RE: Smart Roadster: Tell Me I'm Wrong
Discussion
DMN said:
Baryonyx said:
I'd never read about the slow steering, though that is a pet hate of mine. It was always the woeful gearbox that seemed to put people off these cars.
The steering feel is the one thing I will slate the Roadster for. Its awful.Root Ginger said:
The thing they got wrong with this car, and the reason it didn't sell, was because it was the same as the regular Smart Pulse. Same engine, steering, suspension, gearbox, brakes etc. They gave it a sporty body and left the rest as it was.
What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
The voice of the misinformed and someone who doesn't appear to have even sat in one. What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
I'd need to check the exact figures but I think smart sold 43,000 Roadster in 3 years. How many Elise's does Lotus manage in that time frame?
Edited by 300bhp/ton on Thursday 19th December 13:41
kambites said:
DMN said:
Baryonyx said:
I'd never read about the slow steering, though that is a pet hate of mine. It was always the woeful gearbox that seemed to put people off these cars.
The steering feel is the one thing I will slate the Roadster for. Its awful.
300bhp/ton said:
Root Ginger said:
The thing they got wrong with this car, and the reason it didn't sell, was because it was the same as the regular Smart Pulse. Same engine, steering, suspension, gearbox, brakes etc. They gave it a sporty body and left the rest as it was.
What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
The voice of the misinformed and someone who doesn't appear to have even sat in one. What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
I'd need to check the exact figures but I think smart sold 70,000 Roadster in 3 years. How many Elise's does Lotus manage in that time frame?
Combined there is 5732 Smart Roadsters on the road and 6298 Lotus Elises. The Lotus also had higher peak registration figures.
So.....
300bhp/ton said:
The steering is certainly not Elise standard, but it's way better than almost all PAS fwd hatches. The PAS on the Roadster shuts off at 20mph too.
I disagree; it's vastly worse than our Octavia, for example, and that is not a very good system even by hatch standards. As I said, it's not the lack of feel that's the issue so much as the stupid ratio. Stick a rack with the same lock from a turn less steering wheel movement and it'd be an infinitely better car. I think the Smart genuinely has the least... suitable steering setup of any car I've ever driven.
article said:
With the brief hope that the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2006 between Smart and 'Project Kimber' would lead to the car's rebirth coming to nowt it'll be left to fans to bemoan the Roadster's passing through our rose tints
Could have been a great modern-day Caterham or MX5 rival. Presumably the investment required was just too big an ask?
300bhp/ton said:
Root Ginger said:
The thing they got wrong with this car, and the reason it didn't sell, was because it was the same as the regular Smart Pulse. Same engine, steering, suspension, gearbox, brakes etc. They gave it a sporty body and left the rest as it was.
What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
The voice of the misinformed and someone who doesn't appear to have even sat in one. What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
I'd need to check the exact figures but I think smart sold 70,000 Roadster in 3 years. How many Elise's does Lotus manage in that time frame?
Root Ginger said:
The thing they got wrong with this car, and the reason it didn't sell, was because it was the same as the regular Smart Pulse. Same engine, steering, suspension, gearbox, brakes etc. They gave it a sporty body and left the rest as it was.
What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
Was it? They turned a Smart into something that looked sporty. I don't think it did anything wrong, it's just that it is for a lady about town, not a track day hero. On that note, the thing that REALLY let it down was lack of luggage space. You also lost the visibility and the vital USP from a regular Smart - the fact you could park it anywhere.What it needed was increased power, improved gearbox, stiffer suspension, quicker steering rack etc. It was clearly done with as little expenditure as possible in the hope it would sell like hot cakes, as the regular Smart had before.
Unfortunately anyone who drove one, even for a few minutes could tell there was nothing special about it. That was the problem.
You have to take road tests with a pinch of salt; you get used to idiosyncrasies after about a week and the Smart's gearbox is no different. What you are left with is a challenge. Balancing a Smart with it's well known limitations was fun, scary and absorbing. At 40mph.
The Smart to have is an early LHD ForTwo. You benefit from everything a Smart is all about, but with LHD there was no ESP and you sat lower. The result? Four wheel drifts on those skinny tyres...
Would like to try a Brabus roadster on the regular wheels to see how it would fair...Ved said:
Smart Roadster and an Elise in the same bracket? Errrr no. But let's keep on your road for a second and see if your thoughts don't get derailed....
Combined there is 5732 Smart Roadsters on the road and 6298 Lotus Elises. The Lotus also had higher peak registration figures.
So.....
Bit limited scope to only consider the UK market. Let's face it. Ford have official sold zero Mustangs in the UK in recent year. This is hardly proof they don't sell well however. Combined there is 5732 Smart Roadsters on the road and 6298 Lotus Elises. The Lotus also had higher peak registration figures.
So.....
If there are 5700 Roadsters in the UK, that means there are approx 38,000 of them elsewhere. All sold in approx 3 years. Lotus have been building the Elise since 1996....
Edited by 300bhp/ton on Thursday 19th December 13:42
300bhp/ton said:
Ved said:
Smart Roadster and an Elise in the same bracket? Errrr no. But let's keep on your road for a second and see if your thoughts don't get derailed....
Combined there is 5732 Smart Roadsters on the road and 6298 Lotus Elises. The Lotus also had higher peak registration figures.
So.....
Bit limited scope to only consider the UK market. Let's face it. Ford have official sold zero Mustangs in the UK in recent year. This is hardly proof they don't sell well however. Combined there is 5732 Smart Roadsters on the road and 6298 Lotus Elises. The Lotus also had higher peak registration figures.
So.....
If there are 5700 Roadsters in the UK, that means there are approx 65,000 of them elsewhere. All sold in approx 3 years. Lotus have been building the Elise since 1996....
Tell you what, look at the sales figures against another mid-engined mass market car with a hard top like a MR2 Roadster. You can check that globally or just in Warwickshire. I think it'll be the same answer
Wikipedia suggest 43,091 were made in total by the way so you're only off by 39%.The fact it didn't continue longer than three years just shows how limited it was for the market it was in.
When I drove one for a couple of days in 2005 I didn't like it one bit aside from the ride being reasonably comfortable.
Edited by Ved on Wednesday 18th December 15:40
As someone who has owned a Smart Roadster for 7 years and 120,000 miles, I do wonder how many of the comments on here have been made by people who have ACTUALLY driven a Roadster (note NOT a fortwo, a ROADSTER). We have a fortwo also - the driving experience is like chalk and cheese.
Cannot help but chuckle at how much nonsense has been sprouted on here about how bad these cars supposedly are...
Cannot help but chuckle at how much nonsense has been sprouted on here about how bad these cars supposedly are...
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