imported_BlazeInEk

Size doesn't matter. You think every singe truck, you know the big huge beasts, are the safest on the road because of their size?....NOPE!

imported_corcoran_chris

and are you?


people just take whats on paper for what its worth, that crash test photos paint a perfect picture, sure the car is not reduced to the size of a nickle

but the person in the S benz would not NEARLY as hurt as the one in the smart.

im not saying the car does not hold up in a crash, becuase evendently it does. what I AM saying is that if the car does not crumple at all, and cant absorb impact then you would be fuked. again...you dont see the point...lets wait for someone with logic to come by and back me up.

imported_corcoran_chris

size does not matter, let me paint a clearer picture.

if I was in a hummer, and it DIDNT crumple at all like that smart car...the same adverse effects would happen...HUGE strain on your body becuase the car is not absorbing the impact, your body would be put threw tremdous strain.

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

corcoran_chris is a crash test dummy lol j/k

guys, the #1 safety feature to me is ACCIDENT AVOIDANCE, and none can be better than a tiny little car. I think the way my Civic handles is hella safer than any car out there I don't care what the size. As for crumpling, the best cars are ones where the car crumples like a tin can, while the cabin stays intact. To me, the Smart car seems to do pretty damn well. Again, I'd rawk it!

Aero

The sad thing is you try to prevent it but other people dont give a ****. I dunno what's on their mind but there are a lot of people who drive like they are the only ones on the road.

imported_starboy869

Take the new Evo VIII. Not for sale in Canada (unless this changed then I'm going to dealership to spend some $$
They can't pass our crash standards.

SMART car I would assume have the side impact beams, air bags, and other safety features.

I still don't see your point.

corcoran_chris
im not saying the car does not hold up in a crash, becuase evendently it does. what I AM saying is that if the car does not crumple at all, and cant absorb impact then you would be fuked. again...you dont see the point...lets wait for someone with logic to come by and back me up.

WTF? What are you trying to say? I think your ASSUMING that the smart car crumble zone will not work.??? i dunno

Sure the SMART car isn't my cup of tea, but I have nothing against the car.

Aero

I think its nice if you are going to do some grocery, everyday work or school vehicle. If you are a student and you spend tons of money on insurance, school, food. The smart is a good thing since its really fuel efficient. you'll spend maybe 10-20 bucks a week on gas. I probably think its one of the best car to have if you live in the downtown core.

I dont know anything about cruble and side impact bars or something. I think you'll agree that most people think that the bigger the car the safer it is when you are in an accident, which I believe is half true. But the size really makes you think doesnt it....

Nova_Dust

If it is sold in the dealership, it is safe to go on the road, period.

End of discussion. If you don't want to drive it, someone else will.

1SicCiv

Smart Cars are pretty quick...drove one in the Azores...600cc Enigine, Turbo with Intercooler on it...could beat alot of the cars on the road in Canada 0-100kms

Aero

IC so if it is sold by the dealer it must be safe, ok I got it. If a car is sold by a dealer it means its safe to drive and no defects or anything, I guess it must be my imagination cause I read in the newspaper about something called a "recall". <=-- trying to be sarcastic cause of your last comment. now its even hehehe.

Gunmetalef

no car is safe.. unfortunatly a friend of mine had a S55AMG and crashed.. he was doing 80km/hr.. and he died.. the amg is suppose to be super safe.. butin his case the glove compartment pinned him in the driver seat
thec ar was on wrecked exotics .com till i inquired about where they got it.. then it disappeared but heres what the car looked like after the crash

imported_bevboyy

Lets see....

It received T.U.V. certification..which is one hell of a lot more stringent standards than our M.O.T or the US D.O.T or NHTSA. So I'd think it was sturdily built..

And that "cage" is not going to save your life if your going fast enough.....No car - oh well for the exception of a 1976 cadillac... can protect you at 120+ km/h...

Nova_Dust

Notice I said it is "safe to go on the road" meaning the vehicle is allowed to be driven on all roads. Who says about dealer sold cars have no defects? Who mentioned that factory cars will have zero recalls? I certainly didn't say that.

Smart might have recalls in the future, or defects in its design, I don't know. But at this very moment, it is being sold and driven in many other countries years ago.

Again, such vehicle is available from dealership, so I trust its level of safety. When I go shopping for a car, the last thing I want to worry about is recall and whatnot.

Cars have recalls, so why not take TTC? Well buses have problems so why not take Subway? Well trains sometimes get stucked 20 feet below ground so why not just ride your own bike? Well the brakes might not work and the chain might fell out so why not just walk? Well you get tired of walking and you wish you had a car to begin with.

ehko

Those cars were rated 5 stars by a separate consulting organization... Not MB... Do the Civics carry a 5 star rating HEAD ON? Probably not, but I'm sure the little Smart Cars don't carry a 5 star in side impact, or rear end collision. It is designed not to crumple, but to deliver the impact all throughout the frame, not just a crumple zone.

I think it was Motoring 2004 that had a special on it... in front end collisions, the drivers knees didn't even hit the dashboard... I know for a fact, that's better than any Civic they've ever tested. I've smashed an Accord, and my knees and shoulders were fawked.

You're not always safe if you have an accident... you may get schmucked by a Mack truck, or an F350 or something for that matter... I guarantee you'd die if an F350 went head on with a smart car...

I'm hammered... and I'm not really making a point...

It's as safe as any other car would be on the market... impact tests have no real meaning anymore.

That is all.

imported_Dawson

definatly a "chick kind of car " my girlfriend loves those things

imported_gatherer

I'd get one but I'd much rather have the Smart roadster that coming out in europe I hope it hits our shores in a year or so...I'd rock one then too.. even tradxe in the race civics if I had too

imported_kane2k

Smart cars have great structural integrity but I would also judge them to be too 'unsafe' for me to get just because of their design. I'll enlighten some of you on what really hurts people in a car accident. Acceleration.

If you crash a car into a brick wall at 120, you die. Your airbag can go off and protect your head from hitting anything, your passenger compartment can remain completely intact and you'll be seated upright and firmly in place in your seat, dying a painflul death. You died not because the footwell crushed your ankles or because your head got smashed open. You died because all of your internal organs were moving at 120 km/h and then 1/10th of a second later your ribcage wasn't.

This is for a brick wall which will stop any car dead. Same goes for transport trucks. Once you get to SUV's and Cadillacs, then it starts depending on the mass of your car and how much crumpling it can do to ****** out the massive acceleration that you are going through. As the crash photos showed, the Smart was rebounding off the S class. That means that not only did it come to a complete stop but it reversed directions. You can also see that very little impact was dissipated by the front assembly. That crash would be horrible at 100 km/h. The guy in S class would be looking at a very intact person who didn't get hurt by anything intruding into the passenger compartment sitting dead or dying in their seat.

That's just the crash physics and that scares me, but of course I drive a Civic, so I'm not unaware that my car is in a very similar situation. My car, however, has much more metal that gets compacted on impact and it may come in and break my legs, but it will buy my internal organs some crucial fractions of a second to slow themselves down.

The real worry about those cars is their dynamics. I remember seeing them in Europe in 2000 and I was stunned by their practicality in the cities but I was absolutely horrified to see them cruising along the highways. The car is very tall and has a tiny wheelbase. A sideswipe that would dent another car and send it into the curb would spin a Smart out and it's relatively high centre of gravity would mean that acrobatics would probably be involved in any loss of control at speed. Once you get into that kind of loss of control brick walls start coming into play and don't get me started on them.

imported_loudsubz

I saw these cars on Discovery the other day, very safe from what it seems...and very cool because you can swap the body panels if you get bored of a colour, or go all out and put some plaid designs on

As far as the crash rating goes, for its size (keyword size) its very safe with a 5 star safety rating... but if you go up against a transport truck thats a diff story...

It transfers its energy to the rear of the car on impact by use of its special frame inside frame technology, basically sending the shock around the structural part of the car to the rear..

The Video is here

http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=10/5/2004

"One Smart Ride"

imported_bevboyy

Yep...speed kills - and it doesn't matter what you ride or drive...

casper

I watched this car on TV (Toronto One station) last night. They asked a few women at the end would they date a guy who drives one of these car! They all said no. And many guys wouldn't buy this car either. But they got a pretty good size trunk. You can put a whole hockey bag into the trunk, but I wonder where would I put my goalie pads??? In terms of safety, i think they are pretty safe, but I still wouldn't drive this car to the Hwy.