Test drove an I3 today

Author
Discussion

aceparts

Original Poster:

3,724 posts

243 months

Monday 20th January 2014
quotequote all
What a hoot! Car is clearly restricted up to about 30mph after which it flies. Had 95 out of it. Very quiet, with the exception of wind noise. Lively little thing with beautiful steering. I'm sure DMS could make this a sub 6 second 0-60 car, providing it doesn't have plastic gears like a toy!

Major flaw for me would be coming from a 2.7 tonne RRS where occupants weight accounts for 5% of the total mass to an I3 where the same occupants account for 13% of it's mass tells me you're less than half as likely to walk away in a head on collision with another vehicle.

aceparts

Original Poster:

3,724 posts

243 months

Monday 20th January 2014
quotequote all
RumpleFugly said:
Sounds like fun.

But what do you mean about surviving a crash? Weight doesn't have as much to with survivability of a crash as much as crumple zones and passenger cell design does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3bFhVvdlaI
Occupants of the smart car would be dead! It's primary use would be the 60 miles / day commute to school, and where I live that's dicing with tractors and muddy country lanes. Just don't fancy it in a small car again.

As a city car or even a short motorway commute I can think of nothing better than the i3. Very very clever.

Edited by aceparts on Monday 20th January 21:35

aceparts

Original Poster:

3,724 posts

243 months

Monday 20th January 2014
quotequote all
I should have withdrawn my comment. I'll clarify:

I3 crash test, ncap etc looks great. Ncap only compares similarly sized vehicles. I.e. 5 star smart car crashing into 5 star range rover isn't the same as 2 x smart cars crashing.

For me, now, small car vs big car debate. I would rather stick with big car.

If I moved or the range improved by 20% I would have one for work myself! May get one as a pool car for work anyway.