_>Gene T. <_

Hello!
I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone with
experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?

Judith Umbria

"_>Gene T. <_" <-x-a_k-e_p-@-c-o_m-c_a-s_t-.net> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hello!
    > I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    > doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone
with
    > experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?
They do pass me on the autostrada here, but we are slower than Germany. The
biggest problem with the Smart is that there is hardly room for a purse. I
thought of buying one, but discovered I wouldn't be able to fit my shopping
in it.

Gerrit 'T Hart

"_>Gene T. <_" <-x-a_k-e_p-@-c-o_m-c_a-s_t-.net> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hello!
    > I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    > doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone
with
    > experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?

How much does the rental cost per day and for how long do you have it?

Gerrit - Oz

/<Rist

Judith Umbria wrote:

    >
    > "_>Gene T. <_" <-x-a_k-e_p-@-c-o_m-c_a-s_t-.net> wrote in message
    > news:...
    >> Hello!
    >> I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    >> doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone
    > with
    >> experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?
    > They do pass me on the autostrada here, but we are slower than Germany.
    > The
    > biggest problem with the Smart is that there is hardly room for a purse.
    > I thought of buying one, but discovered I wouldn't be able to fit my
    > shopping in it.

You seem to shop a lot at once then :-) I fit the contents of a supermarket
trolley in the back of a smart without to much trouble...

Smart's are fun to drive. In Switzerland the railway rents them out by the
hour, and since I live oposite a railway station I often get one to do my
shopping on saturday. (I do not have my own car) Driving them on the
freeway is no problem. A Smart may not have a lot of power, but makes up
for that by being light. As a bonus you can get it in tight parking spots.


Krist

Nightjar

"_>Gene T. <_" <-x-a_k-e_p-@-c-o_m-c_a-s_t-.net> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hello!
    > I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    > doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone
with
    > experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?

A German I know does not recommend it for long trips on the Autobahn, but he
is nearly 2m tall.

Colin Bignell

Spamfighter@Xs4all.Nl

"_>Gene T. <_" <-x-a_k-e_p-@-c-o_m-c_a-s_t-.net> wrote in message news:<>...
    > Hello!
    > I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    > doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone with
    > experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?

No personal experience driving one but I often see them in the left
lane buzz by at a considerable speed. In the netherlands they're quite
popular as company vehicles for businesses such as accounancy firms
because they're an effective way of transporting one or two persons to
city centers.

I wouldn't want to drive one long distance though.

Jeroen

Mogweed

We live in the UK and have had our Smart for 3 1/2 years. When we first
bought it, there were no official service centres in the UK (we imported the
car from Germany) but to keep the warranty valid we had to have the services
done at official Smart centres, so we took it to Antwerp in Belgium. We
drove over 300 miles on the motorway (about 483km) from our house in the
north-west of England to the port of Dover, got the ferry to Calais (only
charged us the cost of a motorcycle, not a car) and drove up to Antwerp.

We made a holiday out of it, staying there for 7 days. We had all our
luggage and still managed to fit in 2 cases of wine and 3 cases of beer to
take home. I do admit that they are not very comfortable for such long
journeys but they are very capable of doing them.

John.

"nightjar .uk.com>" <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> wrote in message
news:4031d0da$0$17489$...
    > "_>Gene T. <_" <-x-a_k-e_p-@-c-o_m-c_a-s_t-.net> wrote in message
    > news:...
    > > Hello!
    > > I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    > > doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone
    > with
    > > experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?
    > A German I know does not recommend it for long trips on the Autobahn, but
he
    > is nearly 2m tall.
    > Colin Bignell

Reid

Following up to _>Gene T. <_

    >I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    >doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone with
    >experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?

They are a bit slow in acceleration when joining fast roads, like
any "town only" mini and again like any town car feel "out of
their depth" on motorway/autostrada etc. but you see people using
them in that way so I suppose some people don't mind mixing it
with the heavy lorries in the slowest lane.
Have you thought about where you luggage will go?

S?Nke Tesch

Gene T. wrote:

    : I am considering renting this cute Smart car in Germany, but I have some
    : doubts about it's abilities on highways (sorry, autobahns). Can anyone
with
    : experience driving Smart tell about his/her impressions?

First of all, the Smart is designed as a city car, not for long distance
or high speed traveling. However, at a maximum speed of about 140 km/h
you'll be flowing well with the rest of the Autobahn traffic.

Driving within cities is fun as they are small, light and quick, but if
you feel comfortable in it or not depends on what you're used to and how
tall you are.

Sixti starts at 5€ (http://www.sixti.de, Sixti is part of Germany's
major car rental Sixt, Sixti has few stations though), Starcar at 20€
http://www.starcar.de), Avis and Hertz about 50€ a day for a standard
Smart. Cabrios and Roadsters are available at higher rates.

Regards,
soenk.e

Reid

Following up to Mogweed

    >We made a holiday out of it, staying there for 7 days. We had all our
    >luggage and still managed to fit in 2 cases of wine and 3 cases of beer to
    >take home. I do admit that they are not very comfortable for such long
    >journeys but they are very capable of doing them.

you must travel light, i'm impressed! Can you get 2 average
suitcases in one, though?