Edmunds InsideLine covers the street tour

Edmunds InsideLine just released a new article covering the excitement of the roadshow.

Here is little quote of interest:

Trouble is, the Fortwo doesn't get as good freeway gas mileage as a Honda Civic hybrid (40 mpg vs. 50 mpg), although the president of Smart U.S.A, Dave Schembri, offers a corrective assessment: "The Fortwo gets 40 miles per gallon if driven like a maniac, over 50 if babied."

THIS IS NOT a smart car accident!

Someone sent me a link to some scary photos. There is a gory set of pictures circulating the internet that shows a small car being hit head-on by a semi in Canada.
People have mistakenly claim the car as a fortwo and posters are telling people to cancel their $99 reservations.

I will not show or link to it because it is very gruesome. It is very graphic and disturbing.

In fact, the car is not a fortwo but a Volkswagen CrossFox. The crossfox does not have the tridion safety cell. In the event this was a fortwo, I would suspect that it would have bounced on impact.


Hopefully, this post will dispel those nasty rumors circulating the blogosphere and chat forums. The fortwo has shown how it handles with larger cars like the Mercedes E and S-Class.
This video from youtube shows how it would fare hitting a wall.

smart fortwo aces IIHS crash tests

It's official, the IIHS gives the fortwo a "good" rating.

NHTSA gives fortwo high ratings with concern

From USA Today

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Smart two-door car its top score of five stars in side testing because of its protection against injuries.

But when NHTSA conducted the side test, the driver door unlatched and opened. The government says that could lead to a driver or passenger being ejected from the vehicle.
The vehicle received four out of five stars in the front-end crash on the driver's side. On the passenger side, it received three out of five stars.

Duh. The concern is unwarranted. Drivers need to buckle up their seat belts. This solves the problem of being ejected.

The fortwo matches comparable Toyota Yaris and the Chevy Cobalt.

This is indeed good news for the smart car.

Here is a video from youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbg7KDifD70

Cities will have to rethink parking for smarts

Wow, my hometown newspaper has a great article on smart and parking.
The SF Chronicle reports that cities have to rethink their parking policies with new small micro cars.


I am hoping we get free designated parking.

The 1st real SMART competitor - IQ

Toyota launched one of the biggest PR at the Geneva 2008 Auto Show. Introducing the "production ready" IQ.


I think the name IQ is a direct jab the the smart

PRESS RELEASE

World premiere of Toyota's new urban car: the iQ

• Production version of the Concept C ar iQ premiered
• 'J-Factor' underpins iQ design
• Six unique space-saving engineering innovations represent a milestone in Toyota's automotive engineering
• Revolutionary packaging concept provides ample space for a 3+1 seating configuration within a sub 3 metres length
• Small urban car with low emission engines and aerodynamics reduces environmental impact
• Manufacturing starts late 2008 with a global sales target of 100,000 vehicles for the first year of production

Brabus SLR and the mini-me

Autoblog has a gallery of the new Brabus SLR (Mercedes SL) and it's little twin, the tender.