Paul Turnbull › Comments

I agree smart should do better on fuel, but it was designed for space efficiency, not squeezing the gas pump. It's an urban car for tight parking environments. - Chris Baskind

It's not a hybrid, why are you comparing it to one? - Veronica

still, the Fortwo may be the only way to squeeze extra spots into horrible parking sitches such as SF - Andy Sternberg

i was also disappointed with the mileage, but when I saw one parked sideways in a regular parking spot, I realized you have to evaluate the value of these cars differently than hybrids or regular cars. they are really defining a completely new class of vehicle. still you will probably need a higher MPG for them to really take off. - Mark Schulz

You are inviting Tesla smack. Like, well, at least you can buy the SmartCar or something ;-) - Wilma Stoneflint

Agree with Veronica. Comparing the Smart to a Hybrid is not apples to apples, but there is still no reason that a car the size of the smart shouldn't get at least 40mpg city. - John Denver

There's an electric smart coming, btw, which will be awesomesauce: http://ecotechdaily.com/2008... (Linkwhore alert -- that's my site) - Chris Baskind

I posted a comment a week ago on Veronica's thread about the smart car and it's dismal gas mileage. It is laughable that it doesn't at least get 50 or 60 MPG. The Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius, which can both hold 4 or 5 people get 45-48 MPG. I'd much rather have real car than the odd looking and possibly un-safe due to it's very small size Smart Car. - Jeff P. Henderson

@Veronica, "It's not a hybrid, why are you comparing it to one?" I thought the idea of the Smart car was to provide an environmentally friendly (meaning high mileage) car for commuting around in. The comparison to Hybrids is to make a point that normal sized cars can actually achieve better mileage. Seems like if the Smart car were hybrid it could achieve quite a bit better mileage, which would make it a much more compelling alternative to exiting gas & gas/hybrid cars. - Jeff P. Henderson

Fine. I'll get one of these instead. It seats two, is full electric (oops, full electric is "next gen". Just hybrid for the first round.) and looks like loads of fun. http://flytheroad.com/ - Aura Mae

Dude, ours has been constantly averaging around 50-60mpg - Dave Morin

Jeff, as a city dweller, it's a much more viable option than almost any other car out there. And it does get better mileage than a Fit or Yaris, plus it fits in just about any parking space you can think of. But to compare it to a hybrid isn't fair -- on top of that, it's also 10k less expensive than a Prius. - Veronica

'cause it parks like a motherf*****. Hat tip Moblogic. - Ryan Brenizer

@ Veronica, You do nave a very good point regarding parking. I don't happen to live/work in a dense area like SF, but I can definitely see the benefit if you do. - Jeff P. Henderson

The American version of the Smart car has been crippled by an engine change from the original model. My sister-in-law's Smart is an original with a diesel engine and incredible mileage. I don't know why the change was made but the gas engines in the American models appear to be crap. - Paul Turnbull

Thw problem is that the car is SO underpowered that its engine needs to overwork so badly just to get it anywhere. Lame. - David Chartier

If I was going to get a smartcar I'd just get a used Scion XB instead, or as my dad is consideriing doing, getting a Toyota Matrix and pimping it out (so it is as nice as a mercedes) and saving the gas, yeah he's insane - Andrew Fielding from twhirl

Exactly my sentiments... with all these hyped up "hybrids," we can't even get above 50mpg? eh, we can all ride motorcycles - James

too bad... cuz it is awful cute as a car. the electric one sounds cool Mr Baskind http://ecotechdaily.com/2008... - Noah David Simon

Please, my 1990 Geo Metro got 45mpg - that's just retarded - Cheryl Allin from NoiseRiver