MUSCLE VS. BRAINS

[Jon Smith]

they're way safer than the 40 year old musclecars we all drive..chargers fold up like a a paper bag if they hit something solid, this is the wrong board to talk about safety 





still dont want one though

[WingCharger]

Ill just drive our '83 VW 4-Door Diesel Rabbit-L instead of spending money on a car that couldnt freakin hold a toolbox. Now, just need to get the rabbit running...

[NHCharger]

I agree with Bull. That thing should be getting way better gas mileage. My wifes Scion XB shoebox gets 37 MPG, and it can haul way more than that motorized roller skate.
Also the smart car is made with a high percentage of recycled materials, which appeals to the tree hugger crowd.
How much does one of those smart cars cost?

[dkn1997]

I'd like to buy 5 or 6 of them and get a huge piece of land out in the country.  Then my buddies and I could play real life bumper cars. 

[Khyron]

what do you mean, those things are so powerful they can do awsome wheelies 

[skip68]

WOW!  Who knew this thread would be so controversial! I just thought the picture I took was funny & cute!
Mrs.Skip68

[bull]

WOW!  Who knew this thread would be so controversial! I just thought the picture I took was funny & cute!
Mrs.Skip68

I'm constantly surprised at what causes a stir here. At least half the time it's not what you think it would be.

[Khyron]

i didn't read through, mine was ment to be funny

[The70RT]

The Charger may fold up like a paper bag but that absorbs the impact. There is no crumple zones on those things. If everyone was driving them then yeah....but there will always be trucks on the road though anyway. The only thing that absorbs the impact are the passengers not the PU that hits you head on.

[skip68]

To answer a question & update:

The smart car that my buddy has gets 53 MPG!

It cost him  $22,800 LOADED!   Not bad in my opinion, because i've been in it and it's a great car!

Surprisingly, there IS alot of room! Go to a dealer and check one out! (Mercedes makes this one!)
Mrs.Skip68

[skip68]

   I'll keep my not so smart charger at 10-14 mpg.   

[Mike DC]

With all due respect to Smart car owners, it's not the real widespread solution. 

We don't need a few tiny cars, we need the size of the entire American fleet shrunk down in a practical way.  Most of the SUV market should bite the bullet and get smaller minivans/wagons.  Little 4cyl unibody trucks (like the old Dodge Rampage or a tiny El Camino) should outnumber the real pickups about 5 to 1.  And two thirds of what we use 18-wheelers for should be done with trains.

[Brock Samson]

They've been selling tons of these Smart cars in Europe for many years now, no big whoop,..
There's now quite a few of them here in SF... allot of the parking spaces here simply are too small to handle even a compact car between driveways here in the residential districts where the garages are actually converted stables. I'm sure the buyers of these short vehicles appreciate they can actually park one in front of their homes and are willing to forgo a back seat and trunk...
when they first arrived on the scene they were to retail at near to $15 K.
I guess they've gone (way) up,.. perhaps your friend paid a premuim to be the first on the block... 
  No way would I want one. especially at near $'23K.
i think you can get a new Chally for that much. 

[bull]

The Charger may fold up like a paper bag but that absorbs the impact. There is no crumple zones on those things. If everyone was driving them then yeah....but there will always be trucks on the road though anyway. The only thing that absorbs the impact are the passengers not the PU that hits you head on.

Did you happen to see those crash test videos linked on page 1? The Smart car does "well" in crash tests in that the driver's area was not damaged but did you see the rebound? It looked like they bounced a volleyball off a concrete wall. The dummy's head smacked the steering wheel through the air bag.

Hey, I don't mind going smaller with our US "fleet" if that's what's got to be done but the only concern I have is where do we go after that? If we all want to get 40 mpg now when gas is at $3.50/gal what happens when it goes up to $7/gal? As bad as we are at playing catch up it stands to reason that we're never really going to get ahead of this problem. And maybe that's by design.

[Orange_Crush]

The Smart is not meant to be (nor was it designed to be) a highway car.  Smarts really do not have any place in the suburbs or the country. 

The Smart was designed as a "city car."  A solution to a transportation problem posed by narrow streets and a lack of parking in places like Paris, London, Berlin, etc.

As such, it also works well in places like Chicago, NY, Toronto, etc.  That is why they have sold craploads of them in Europe.

[Chris G.]

It cost him  $22,800 LOADED!

Please define "Loaded". In my eyes the word Loaded and Smart Cars just don't go together. I mean what's it got, power windows and A/C? What else could it have? 

ps- My Mother's 1990 Geo was advertised new at 52 MPG. I inherited the beast, and it's over 200K now. The MPG has dropped, but it's still no gas saving slouch.

[41husk]

23k ? 09 Challenger or smart car I think its a no brainer for me Im sure the cool factor is the same for both

[Mike DC]

       

If we all want to get 40mpg when gas is $3.50/gal then what happens when it's $7.50/gal?

It'll be at $7.50/gal before we get the current fleet rotated out to cope with $3.50/gal.  Maybe even higher.


We're not gonna solve this with anything less than a radical reduction in our energy consumption.  It means lifestyle compromises.  It won't matter who we elect or what treatys & trade agreements we make.  The problem is too large. 

[Lowprofile]

With all due respect to Smart car owners, it's not the real widespread solution. 

We don't need a few tiny cars, we need the size of the entire American fleet shrunk down in a practical way.  Most of the SUV market should bite the bullet and get smaller minivans/wagons.  Little 4cyl unibody trucks (like the old Dodge Rampage or a tiny El Camino) should outnumber the real pickups about 5 to 1.  And two thirds of what we use 18-wheelers for should be done with trains.

Whatever happened to freedom of choice? Personally, I have no use for any mini-car, But god bless those of you who do. If it costs me more for fuel, I guess thats my problem. When it gets too much, I'll ride my motorcycle when I can. Depending on who you believe, Either we have a 300+ year supply of oil/natural gas, or the world is going to end next Thursday.      In 20-30 years, this will all be a moot point, because the technology we need will be in full use and the dinosaurs we drive now will be museum pieces or in the crusher. For now, we need to stop whining, drill all we can, build some new refineries, some new Nuc plants, and get all this "Green"Technology up and running ASAP! We need it all.

As far as the Trains vs. Trucks argument........thats just a pipe dream. We live in a J.I.T society [just in time] That is how this economy runs. People will not wait days or weeks for things to be delievered. Its a job only trucks can do.

[41husk]

Simple things like car pooling can make a difference in energy consumption, but the majority of us like the freedom and independence of driving our own vehicles.  Simply put Americans or spoiled.  I remember when I was a kid, a family with more than one car was wealthy.  Today I have 3 hobby cars and a truck, my wife has her mini van, my son has a pickup and a car and my daughter has a car.  There are at least 4 people that teach at the same school not more than a mile away (maybe more) and we all drive our own vehicle to school.

[Mike DC]

Whatever happened to freedom of choice? Personally, I have no use for any mini-car, But god bless those of you who do. If it costs me more for fuel, I guess thats my problem. When it gets too much, I'll ride my motorcycle when I can. Depending on who you believe, Either we have a 300+ year supply of oil/natural gas, or the world is going to end next Thursday.   whistling ohhthesarcasm  In 20-30 years, this will all be a moot point, because the technology we need will be in full use and the dinosaurs we drive now will be museum pieces or in the crusher. For now, we need to stop whining, drill all we can, build some new refineries, some new Nuc plants, and get all this "Green"Technology up and running ASAP! We need it all.

As far as the Trains vs. Trucks argument........thats just a pipe dream. We live in a J.I.T society [just in time] That is how this economy runs. People will not wait days or weeks for things to be delievered. Its a job only trucks can do.

I'm not saying we need to govt-mandate smaller cars.  I want nothing of the sort personally. 



We can keep demanding our God-given right to drive 4400-pound trucks on $2-3/gallon gasoline, but we can't double the amount of accessible light crude oil that remains on earth.  Alaskan drilling, alternatives like biodiesel, hybrid/electric cars, renewable energy sources . . . we'll start doing all these things, and it probably won't even be enough to save us from a hard economic hit (let alone improve our situation). 

It's just the raw numbers.  A couple billion more people on earth are gearing up to want their first car.  Trying to get our 4400-pound trucks back running on $2/gallon gas again . . .  it's trying to make 1+1=5.



We have a choice:  Higher gas prices, much higher vehicle purchase/ownership costs, or much smaller vehicles. 

I'd choose the higher gas prices out of those three. 

[71_Charger_R/T]

Maybe I'll buy in when these come out!  Too bad none are Mopars.

[derailed]

As far as the Trains vs. Trucks argument........thats just a pipe dream. We live in a J.I.T society [just in time] That is how this economy runs. People will not wait days or weeks for things to be delievered. Its a job only trucks can do.

There getting bigger everyday bro   

[Mike DC]

Trains won't exactly put trucks out of business, but we need so much more train usage in America it's not even funny. 


The only reason trains look impractical is because we've let the train infrastructure slide out of gear for the last half-century.  Most of the 1st-world westernized nations on earth are kicking our asses on all this stuff.  They're not making a bunch of big sacrifices in price or convenience, their systems are just built better. 

[Arthu®]

The Smart is not meant to be (nor was it designed to be) a highway car.  Smarts really do not have any place in the suburbs or the country. 

The Smart was designed as a "city car."  A solution to a transportation problem posed by narrow streets and a lack of parking in places like Paris, London, Berlin, etc.

As such, it also works well in places like Chicago, NY, Toronto, etc.  That is why they have sold craploads of them in Europe.

That's exactly what the smart car is built for. It's not MPG, it's just that is small and easy to park. I would 10.000x rather be in that car than in a Charger finding a parking spot in Amsterdam. Would I buy one, no probably not, it's not really my style. But if you live in the city and have to travel through the city every day I can understand why you would buy one.

Arthur