http://www.jawfish.net/wp/archives/176 "We have met the enemy and he is us." - Walt Kelly Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:34:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.jawfish.net/wp/archives/176/comment-page-1#comment-1339 chasgould Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:57:03 +0000 http://www.jawfish.net/wp/archives/176#comment-1339 Good morning. A few comments on your review of the Smart, which is almost finally here (expected in April 1008. 1) the tranny lag is, unfortunately, the nature of the beast, and was not broken when you drove it. The lag seemed much worse than it is because we have an instinctual nature to release the throttle when we shift up or down, manually or automatic, and the lag can be substantially reduced by keeping your foot down on the accelerator, but the lag is still there, at least until they design a better system. The new US cars are slightly better than the Euro spec car that you drove. 2)The US colors are boring for now, but expect to see some wild colours as well as graphic detailed panels stock from the factory, as the Euro spec cars have these available already. 3) The cars will be sold through independent, and Penske owned, dealerships. They are not likely to be sold through any Mercedes dealers as Mercedes dealerships have been whining about diluting the prestige of their product line. 4) the original Smart was 600cc, and then 700cc, and was much more edgy and funky with wild interior fabrics and a funky "S" shaped dashpanel. All of this has been toned down and "Americanized" for the US market so unfortunately the car lost some of its cult car status and appearence, and sadly, the interior looks like a sterile Toyota or Honda instead of the funky space that it was originally designed into. Likewise the "massive" 1000cc engine has all but destroyed any viable claims of great fuel mileage, which will come in around 40 now, which is really not incredible for such a tiny little car. 5) Likewise, the exterior grew by about 8 inches, which is not much, but the way they did it is somewhat disproportionate, with inappropriate bulges and bumps and air vents in areas that disrupt, rather than enhance, the flowing lines and design of the car. The earlier versions, while appearing a bit dated and long in the tooth, were definately edgier, and more fun. That air vent is really an intrusion into the lines of the car, as is the side marker lens at the end of that descending trim routing in the door. You can check out earlier versions, as well as many other vintage European microcars at our web site at www.bubbledrome.com. Good morning.
A few comments on your review of the Smart, which is almost finally here (expected in April 1008.
1) the tranny lag is, unfortunately, the nature of the beast, and was not broken when you drove it. The lag seemed much worse than it is because we have an instinctual nature to release the throttle when we shift up or down, manually or automatic, and the lag can be substantially reduced by keeping your foot down on the accelerator, but the lag is still there, at least until they design a better system. The new US cars are slightly better than the Euro spec car that you drove.
2)The US colors are boring for now, but expect to see some wild colours as well as graphic detailed panels stock from the factory, as the Euro spec cars have these available already.
3) The cars will be sold through independent, and Penske owned, dealerships. They are not likely to be sold through any Mercedes dealers as Mercedes dealerships have been whining about diluting the prestige of their product line.
4) the original Smart was 600cc, and then 700cc, and was much more edgy and funky with wild interior fabrics and a funky “S” shaped dashpanel. All of this has been toned down and “Americanized” for the US market so unfortunately the car lost some of its cult car status and appearence, and sadly, the interior looks like a sterile Toyota or Honda instead of the funky space that it was originally designed into. Likewise the “massive” 1000cc engine has all but destroyed any viable claims of great fuel mileage, which will come in around 40 now, which is really not incredible for such a tiny little car.
5) Likewise, the exterior grew by about 8 inches, which is not much, but the way they did it is somewhat disproportionate, with inappropriate bulges and bumps and air vents in areas that disrupt, rather than enhance, the flowing lines and design of the car. The earlier versions, while appearing a bit dated and long in the tooth, were definately edgier, and more fun. That air vent is really an intrusion into the lines of the car, as is the side marker lens at the end of that descending trim routing in the door.
You can check out earlier versions, as well as many other vintage European microcars at our web site at http://www.bubbledrome.com.

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