Hmmm, no because size and mileage aren't as directly related as weight and mileage. Most super small cars in Europe are small because of the ancient road system. How about we have a normal sized car that has an available turbo diesel option .. what a concept. Oh thats right the rest of the world uses auto diesel while we get stuck buying the resulting high cost petrol. Or how about we have a normal sized car that, unlike a FlexFool vehicle, can properly burn E100 ethanol and E0 petrol without the 33% efficiency hit on the ethanol side. This is not too run our WHOLE country on ethanol; the point is to be able to shift fuel consumption when needed to another type of fuel to lower fuel prices when needed.

Diversification of our energy consumption is smart for our wallet, our environment, and national security.

i would never drive one of those... not only because of the fact that im 6'2'' but that it's just a death can..

that hummers tire is just asking to RUN OVER that car...

and the mpg isn't that great

i''d rather be on my motor cycle...

better MPG
less waste during/post mfg.

and you sit high enough that people can see you in their mirrors
*note that that hummer mirror is clear over that tiny car*

i'll stick to my crown vic... i rather live then save a few buck during fill up

Well over half of American adults are overweight and a third are obese, and their kids aren't doing much better. With such demographics, the actual market for these microcars is much smaller than for regular motorcars.

Any wonder why there isn't a rush to sell these cars in the US?

"dude", your post is garbage.

It's a death can...then you say you'd rather ride a motorcycle, WTF?

Who cares if the Hummer mirror is over the car, the mirrors TILT down. You don't have them aimed at he freaking sky.

Crown Vic? What a hick.

There's a diesel race car that can go 300 miles on a gallon. Why is it that we're not all driving THOSE? What we need are electric cars that also have small fuel-efficient engines for added redundancy, the brake recharging thing, and solar paint. Why aren't those coming to market? We could go across 3 states without having to stop for gas. There's just no reason for it. Why don't bumpers have air cushions that deflate instead of steel that crumples? Or why don't we have cement that lasts longer instead of cracking? We have the technology...why don't we use it? Initial costs might be high, but long term costs are lower. Everyone wants a dollar in their pocket today, and is no longer willing to make a good investment it seems. If Ford had made an investment 10 years ago, they wouldn't have lost billions of dollars last year.

I rented one of these smart cars in Sicily - and it was the perfect little holiday motor - especially if you take a look at some of the tiny streets in Taormina for example. Also as an ex original mini-cooper owner - I can say that smaller cars are very useful for dodging in and out of heavy traffic - something you certainly cant do in a hummer.

I like bacon.

Bacon good....Thats why i won't fit in a Mini.

Mini (on paper) does not get better gas mileage that Toyota Corolla - 40 and 41 respectively. And Corolla isn't a tiny car

VW Jetta with diesel used to get 50mpg...

'i''d rather be on my motor cycle...'

I'd rather take a collision in a smart car than on a morocylce any day. lol.

Me too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biYLn47VwJs

I'd drive one of these smaller cars. I only have a short inner-city commute most days and I have to struggle to find parking. If the Tango electric car were more affordable, I'd buy one of those. It's about the same size as the Smart car. I also don't have a family to haul around, so one of these small vehicles would fit my needs just fine.

We need to get away from this concept of dragging an extra 2000 pounds with us everywhere we travel. Most people drive alone; you can see that almost every car has only one or two passengers. It's very wasteful.

To those who keep crying about safety: Get over it. You'll never be completely safe on the highway irrespective of what you drive and all the wasted fuel to move huge vehicles is going to cost us our children's environment. If you're that worried about safety, take the train or tell your representative that you want to see more public transport trains/busses.

You could park that in the back of the Hummer. Park out in the faraway lots at a mall and shuttle in with the Smart car….

Those cars are so small one person could tip them over. Or two people could lift the thing on a trailer and steal it. A little wind and you are blown off the highway. A little snow and you're stuck. An accident with a larger vehicle and you're just plain DEAD.

I would rather walk than drive one of those death trap throw away pieces of garbage. Doesn't even come close to fulfilling my needs.

But if some people find them a good fit then that's perfect - for them.

If more people would try the smaller cars, then naturally there would be more of them on the road and thereby less chance that the collision you have will be with a Hummer.

Safety wise, you might be suprised just how safe you are in one of the smaller cars. Not to mention that there is less car to hit initially.

Something to consider is that many of the commuters who are "wasting" space in their cars by driving alone are parents who need that wasted space before and after their commute, as the car becomes the "family truckster." We can't all afford multiple vehicles. The Fit, the Scion branded cars and the like seem like the best compromise.

The real downside here is that as consumers switch to more fuel efficient cars and reduce the consumption of gasoline, the oil companies are going to shift their position and start crying that instead of too much demand that there is now not enough and so they can't "afford" to lower prices.

You can pretty much forget about prices going anywhere close to their historical levels.

I want an Aygo myself. I hope Toyota finally brings over the 1.0L I3, but word on the street is they think Americans need more power. I walk and bike most places, but when you need a car you need a car. I live in Maine where there is almost no public transit, which is a shame. I'm hoping to move to Virginia where there is a decent bus system and kick the whole car thing, though I will still need to own a car even if we only use it 2-3 times a week, or if one of us ends up with a commute outside of the bus system.

If a large SUV will destroy a small car due to the way it is built, would it then be perfectly logical to make anti-SUV systems standard equipment so that you can destroy an SUV in a collision instead of have it kill you, just as an SUV is designed to destroy a vehicle that tangles with it? }8^)>

It looks like to me VERY few of the readers lived in a foreign country or drove cars in a foreign country.
You don't know what you're missing. Cars with 70+ mpg already exist, with power everything and CHEAP (seen the CNG , ALTO or Honda Beat, Honda Life for example?) Real modern cars from big name car companies (not go-karts with chain-saw engines)
Yes, it's safe, all the cards there are small.
The only catch is top speed is only 120 kph (about the same as the U.S. national speed limit in Arizona, New Mexico, etc.)
And don't expect to tow a boat on these roller-skates (if you ever need to)

Check (Euro) Ncap ratings:

Smart ForTwo (2001??) : 3 stars
Jeep Cherokee 2002* : 3 stars
Opel/Vauxhall Frontera 2002* : 3 stars
Chrysler Voyager 2006* : 1.5 stars!!

Rather be in the Smart than the Voyager?? (I was raised in a voyager. Smart auto box is horrible!! Do NOT buy auto!!)

* ref: www.euroncap.com

I live in Montreal, Canada, and over here small cars like the Mazda 3 are the best selling vehicles by far. Subcompacts are 50% of the local market and people feel like the need to jsutify themself when they buy anything else.

I'm 6'6" and I can't fit in a Dodge Caliber. But I do fit very well in a Smart. We have Smarts over here for the last 3 years or so, and they are very popular, it's the urban hip vehicule to own. Of course, no 5 peoples family buy them, but for young people who don't have yet a family, it's a huge hit. not to mention it is avalaible as a convertible, making it the cheapest convertible around. If you need to transport something huge, it's not the best vehicle around, but for everydays need, it's perfect! If you need to transport somethin big every 2-3 months or so, why don't you just rent a minivan for a week-end then?

About safety, it's not an amored vehicle, but the impacts tests are amazing. Instead of crushing, the cars bumps away almost intact. This car is way safer than most vehicle sold by GM in the '80s!

The main downside is that, at 6'6", I look stupid when I'm getting out of it!

amerrricans smell like shittipoo & are making the rrrest of the werrrld smell the same with theirrr horrrideous overrrfeeding making farrrting death gases out their exhaustholes that suffplicate the whole werrrld to dearrrth.

the small efficient cars are a great idea, but in order to make them appeal to the US or at least the male half of the US they need to boost the performance. what we need is essentially an enclosed motorcyle. 1000CC' 100 HP motorcycle engine on a 800lb enclosed 3 wheel chassis.

you get fuel effiency
compactness 2 vehicles can ride in the same fwy lane
high performance a little less than a real cycle more than the average sporty car.
more safety than a motorcycle and you can ride it the rain in and stay dry.

@getrdone

"Most super small cars in Europe are small because of the ancient road system" :))
You reeeeeaaaaaly don't know what you are talking about dude.
The road infrastructure in Europe is very well developed and new. The reason many people choose to drive small cars here in Europe is because they are more fuel aware. Reglementation (for ex in France) also "encourages" people to buy cars like that. Expensive insurances and increasingly fewer parking spaces led to this miniaturisation and fuel efficiency.
I for one like sports cars, but for a town car this is ideal (small, low on gas consumption, low on toxic emissions).
And yeah...in Germany there are super fast highways (no speed limit, or speed limit between certain hours). How many of those do you have?

Europe may be an old continent...but it's roads are not!

I have 2 cars. A hybrid for the daily commute, and a small SUV for short trips, lugging stuff around, and short local trips for the wife. I get nearly 50mpg on good days, 45mpg on bad days. I don't drive a heck of a lot different with the hybrid. The small SUV gets less than 25mpg on a good day. Each car has its purpose. If you weigh 400lbs, then its not the car's fault that its too small for you. Simply buy a larger vehicle. As is with most larger people.. clothes cost more, cars/fuel cost more, health insurance costs more. You need more. You pay more. General economics. I like bacon too :) Take that away from me, and fuel costs is going to be the least of your worries!

Fuel economy is not a selling feature, it is a comprimise; one that I’m not willing to take.

The problem is that I actually enjoy driving. Most people are just A to B type people and view the automobile as an appliance. As such, I'm sure these types of cars are a perfect fit. However, they simply do not, to my knowledge, have the power to compete for fun. Sure some of them might handle like a Miata (I doubt it), but they're missing hundreds of horsepower. I travel a lot for a living and I’ve driven and rented many different kinds of cars, from compacts, to crossovers, and they all have one thing in common, no power whatsoever. I always look forward to getting home so I can actually enjoy my driving again. By the way, being over 6’ tall with wide shoulders I can’t even fit in a Miata without the top down. Give me a vehicle where my shoulders don’t rub on the windows, my head doesn’t rub on the headliner, the back of my head doesn’t hit the back window, and my forehead isn’t 2cm from the windshield. One that handles well, and has plenty of power, and I’m happy. If I spend a few more dollars for a tank of gas, so be it, I’m more than happy to pay.

As I see it, because the US and all its residents are so used to having space in their cars would be reluctant to buying something like the Smart. The Hummer in general is nothing more than a statement saying "Hey, take a look you morons; I got financing approved so I can flaunt what I can barely afford ! ! !" Today, the automobile is nothing more than a fashion statement. I have no problems with that if one could afford it. I know a lot of people who say, 'Damn, I wish I had a car like that!.' You have to ask yourself, how did he do it so he can drive a car like that.

There was a mention about the ancient roadways here in Europe. I couldn't disagree with you more. Roads here are as modern as you get for the space allocated to the road system. The German road system specifically is one of the best I've ever experienced. GPS is redundant except for the uninitiated. Unfortunately, due to world criteria, you can't drive german cars like you were able to say 15 years ago. You just can't let the "little' BMW 318i with 115BHP cruise at sustained speeds of 125MPH (Top Speed of the 1.8L 4Cyl. version) anymore because of the imposed speedlimits around city exits on the Autobahn. Believe me I still go out every now and then and let the "little" BMW run. I mean 115BHP in a 1.8L is unrealistic for an American because you're used to V8 power ! ! ! At almost 2.00$ per LITER not GALLON of normal unleaded, you'll have to think....hmmm should we get the HUMMER, honey? Agreed that the parkhouses and roadways are made for on the average a Toyota Camry (is a big car) for European standards. I've seen Ford F150s park in Europe with relatively no problems.

Hummers really aren't that expensive, they're just big and truck-like, not good for fun driving (at least on roads). The H3 starts under $30k USD. I would never own one, however, but it has nothing to do with price.

The 'original' H1 design, though, *is* pricier ($130k). For the same price, I can get my Corvette Z06 and have plenty of cash left over for a supercharger, plus a 4x4 full sized truck for hauling stuff around the property and going mudding.

Hmmmm, Horsepower.....

Don't get me wrong, small cars are good for some things, like being thrown from a trebuchet.

I think as long as they have the power to keep up with traffic on the Freeway and can merge propperly I don't see any problem. Certainly there is more protection than a motorcycle.
I have seen the video of the {for two} hit a concrete barrier at 70 mph and it did as bout as well as any other rig.

us chasing cars

I believe this one applies "Unless each man prodiuses more than he receives, increases his output, there will be less for him than all the others", doesn't it?

Most people under 50 don't remember that in the old days, small cars really WERE small! The New Mini, at 145" long is as big as most small cars were in the 60's, the Simca at 149", Fiat 850 at 142", Austin America at 146", it seems huge compared to the original Mini at 120" and Fiat 600 at 129". And the Austin had the biggest engine, 1275cc and 58hp, and we had no problem getting to the office and the store and home again. And, all these old cars were at least as spacious as the New Mini, and way more fun to drive.
All the new cars feel like Buick Skylarks to me, for one thing, there is just too much power, you never need it except to show off! Give me one litre and a little luck and I can probably make you eat my dust anyways.
And to clarify the discussion about European roads, the cities over there were designed centuries ago - only in the last hundred years or so have they had to deal with how to get vehicular traffic through them. That's why many European (and Japanese) cars are so small, so that they can navigate the tiny, crowded city streets (and park wherever they can find three-and-a-half meters of free space).
The problem of safety isn't that the small cars are too unsafe in a collision with the big SUV's, it's that the big SUV's don't belong on the road. No one ever seems to use the space, and they sure do use way more gas than they ought to. It's a shame we can't have at least some diesel alternatives, like the rest of the world!
I drive a 1969 Renault 16 most of the time. It has a 1.6 litre, 70hp engine and 4 speed on the column and I sure like the way they used to make "small" cars!
Matt Cotton
Lake Parsippany, NJ

This one makes sence "One's first step in wisdom is to kuesstion everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything."

Take a Honda Beat and stuff a Civic type R engine in it and with a little tuneing you will have a rocket that can best the Z06 Vette. It will get better fuel milage, cost less, handle better, even beat the Vette to 60MPH. And you still got room for two people and a little bit of luggage.

If GM were smart they would design these microcars with engine bays just barely large enough for the ectotech Cobalt engines and develop a road race series built around the cars...but they wont.

Honestly, I would buy a four door hatchback microcar in a heartbeat as long as it had a manual transmission.

To the ones that commented that they are over 6' tall, etc, go and sit in a Smart car, you will be surprised.

To the ones that commented on lack of power and speed, go and test drive one, you will be surprised how well it drives and the enough power to get things done if not better than most vehicles on the road!

To the ones that commented on the fun factor, or perhaps the lack of fun of such a small car, go test drive one, you will have a huge smile on the face.

Best of all, it will get you there and everywhere, and by the way in snow storms too! All the while using 1/3 to 1/4 of the fuel of what other "normal" cars use.

This is coming from a driver that has owned Porsche cars, pocket rockets cars, minivans, station waggons....

I think this one doesn't make any sense: breungles, mentioned somewhere

I'm getting sick of these rather childish myths. Not to pick on the dude (sorry), but his post has all the typical talking points trashing small cars, so I'll address it point by point.

"i would never drive one of those... not only because of the fact that im 6'2'' but that it's just a death can.."

I can't speak for the Smart, but the Honda Fit comfortably seats drivers as tall as 6'6".

"that hummers tire is just asking to RUN OVER that car..."

Small cars have low centers of gravity. In a small-vs.-large collision, the small car is likely to act as a wedge and flip over the SUV, killing the SUV driver. I've seen this firsthand. The SUV flipped over and was totalled, while the hatchback only got a crushed radiator. Small cars routinely get 4- and 5- star crash test ratings, while SUV's constantly need TMPS, yaw sensors and whatnot to merely keep them from being coffins on wheels.

BTW, the Honda Fit can hold up to 42 cu. ft. with the seats down. The H3? 56 in the SAME configuration (seats down). Not the eye-popping difference everyone expected, eh? The difference is in engineering quality.

"and the mpg isn't that great"

What, a mini's 40mpg isn't good enough, so. . . we go with the Hummer's 8?

"i''d rather be on my motor cycle..."

A motorcycle's even more of a death trap than an SUV, let alone a mini.

The Four Two will only act as a wedge in a head on collison. If the hummer hits it from the side however, it becomes a game of soccer. Oh, and yes it is a death trap, have you guys even sat in that thing? The brake pedal in the Four Two is almost impossible to reach.

If you watch the videos at the Smart USA site, it shows a tall man getting into the Fortwo and a couple of heavy set people getting into the Fortwo (one taller than the other). The Fortwo is taller than my Focus (my Dad's car). I find the Fortwo to be roomier than the Focus. I am 6 feet tall and weigh 320 lbs.
http://home.comcast.net/~tomleem/mysmartfortwopure.html
It might not be the safest vehicle on the road but it is safer than being on a motorcycle. The Fortwo is better in Winter since one can stay warm.

hey idiots, do you think your comments actually count?
Noone CARES... get a god damn life!
God damn, its hilarious.

I drive a 50 MPG Mid size SEDAN... the fucking technology exsits.

Oh yeah, my car gets 5 star all the board.

you in the fucking Crown Vic? 3 stars...

no wonder its so easy to kill a pig in a chase.

"The brake pedal in the Four Two is almost impossible to reach."

The car may look like it's built for "small persons", but it's actually built for regular sized people. I'm 5'9" and I can reach both peddles in my 2008 Smart Fortwo with ease, so I don't see what your issue is. If you are truly having issues with reaching the peddle, you can always purchase peddle extensions...