The USA Smart Car Craze
Soon after becoming available in the US in January of this year, the European Smart Car fortwo manufactured by Mercedes Benz has been a smash hit and you currently have to get on a 9 month waiting list for one… or get it on EBAY! (but you'll pay up to a 35% premium)
It's ranked the highest fuel efficiency car in the US (besides hybrids) and gets 33/41 mpg. Not exactly impressive for a car of this size in my opinion.. this is probably more a case of the cool factor rather than saving as much fuel as possible. Adding to the surging demand is the price, which at 11590 MSRP, is much more affordable than traditional fuel efficient cars such as the Toyota Prius. The good crash test rating have also added to its popularity.
It's not without it's critics however. Outside of the mediocre gas mileage, they say the car is noisy at fast speeds, lurches when shifting and doesn't provide a real smooth ride. I haven't driven one but would have to agree that it does seem to be more of a fad, then a practical solution to our growing need for efficient transportation. If you need a car just for city driving, there are cheaper, better fuel efficiency options such as the Zap which relies solely on battery power and gets up to 40 mph. If you need better fuel efficiency for highway driving as well, the Honda Fit appears to be the best value (just a bit less fuel efficient with much twice the room).
Filed under Smart Cars by on May 22nd, 2008. 
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