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Wired has a really good article on the Smart brand, Mercedes hip, tiny division with cars even smaller than Minis. Only takes 20 seconds to get to 60 mph, now that’s my kind of ride… Be great fun following one of these on the freeway, I’m sure. Though it’d be plenty of fun cruising around in the city in one, I still don’t buy the fact that if an SUV T-bones the Smart car, the little car will only ‘bounce’ off. I’d fear it rolling if it got struck on its side. Of course, this little Smart car will be bastardized to all hell when it hits the US market. Unfortunate, but hey, US regulation is great, ain’t it?

On another note, I saw a Toyota Prius this morning with gas cap flap open and gas cap flapping in the wind while the lady was on the freeway, totally oblivious. You can be more environmental conscious, but it sure doesn’t make you any smarter…
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The problem was, with so little car out front, there was nothing left to crush between you and, say, an oncoming Escalade. So Smart designers invented the Fortwo’s main style and safety feature: a bulky steel cell, visible inside and out, that frames the passenger compartment like a roll cage and absorbs the shock of a head-on collision. What happens if some Detroit-engineered behemoth plows into the featherweight Fortwo? I got a pretty good idea, watching a Smart-sponsored crash test with a Mercedes E-Class: The big sedan crumpled, and the Fortwo ricocheted. In a separate test, by the European New Car Assessment Program, a 40-mph impact with a concrete wall failed to dent the safety cell. They awarded the Smart a three-star crash rating – nothing like a Volvo but better than a Ford Escort, which weighs nearly half a ton more than the Fortwo.

Wired Link