Judi
CPST/Firefighter
I went to check out the Smart ForTwo. It is made by Mercedes, but with a Mitsubishi motor. It has been for sale in Europe for 12 years now and came to the states in January. When it came to the states, they lengthened it slightly to put an extra beam in the door and they switched the Mercedes motor with a mitsubishi one.
The model I looked at was the Passion. It is the upgraded version. The starter version is the Pure. The pure has non power windows, no radio, that is where I stopped listening. The passion has power windows, radio, power side mirrors and a sunroof, kind of. It doesn't open, but it is nice. If you want power steering, you need to upgrade, then you get leather seats and heated mirrors. I drove it, and I really don't feel I need power steering with as small of a wheel base as it has.
Here it a pic of the inside. It has more leg room than the Mercedes SUV.
I am 5'7", mostly leg. I keep my 2000 Windstar seat all the way back, but in the ForTwo, I had extra room.
The car has four air bags. Two in the front, and one in each seat. It gets very good crash test ratings. For more info on safety. Go to http://www.smartusa.com/smart-fortwo-passive-safety-features.aspx
The passenger seat tether is a little different than usual. You thread the tether through a loop at the top of the seat and hook at the bottom.
I was amazed that I could fit the Apex in the seat. It fit perfectly.
Of course, the air bag went off when I installed the seat. I wish there was a way to turn the air bag off, by key, but there isn't.
The car averages in the high 30's for gas mileage and has a 3 cylinder engine that weighs 175 lbs. The sides are plastic skins that can be swtiched out. So if you get tired of the color, just buy new skins for $1500. The waiting list is one year. With all the features I want, Blue skin, silver frame, I think it will probably cost about $14000. And here is a bonus pic of Bekah, not used to FF'ing, with her legs up, in the Windstar.
The model I looked at was the Passion. It is the upgraded version. The starter version is the Pure. The pure has non power windows, no radio, that is where I stopped listening. The passion has power windows, radio, power side mirrors and a sunroof, kind of. It doesn't open, but it is nice. If you want power steering, you need to upgrade, then you get leather seats and heated mirrors. I drove it, and I really don't feel I need power steering with as small of a wheel base as it has.
Here it a pic of the inside. It has more leg room than the Mercedes SUV.
I am 5'7", mostly leg. I keep my 2000 Windstar seat all the way back, but in the ForTwo, I had extra room.
The car has four air bags. Two in the front, and one in each seat. It gets very good crash test ratings. For more info on safety. Go to http://www.smartusa.com/smart-fortwo-passive-safety-features.aspx
The passenger seat tether is a little different than usual. You thread the tether through a loop at the top of the seat and hook at the bottom.
I was amazed that I could fit the Apex in the seat. It fit perfectly.
Of course, the air bag went off when I installed the seat. I wish there was a way to turn the air bag off, by key, but there isn't.
The car averages in the high 30's for gas mileage and has a 3 cylinder engine that weighs 175 lbs. The sides are plastic skins that can be swtiched out. So if you get tired of the color, just buy new skins for $1500. The waiting list is one year. With all the features I want, Blue skin, silver frame, I think it will probably cost about $14000. And here is a bonus pic of Bekah, not used to FF'ing, with her legs up, in the Windstar.
