The Smart Car is one of the vechicles NASA is powering by lithium batteries (see http://www.hybridtechnologies.com/media.php)

Can't wait until "space arc" on the NASA logo is finally pointing upwards and the vehicle levitates on di-lithium.

Starship Enterprise theme

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Leahbeatle,
Here's a quote from:

http://www.autowire.net/2002-11.html

"Yes, 60 percent of New Beetle buyers are females. And, alas, the key demographic in the pseudo sports car market is males aged 18 to 34. Perhaps this is because women are far less likely to be fooled into thinking they’re behind the wheel of a sports car by liberally applied "racing" stripes or a few pointy plastic bits. Whatever the reason, if you want to correctly target the "active lifestylers" (whatever that means), you have to go for the guys."

Come on, any car that has a flower vase built into the dash??

I didn't find any demographics on the mini cooper, but while searching I did run into this little tidbit tangent. Check it out! It's titled "Crash Testing - Mini Cooper vs. Ford F-150! (the base for the Expedition SUV)

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/Cra...perVsFordF150/

When I was considering my next vehicle, I test-drove the Smart car. It's a neat little diesel-powered car, and little was what I wanted. The interior is very spacious. But it had trouble on the highway on a moderately-windy day, and the transmission feels like a go cart. But I did see one pulled over by the highway police once...

And another small oddity, when you signal, both directions light up on the dash. It's like they couldn't fit another circuit to differentiate between left and right signals.

There are actually a decent number driving around here... I see them almost as frequently as Prii. Actually saw one on the highway as well, doing around 110 km/h. Most people say the ride is kind of stiff which is expected for such a short wheelbase. I also hear the auto-clutch transmission isn't the smoothest.

the nav is a Magellan. Looks much like my model 760.

2001 Classic Red Mazda Miata (+/- 30MPG)
1998 Toyota Sienna (+/- 23MPG)

I don't see this car as being any more or less a risk (due to size) than a Mini. There's a lot to be said for small target, agility, and plain accident avoidance. I'd be very interested in the interior comfort and drivability. Looks like it may be a fun ride...

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

Next time you see it pulled over check to see if it has really fat rear tires because there are a few in Toronto who have engine swapped their smart cars with GSX-R1000 Motor bike engines. I saw this guy driving in toronto, sounds insane, Something like 170 HP and 0-60mph in like 4 seconds? There was also a video circulating around that showed this guy on the track passing Porshes and corvettes.

THey are too expensive for what you get tho... geeze it can be priced with all the gadgets/convertable over $27,000 cnd.... Personally i think 16,000 is a stretch for it. But I see them EVERYWHERE

I see Mini Coopers sometimes- one of my neighbors has one- but no Smart cars around here. The only place I've seen them is Europe. I notice that seftonm and kintak are from our neighbor to the north, so maybe it's also a Canadian phenom? Regardless, I'd have to agree with Tim and conclude that the Smart cars wouldn't be much less safe than the Mini Coopers, and having seen the Mini Cooper's crash test ratings and looking at the aforementioned safety stats, I have to say- really quite impressive.