MMC SMART hire car

[chrisvernonparry]

Ph'ers

I've often wondered what these are like to drive and am now spending quite a bit of time working in Rome where they are very popular. So I decided to hire one for getting around. Picked it up yesterday and have been running (slowly) around town in it.

What a bundle of fun . OK it's small, has a boot about the size of a glove box and the gear change does take a while to decide to change but....

1. Nice noise (like the 7 dwarves got a 911 and said, ok this is too big let's have something smaller)
2. Sounds better as you rev the nuts off it
3. No rev counter on mine so you can rev the nuts off without feeling guilty
4. Handling is "interesting" as it is so small and light it bounces off line for any big bumps mid corner.
5. 6 speed box
6. Fits into any parking space in town

I have to say that I'm really quite enjoying this little machine, sure it's not outright fast, but you can easily fit in with the other traffic on the autostrada.

Now I've just got to work on driving like an Italian, no seatbelt, no indicators, use any lane you like plus hard shoulder if necessary. Two rules I have learnt so far;

1. White lines indicating lanes / give way lines at junctions are to be ignored at all times, and

2. Red lights are purely advisory

Fortunately haven't run into any situations where my limited Italian could run into followed by .

Seriously if you travel light and can get one it is so much more fun than some crud like a Corsa:bigsmile:. I'm now just waiting until it pi$$es down so I can go and have a play somewhere and see if it goes well sideways.

Chris