Car choices in the US

[rh77]

Originally Posted by white90crxhf

how does the "smartcar" fare when in an accident?

Better than an F-150, for example. It actually has a racing style roll-cage (except the top on the convertible) making it safer than most vehicles on the road. Team that with standard full curtain airbags, ESP, ABS... you get the idea

RH77

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by white90crxhf

how does the "smartcar" fare when in an accident?

There's piles of videos on YouTube that feature the little smart crashing. Very entertaining .

[red91sit]

Originally Posted by rh77

Better than an F-150, for example. It actually has a racing style roll-cage (except the top on the convertible) making it safer than most vehicles on the road. Team that with standard full curtain airbags, ESP, ABS... you get the idea

RH77

I think this is another reason our choices are limited. Far too many Americans assume larger is safer. This is very untrue if you've ever seen the side by side of the Mini-Cooper and F-150, the F-150 driver was definetly dead, where as the mini's was fine. If this isn't bad enough, look up more statistics. SUV's are 15% more lethal than the average vehicle. Great for suzy soccer mom, and the family while she is on the cell-phone.

[Mike T]

Originally Posted by white90crxhf

how does the "smartcar" fare when in an accident? it looks much worse than my crx especially if a car smashed into your rear.

It would munch the CRX up and spit it out. No contest.

Check out the following crash test of a smart fortwo against a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, conducted in 2004 in front of Canadian journalists: http://www.thesmart.ca/index.cfm?id=...nguage=english

The quick explanation is that the car is extremely rigid, slices through other "softer" vehicles and compensates for its relative lack of mass by having steel-shelled seats that deform progressively, allowing passengers to experience half the g-loadings in a serious collision than you would expect.

The cabriolet is reinforced over and above the coupé and therefore performs to the same standard in collisions.

[Mike T]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Mike - your Smart is in the wrong list in the garage. You've got it classified as a gasoline engine, I think. (Now I understand why someone asked you if it was a gasser in another thread.)

Hmm, wrong garage....I'll see if I can change that.

Edit: I just had a look, and I've no idea what you mean about "wrong garage". I only see one.....??

[Peakster]

When you fill out the stats about your car in the garage, there's a drop-down field that allows you to choose, Gasoline, Hybrid, or Diesel. You have "Gasoline" chosen when I assume you want "Diesel".

[86Celica]

In Europe, the Insight was only ever sold in Germany - and they sold badly, so Honda quickly pulled out. Honda had the gall to show it at the Brussels car show once, so I asked them how much it was, and they replied they weren't gonna sell it here. So count your blessings. Be glad you don't live in a diesel-mad city like Brussels, where your car gets covered in diesel dust when it has been standing outside a few days. And where your life is shortened by a few years by people driving diesels, where you're woken up in the morning by people starting their rattling diesel engines, and where your children suffer asthmatic and other lung ailments - all to save a few gallons...

Toyota pulled the Camry off the market in Europe, so I can't buy a hybrid Camry.

By the way, I also regret that the Toyota Sera was not sold here. Google it, magnificent little car.

Conclusion: the cars are always greener on the other side.

[Mike T]

The Benellux countries were very, very late to adopt emission controls that actually did anything (late 1980s), under EC guidance.

So I would hazard a guess that your 1986 Celica is a far heavier polluter (assuming it is well-maintained) than a modern HDi ot CDI diesel with closed loop oxy-cat and particle trap.

The USA and Canada have had decent emission control regulations since 1968. I remember the amazement of the Nefkens BV garage in Hoensbroek (the Netherlands) when my Dad took his 1972 US model Peugeot 504 to them in April 1972, for a tune-up and window repair.

They had never seen emission controls before. Or anti-intrusion door beams in a car before (the passenger side window needed to be replaced). For what it's worth. Germany, Austria and CH were the first European countries to get serious about automotive emission controls, starting in the 1986 model year.

[rh77]

Originally Posted by Mike T

...starting in the 1986 model year.

Also, they were fortunate to have finally phased out those 2-Cycle oil-burner vehicles, although much later. Those things polluted like mad.

RH77