[quanticle]

>Actually, now the other cars on the road looked strange. Why were they so large? Why did cars stick out six feet in front of the driver? Why did they drag around another eight feet of metal behind? It was an epidemic of automotive obesity.

Smarts aren't actually that efficient. The small body means that the car has to be very strong, and therefore very heavy in order to withstand collisions. I was looking at a Smart on display, and I was surprised to see that it got poorer mileage than my Hyundai Elantra, despite the fact that my Elantra is about twice as large.

[leviathant]

I bought an Elantra in 2001 for less than what a Smart car costs now, and I'll bet that I've spent less on maintenance over the 160,000 miles I've put on that car than I'd end up spending on a Smart.

My wife and I were curious about the Smart until we drove one - it seems to pause for about a second while the transmission changes gears. It was such an absurd lurch that I felt a little bit worried about being on the road, even within my own neighborhood. Given that, and the unimpressive mileage, the prime advantage to driving a Smart car is that you have many more parking options, which can be really nice when you're in a city.

Having said all that, I get what this guy's saying in a way. We recently bought a Dodge Magnum (For a roadtrip across the US next year). All my life I've driven compact cars. The Elantra always seemed like plenty of car to me. I could sit four comfortably (five less so), I can fit a drum kit, a guitar amp and cab, and still have someone in the passenger seat, and it was still larger on the inside than a Civic or a Jetta.

After driving the Magnum for a month or two, I had to switch it up and drive the Elantra, and I was struck by how claustrophobic the car felt. It never seemed like a compact car to me, but after driving around in a car whose title is Latin for "big", the Elantra definitely felt compact now. My idea of what 'normal' was very definitely shifted. (It's still a great car, ten years on.)

[rudiger]

He's not arguing that the Smart gets better mileage than the Elantra. He's arguing that the size of the Elantra is unnecessary, and that the Smart's microcar size is better.

[quanticle]

From the article:

Actually, now the other cars on the road looked strange. Why were they so large? Why did cars stick out six feet in front of the driver? Why did they drag around another eight feet of metal behind? It was an epidemic of automotive obesity.

Granted, with vague language like that, its hard to perceive exactly what the author is arguing. His use of the word "obesity", however, implies heaviness as well as bigness. I was pointing out that the Smart is probably nearly as heavy as my Elantra, despite being smaller.

In fact, from a strict efficiency perspective, an Elantra is much more efficient than a Smart. For the same mileage, you gain the ability to carry a substantial amount of extra passengers and cargo. The increased size of the Elantra is quite useful, and goes directly against the inefficiency argument the author makes.

[gamble]

The Smart Fortwo wasn't designed for efficiency or cheapness; it was intended to be a tiny car for dense European cities where the ability to park in very tight spaces would allow you to find a space quickly. Parking on curbs and in odd spaces may be relatively common in Europe, but it's generally a good way to get ticketed or towed in the US, so the main selling point for the car is moot.

[5teev]

As I understand it, the European Smarts are much lighter and thus more fuel efficient; the US government (perhaps in a move of trade protectionism) required a lot of extra body reinforcement for Smart cars before they would allow their import to the US. At least the last time I checked, their fuel economy was on par with other four-seaters (hybrids, 3-cyls) I looked at.

[pjleonhardt]

> (perhaps in a move of trade protectionism)

I find it far more likely that the extra strength was required for the impact collisions. The other cars on the road in the US are just far larger and massive than those elsewhere, so a stronger heavier car is needed to stay safe.

It creates a bit of a Catch 22 when trying to bring down the average size / weight of a vehicle.