Smart car for Smart People

Please see here. 

The Smart Car, is really a crowd pulling concept. Just 2.5 m in length which makes it readily parkable almost anywhere and everywhere. These smart cars are known for their in built advanced features, most common of which is its hybridized engine yet price afford ability at the same time. One pf the primary objectives of these smart cars was also to be one which could accommodate two persons at the most with a case of beer.

The US market greeted the concept happily, they call themselves the smart guys at work and now on the road too.

Was happy when Tata almost such a concept for India, far better when they added an advantage of low price tag, but when i drove the Nano i remembered travelling on the rickshaws.

But one thing's true..! We can pray for the Smart Car for India but only once our roads get better ... far better. With the kind of roads over here in Kerala, we can find a smart car crying for help in one of our potholes.

NIk! 

Is this car from Mercedez? I have seen them sharing showroom with Mercedez.

This is a car that is called the "Smart ForTwo"  => it is for two passengers. In India, any car for two passengers is a strict no-no, and that is the reason why coupe format has not taken off in India.

In the west too, the ForTwo's diesel engine is much in demand for transplanting to practical small cars rather than using the fortwo directly. In any case, the car is priced insanely to leverage it's uniqueness and novelty,  which has not gone down well with public.

Fuel prices don't pinch them as much as they do here  (effective fuel prices are about the same as here - ~ a euro a liter in Europe, and about half to two thirds of that in the US. So why would one cram onselves into a tinbox like that, where more often than not the others are likely to intimidate them in a huge lumbering SUV.

Conclusion: even though interesting, the Smart ForTwo has a limited commercial appeal in Europe as well as USA. It will be a disaster of Reva's proportions in India, just because it is FOR TWO.

The Smart Forfour might work out better here(but will be quite expensive)!

How would a Smart ForFour be different from our average hatchback - say i10? In that sense all our hatches are already pretty 'smart'.

Added to that the engines of those puny cars are always overspecced. We Indians are more sensible,  pruning capacity and tuning down for FE to the point where a small section starts whining about it being underpowered. - A case in point is Linea. Wotsay?

Dear All,

We do already have a smart for 2, rather i would say Smart for 3 around us.

Good concept and fully loaded car, but again expensive. 

NIk!

The 'better' prospect of the ForFour is in relation to the ForTwo.

Both would be massive flops.

These FIAT people are M A D! There is absolutely no way why anyone will opt for a puny two door hatch with a massive 185 liters(!) of boot space (that too with the rear seat folded) and 75 BHP engine, where they can get a fully loaded Civic/Laura/Jetta/Sonata at the same price.

Yeah, they might be banking on some kookies opting for it, but mostly, kookies don't have Rs. 15L to throw away. I am really wonderstruck at the audacity (or foolishness) of this  pricing of the car.

Yeah Mr. Krishna, sure that population would opt for a Civic or Volkswagen than the 500.

But just a thought, a small family of say 2 with a child, they could do justice to the traffic and space by opting a 500 instead of a 3 times longer Civic? Good initiative right? but lacks practicality though!

NIk!

Binoy

The Smart ForFour was discontinued.  So was the Roadster.

I've owned a Smart (a Brabus version of the ForTwo Cabrio) and let me tell you the Nano (which I have driven) is a much more practical and usable option.

For one, the Smart wont last very long on Indian roads - the suspension is pretty stiff and the driver and passenger will feel every bump or even undulation on the road if the surface is anything less than PERFECT.

For another, the vehicle is ridiculously expensive - a BASIC ForTwo will cost you the equivalent of about 6 Nanos (OTR Price).

Thirdly, it had a very loud engine and a CVT that would cause it to revv really high every time you pressed the accelerator.  It would move, yes, but my 'Brabus' version had about 82 bhp and the block standard versions came with a 60-something bhp engine.  

The engine noise inside can give you a headache if you drive at respectable speeds for any length of time.  i had a K&N CAI and a Blow-off Valve added to my little car to push the 'performance' up a bit, but that only created more noise!

It had PLENTY of room for 2 passengers but thats about it - extremely comfortable seating for 2 people inside with space for one large (full-size!) Samsonite suitcase and a laptop bag.  But the Nano has changed that equation - you now have supremely comfortable seating for 5 adults for about 1/6th of the price or less.

The vehicle is fun to drive on SMOOTH surfaces - its like driving a covered (and airconditioned) golf cart!  It wasnt particularly economical either - it was a bit thirsty for a little car, but perhaps that is because I drive pedal-to-metal and this vehicle has a CVT and not an autobox.

Here's my ex-Smartie - it was a really nice looking vehicle and I got a great price for it when I sold it. It wasnt very practical because it was bought for my wife and she wasnt too keen on driving around in DXB - this meant that the battery was never charged.  Which meant that the doors wouldnt open (it doesnt have keyholes on the doors!) - I had to crawl in through the TINY tailgate to reach the battery under the passenger's footwell.  

Not a very practical car to own, as you can see....

Here are some pictures (excuse the Team BHP logo - they were posted on my page on TBHP while I was part of that forum, I have since lost the original pictures):