handling and acceleration in all conditions.
- Comfy: Both the standard cloth and upgraded leather seats are very comfortable and come with optional seat heaters to keep your buns warm.
- Unique: The Smart is nothing like any of the other cars on the road today, and you aren’t likely to run into twenty cars just like yours on the way across town.
Cons:
- No Clutch pedal: Because the Smart has an electronically controlled automated manual transmission, there is no need for a clutch petal. This left me, an avid manual transmission fan, feeling a little disconnected from the car.
- Sluggish: The 1L 70hp engine does not have the pep of our 2.8L 170hp Passat.
- Rough idle: Because the Smart is a 3 cylinder tuned for peak efficiency, it idles very low and can feel a little rough or unbalanced.
- No cruise control: From the perspective of a lead-foot, who uses the cruise control to keep from getting pulled over, the Smart’s lack thereof is somewhat troubling. However, because it is designed primarily for in-town travel it is not a surprising omission.
- Blind spots in the cabriolet: Matt and I both tested the convertible version, and because of the way the back window is designed to accommodate the convertible top, it left me feeling like I couldn’t easily see what was going on behind me. Fortunately the non-convertible version has plenty of visibility.
All in all it was a great car, and Matt and I both gave it a 9. There are still a few more cars we want to checkout before we decide what to buy, but the Smart is definitely high on our list.
