Those Smart Cars are just too darn cute. But does anyone else find their estimated mpg disappointing? 33 city / 40 highway -- or even 40/45 for EPA's old 2007 standards -- seems kinda low for such a little car.

I used to live there, and I don't remember a neighborhood that didn't have particularly bad parking.

And I agree, 33 mpg seems very low for a roller skate with a hat on.

When I first saw a Smart Car on a trip to Germany, I thought they were way cool. Then I saw that *most* cars in Germany were only slightly bigger than that, held 4 passengers (or at least 2 passengers and luggage/groceries) and as diesels were getting close to 50 MPG!

Then again, if say 10-20% of cars tooling around San Francisco were Smart Cars instead of baby SUVs, wouldn't that be a vast improvement?

The Toyota Yaris gets similar gas mileage (29/36 mpg vs 33/41 for the Smart) seats four and has 46 more horsepower.

I'd be pretty wary of getting on a highway around here in a Smart car with only 70hp. I can see the advantage to it in a crowded city I suppose, but if you're in a place that doesn't get really cold or hot I can see a scooter working better.

ROAD TRIP!!!

Ever since I first saw a Smart in Europe several years ago, I've felt that it ought to be adopted as the official car of San Francisco. Because of San Francisco's lack of alleys in most residential districts, the city is full of wasted bits of curb between the ubiquitous small driveways – spaces that are too short for most cars but that a Smart would fit into with room to spare (and no overhang to bug the owners of those driveways when they try to take their car in or out). The Smart might be useful in the more high-profile areas of downtown and North Beach, too, but it would really come into its own in neighborhoods like the Mission, the Haight, or my old neighborhood of Bernal Heights.

Don't know if it's in any way an actual practical vehicle for anyone but anti-socials and their mid sized dogs and/or San Fran neo-beatniks and their one neo-beatnik friend.

How come it doesn't get 50mpg like..ah, er, the Suzuki three cylinder, 5-speed that has been made since the 1980's? ,,You know, the Suzuki Swift/Geo Metro/ Chevy Sprint/ Pontiac Firefly -All the same car.

The Suzuki also seated four, including a 6'4" guy in the back seat. It went an honest 100mph with a 50hp engine, and in my case (A late 90's Geo Metro), The car parked anywhere, and had cold A/C, which I hear the Smart does'nt?

Over 20 years of 50mpg, Farhad, ask them about it.. And for that matter, why didn't Chevy promote the Swift/Metro?

...or is the only point of that "car" that you can fit it onto the elevator to your loft?

In my Spyhunter fantasy, I'd have one of those that rolled out of the trunk of a PT Cruiser at high speed! Like 35 MPH!

Maybe it'd drop thumbtacks...

Can't wait to see how it goes. Have fun!

It's a small car, not a light car, which is why the mileage is nothing to write home about. The goal was to create a viable city car that takes up less room and - more crucially - that people might actually use. (There are some funny local regulations like the ones that allow for micro-cars in France, but those are a real taking-your-life-in-your-hands vehicle.)

A large percentage of the weight is from the passenger cage, so to speak, and safety systems like the stability control to prevent rolling during the "moose test" (which happened in Sweden) and putting the car on its arse (which happened in Germany with a production prototype, IIRC).

The Geos and similar cited by other letter writers got great mileage because they were small and light. Customer preferences and safety standards are making that harder and harder to achieve.

@ R1chard3 - re: road trip - CAR magazine flew a Smart car to the US a few years ago and had their writer Mark Walton and a photographer drive it across country from NYC to LA. Unfortunately I can't track down an online version of the story, but suffice to say it was a real case of from the ridiculous to the sublime... you can decide in which sense.

I was really taken with the Smart cars when I first saw them in Amsterdam 7-8 years ago. Their sales in Europe (I live most of the year in Spain) have dropped significantly since their introduction because of serious reliability issues.

Supposedly, they've cleared these problems up for their intro to the U.S. I'll be curious to hear what you have to say about it.

San Francisco is definitely the ultimate test for one of these cars. I'd be worried it would flip over on some of the steeper hills, or simply not be able to make it to the top.

We're here for the week in a rented Toyota RAV4, and even that much more powerful vehicle has me worried at times. I haven't been here in several years and had forgotten how insane this place is.

I've had my smart for two weeks now, and am having a ton of fun with it. It is a very social car, ironically enough, not because it only holds two people, but because it gathers a crowd of onlookers in parking lots and at traffic lights.

The mileage is often scoffed at, but in real-world results, I am getting 40 of the 41 advertised mpg, and this is with a mostly suburban, non-highway commute, while still in the process of breaking it in. Fill-ups are $12 cheaper than my old Neon, which is a meaningful enough improvement for me.

The pickup is adequate to survive Boston driving, but beware any advice to just drive it in 'D'. Assuming yours is equipped with the paddle-shifted automanual transmission (a must), to really get the most of the little engine, you've got to drive it like a standard. Once you do that, the hills of San Francisco should be doable. Also, take advantage of the small size and nimble turning, and steer around potholes. I like to say i drive it like i ride my bike.

Space-wise, it's been great. I'm 6'4" and don't even have to put the seat all the way back. I've hauled around impressively outsized junk for work, even, and the back cargo area is more than enough for groceries for a small family (and plenty of room for my bottle of soda and frozen pizza).

It's not a normal car, and I'll be the first to admit that I've sacrificed some niceties in purchasing it, but it's instantly endeared itself to me nevertheless.