Cute little cars make sense on the tiny and cramped streets of European villages and the miniature parking garages of same. They are death traps on our freeways. Take care please.

No problem with the concept, except that there are too many witless dickswingers out there in multi-ton SUVs... Oblivious idiots with no meaningful driver's education, let alone specialized training for heavy or high-performance vehicles. But they're behind the wheel, they're on the phone, they're touching themselves and they're playing with the radio, doing everything but looking out for these microsubcompacts.

I'd be cool in one if the only people in trucks were actual professional truckers, a professional class which could be expected to learn to drive around the little muffin-cars. But with Mr. & Mrs. Prozac spazzing around in Yukons, I just don't see the point.

Smart cars are dumb. For their size, they're not all that fuel efficient, and they're not all that cheap compared to, say, a Toyota Yaris or a Honda Fit. And in those two, you get a back seat. The only advantage I can see in a Smart is parking.

Hybrids have their own problems. Take a look at the environmental impact of manufacturing them and disposing of them when they die. It pretty much offsets any benefit gained from driving them.

On the other hand, that Fiat is pretty sweet.

@Crid: And they'll tell you that they bought those big, burly boxes for "protection". From what? A Tahoe can't stand up to a Peterbilt. And it can't be the smarts and the Fiats. So they must be trying to protect themselves from all those other dickless witswingers, or whatever the phrase was.

We have a Fiat dealership here in Austin and I've seen a few of them around town. Agreed, they're cute. I wouldn't put my kid in one, though.

As for smart cars- I think they need premium gas. And, once again, no back seat.

We have a suburban and an X3. Love the X3, but it's about to be out of warranty and it seems like ANY kind of maintenance/part/whatever on a BMW (even the lower-end ones) costs at least $1500. Seriously, I think that if my car crosses the sight line of a mechanic my credit card is auto-billed at least a couple hundred. I love driving it, but the cargo space is limited. So, when we go on a family road trip, we take the suburban... which uses about a gallon a gas every time you accelerate. We went to the zoo in San Antonio this weekend and spend $40 in gas alone. Ug. Plus, every goddam parking lot in Austin is 80% "small car only" spaces.

I would like a Diesel Jetta wagon. Not very good looking, but I'm over the whole car-vanity thing.

I drive a Honda Civic, my choice. You are allowed your choice.

I'm guessing a lot of people who scored themselves as libertarians yesterday are wiling to decide what other people should drive today.

My Fusion weighs in at 3200 lbs, the Fiat at just under 2400.

Momentum=m*v
Force=0.5*m*v^2

Sorry, little Fiat, you best not get hit by a monsterous Fusion.

Idiot drivers come in all different models. Like the guy I saw on I-65 in a rice burner. He was passing a truck up a hill, and just as the slope changed from up to down, the moron pulled over into the slow lane in front of the truck.

I had room to jam on my brakes and signal the trucker to come on over. The rice burner owes me his life as that truck flew past him down that road.

Physics, she is a harsh mistress...some people think that there is no math in the test of life.

> I'm guessing a lot of people who scored
> themselves as libertarians yesterday are wiling
> to decide what other people should drive today.

Where those choices threaten my safety and exceed the weight ratings of the roads my taxes have paid for, you are correct.

> Physics, she is a harsh mistress...

Ain't she, though?

Fiat 500 got IIHS "Top Pick".

I'm waiting for the Abarth. 170 HP in a car that weighs just over a ton.

I'll keep the Jetta though. There's nothing like a German car.

"But with Mr. & Mrs. Prozac spazzing around in Yukons, I just don't see the point."

The double-funny on the Family Prozac: SUVs follow light truck safety standards, which are less strict than car standards.

If they were buying for safety they'd have been better off in a big sedan or wagon.

Your Honda is bigger (longer) than my Wrangler.

I love Smart Cars! I remember the first time I saw one. On our way to Paris & Provence in 1999, my then-girlfriend and I had a stop at Schiphol and there was one on display. We had time enough to take the train into Amsterdam for an hour or so and saw a lot of them there. And I was thrilled when they finally started being sold in the U.S. because I think it's adorable to see them zipping around.

I think the Mini and the Fiat are more stylish but the Smart Car out-cutes them.

"...and exceed the weight ratings of the roads my taxes have paid for..."

And what is that "rating"? How does it vary? What construction materials change that?

What is your own responsibility in allowing development in your area?

Shucks - even as I know the wheel loading of any combination of vehicles and have an appreciation for the yield stress of a road surface, just how do you stop semis from delivering to the businesses in your neighborhood? What's the impact of a thousand Yukons vs. one cement truck?

-----

Yet another complex problem stated too simplistically.

I never wanted an SUV. I had to uncurl my lip when we ended up with a used Ford Exploder after our car croaked. It was what was available and affordable at the time, so we gave it a try.

We have had that thing now for about fourteen years. It is a gas hog, but the bugger starts up immediately, even in a bad Montana winter.

The only thing I find embarrassing about it now is how puny it looks next to the monster SUV's we end up parked next to these days. I suppose it will die now that I'm talking nice about it.

I'm not a fan of SUVs and see a lot of people, particularly young women, driving poorly in them but, on the other hand, it's perfect example of the the market giving people what they want.

I'm not crazy about driving a big-ass SUV, either, but it was affordable, and it's reliable, and the one we own is pretty loaded. Plus, it has 4WD and fits all of our stuff, plus 7 people. AND...it has a better turning radius than the Acura TL we used to own.
(I still want the diesel wagon. Or, if I had money, maybe a diesel X5 or Toureg.)

And it's not ME you need to worry about driving the suburban, it's my husband. Ug.

Yeah, I personally won't have an SUV. I want a vehicle I can actually drive, rather than just aim. But I understand that a lot of people have to have one for various reasons. Somebody here pointed out a few months ago that you can't hardly carry children legally in a car anymore, because the child seat laws have become so draconian.

I have a Honda Fit and I love it. I still do miss my CR-V, but some drunken twenty-year-old killed it. That's the only thing that worries me about a small car - being hit by a bigger one. I do love the fact that I can park the Fit anywhere, though - and the cool ways the seats fold to load cargo is amazing.

"No problem with the concept, except that there are too many witless dickswingers out there in multi-ton SUV"

I drive a MINI, been driving it for 4 years. Love it, but now I'm getting scared of getting hit. I decided to switch to a muscle car.

> Yet another complex problem stated too
> simplistically.

SUVs are a burden to others.

Any questions?

Any questions?
Will oo buy me an H1 Humvee?