Nick Palmer wrote:
Have you seen the Smart super microcar?
http://www.smartusa.com/
These cars are disappointing. They have lousy gas mileage. By the old
EPA standard it was 40 mpg city, 45 mpg highway; by the 2008 standard
it is 33 mpg/city, 41 mpg highway. My 1994 Geo Metro gets that kind
of mileage and it is a lot more practical than a Smartcar. A Prius
leaves both in the dust, and a plug-in Prius gets 100 mpg easily
(plus some electricity).
I don't know why everyone is excited about this car. There is no
point to driving such a small car except to save fuel. When I saw one
I thought it might be getting ~50 to ~60 mpg. That would be worth the
risk of driving one. I sure wouldn't drive a Smartcar one an Atlanta
highway. (I hesitate to drive the Geo Metro on the highways here.)
The car is also overpriced, at $11,600 to $16,600. You can get a 2007
Yaris for $11,400, with four seats, 34 mpg city, 40 mpg highway
(although the newer models seem to have lower mileage.)
- Jed
