Smart’s ForTwo is ready to grow!

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by Tideland Prius, Mar 10, 2009.

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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    Extra doors and seats make favourite an A1 competitor


    The Smart ForTwo is growing – and here’s the picture to prove it! Auto Express has learned that Mercedes is planning to add a pair of rear doors and extra seats to its famous city car.
    Doubling the Smart’s carrying capacity to four people, the new variant will give the range some added practicality, letting it compete with an upcoming raft of desirable small cars such as Audi’s A1 and BMW’s Isetta. No name has yet been give to the newcomer, but it’s likely to carry the ForTwo +2 tag, indicating that it’s very much an addition to the ForTwo line-up.

    Smart?s ForTwo is ready to grow! | Auto Express News | News | Auto Express




    The illustration looks better than the forfour and it even has a few cues from the 2010 E-Class. (i.e. headlights)
    Tideland Prius, Mar 10, 2009
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    Radon New Member

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    Strange they'd spend money to develope that yet they stopped producing the forfour. They even had a nice miata looking sports model.
    Radon, Mar 10, 2009
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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    The Roadster was fun, no doubt but the forfour was a little too lego-y. This 2+2 does look a lot more stylish to me.
    Tideland Prius, Mar 10, 2009
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    amm0bob Permanently Junior...

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    New Orleans Smart4... well... I ain't saying it's good...

    This picture is of a Smart4two... between the trucks... in front and to the left side of the driver's side bumper of the rescue vehicle...





    :eek::eek:





    :shocked::shocked::shocked:



    :fear::fear:







    [IMG]

    :jaw:

    I'll stick with the midsized Prius thank you...

    :yo: :nod::nod:
    amm0bob, Jul 23, 2009
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    justlurkin Señor Member

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    12.8 seconds 0-to-60 for the Smart ForTwo.. No wonder it becomes roadkill when trying to merge into freeway traffic. :p

    Imagine how much lower that 0-60 will fall in the Smart ForTwo+2 if they didn't upgrade that engine.. Sounds like a potential deathtrap to me!

    It was funny the other day I was riding my bicycle.. I was going up Marathon Parkway from the LIE overpass here in New York City.. And I actually beat a Smart ForTwo to the top of the hill. :D

    Imagine what Lance Armstrong can do against the Smart ForTwo on his Trek Madone!
    justlurkin, Jul 23, 2009
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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    I'm pretty sure that isn't the smart fortwo cause those aren't the right alloy design (on any euro or NA smart)

    justlurking... guess you don't want to know the time for the diesel eh?
    Tideland Prius, Jul 23, 2009
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    amm0bob Permanently Junior...

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    [IMG]

    [IMG]

    [IMG]


    OOOOPPPPSS...

    [IMG]

    Ya know what Bra... I'm looking at the web and thinking teh ex owner may not have had standard rims an all...


    But I will also add that I took this from another forum I frequent... a forum that I trust the place in general BTW... but it IS teh interwebs and all... and as such, may be suspect... I'm thinking not, but I'm loaded, and I don't have to prove I can drive... from this chair anyways. :D:D

    I'm just saying if I had two trucks like that that were coming at me... I'm glad I have a Prius.

    :rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon:
    [IMG][IMG][IMG]
    [IMG]
    amm0bob, Jul 23, 2009
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    Mike Dimmick New Member

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    19.8 seconds on the 33kW diesel that Nikki's just leased. This is the common problem with 'Prius-beating' diesels - they're slow. VW's Polo BlueMotion is listed at 12.4s. Because these are manuals, the real time for most drivers is much slower.

    Having said that, 12 seconds is plenty. North America would be a lot better off if car buyers there would understand that they don't need that much power. Also, I bet most of them don't actually use that power - to get the quoted acceleration times you largely have to have the pedal flat to the floor. The complaints I hear about the Prius noise when accelerating suggest that you were never using the power in your old car.

    I actually did use the power on my old 1.6 Focus (officially 10.1s, 98 bhp/73kW) and yes, the engine does rev to achieve it - rev to about 4,000rpm then change up. Beat numerous Mercs and BMWs off the line! Despite the slower figure for the Gen 2 Prius, I find it's better at accelerating from 30 to 60 - I can overtake in places that I couldn't with the Focus (usually I had to change down to 3rd or 2nd gear to get acceleration, and then change up while overtaking). The Prius is very slow off the line up to 30mph, but after that it gets going.

    I notice that the 2011 Ford Fiesta in the US is going to be the 1.6 Ti-VCT petrol car with a PowerShift auto box. It manages 9.6s 0-62 with a manual gearbox but only 47mpg - imperial gallon, 20% bigger than US gallon - on the weaker EU driving cycle. This is not the 76mpg diesel you may have read about. On the current European Focus, the automatic box adds 15% to the 0-62 time and knocks 15% off the fuel economy figure. You can't get an automatic Fiesta over here.
    Mike Dimmick, Jul 23, 2009
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    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Back in the days when Detroit put V8s into everything, we had a Jeep C-J5 with a 304 V8. Even with that beast of an engine, the thing would only do 0-60 in 11 seconds, which was considered pretty good for that class of vehicle. I believe that the automotive mad men have brainwashed the public into thinking more horsepower is always better.

    Tom
    qbee42, Jul 23, 2009
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    justlurkin Señor Member

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    It depends on where you live and the condition of the infrastructure.

    Here in the New York City area where I am, I can tell you 12 seconds 0-60 is most assuredly NOT enough.

    You can blame that on the guy who designed the New York City-area highway system-- When Robert Moses planned all of the highways here back in the 1950s, most of the on-ramps are very short. For instance, on the Northern State Parkway, the merge lane can be as short as 150 feet. With traffic zipping by at 60mph, merging into that in such a short run DEMANDS quick acceleration.

    In addition, I'm not proud to say it, but here in New York it seems no driver ever yields (slows down to let you merge). :p

    I DO have to floor my Prius getting onto the highways around here, and it's just enough.
    justlurkin, Jul 23, 2009
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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    I know how a smart looks like in all iterations. You have an '07 pulse cab (in red) and a black passion both Euro models. The middle one is a 450 and the last one is a konigseder or something like that modded '08 US model.

    Thank you. Finally someone posts a logical post. Yes we know there are diesels in Europe that get better mpg but as you've said, they're slower (which the diesel fanatics here fail to mention.. every time) and people already "complain" that the Prius is slow.
    Tideland Prius, Jul 23, 2009
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    hill High Fiber Member

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    Hugh? New?
    Heck, I first saw the 4 seater what ... maybe four YEARS ago. ah, yes ... old is made new again,

    [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Forfour"]Smart Forfour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]


    [IMG]

    I was hoping the smart 4 back then would make it to the U.S. ... and come in a 100% EV version. Hope springs eternal. Still waiting.

    .
    hill, Jul 24, 2009
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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    That didn't go very well. I know in the UK, it was quite pricey (more expensive than a Fit or comparable vehicle). Sure it had nice features like a panoramic roof as shown in your picture but the same 1.0 litre engine is powering this 4-dr smart. If you guys think the fortwo is slow, what would you think of the forfour with the same engine?
    Tideland Prius, Jul 24, 2009
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    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    I prefer the looks of the Smart "ForTwo +2" (although neither one is a looker):

    [imglink]http://photos.autoexpress.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_605/car_photo_302735_7.jpg[/imglink]
    Boo, Jul 24, 2009
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    SageBrush New Member

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    These cars make me grin when I see them driving around, but I have to admit I would never buy one. The Yaris just strikes me as a much better buy.
    SageBrush, Jul 24, 2009
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