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eqwalker

Driver reviews at the tours

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Rawlus,Welcome to CsC. Sounds like you are a tall drink of water and the smart does fit the bill!Regina:)

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thx regina. been lurking for a few months now. looks like the pace of postings is picking up as the vehicle release approaches.

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My Apologies:

This is going to be a long post. I'm sorry. :puppy: :

My Story

The Arrival:

I went to the Portland Road Show for reservation holders event held by the Rose Garden yesterday. It started at 10am and I got there around 9:30. Just a tad early but I was not the only one. There were probably three couples and a couple other singles waiting with me. As it inched closer to 10 more people trickled in. We looked at the displays and people asked questions and I listened in. By the time we signed and got in line there were around 20 people lined up waiting to test drive. By far the majority of the people there looked like empty nesters. Being 30, I was, I believe the youngest one there besides the reps until a college student arrived.

The First Drive:

I drove the white with silver passion the first time. I tried it exclusively in automatic mode the first time around. Not because I planned it but simply because I never thought to try manual mode. I was a little distracted. I was driving a fortwo for the first time.

The Intermission:

After driving the first one I walked around a little bit and looked at the displays some more. I then got back in line and talked to some real nice people. I gave my impressions of driving it. I answered a few questions people had and mentioned CsC where I received all the info from you fine people. We discussed the tomato can red.

The Second Drive:

My second drive was in a Silver with I think a black tridion. This time I tried it in manual mode. I tried with both the hand shifter and the paddle shifters. I really enjoyed using the manual mode. I felt more in control. It was really fun. I was told by the ride along that it automatically shifts down at a stop which I thought was a really cool feature. I did screw up a couple times and shifted early into 3rd and lugged it a bit. I also got confused once and shifted down twice to 1st when it should have been in 2nd. No big deal the car sucked up the mistakes I made and got me back safely anyway.

The Aftermath:

I then hung around a bit and talked a little more with the people I was in line with. I had a cookie and a bottled water. I answered a lot of questions about how much the prices of the options were. Not many people knew that they updated smartusa to include the prices. I listened into some more conversations to see if I could glean any new information I didn't already learn here. I did overhear that the portland event was scheduled to be the last event on the west coast tour, but they were also going to be going to be going to the east coast to help out on that tour. They said they were going to make up a couple of events that were canceled I believe. (Washington DC and Baltimore I think.) I asked a couple reps if they knew where the sub would be installed and they weren't sure.

My impressions:

The Transmission:

I thought the transmission was fine. I didn't really notice it being that slow. Somebody actually asked me about it when I was in line to drive again. And I realized that I didn't even notice it. I think that's because I'm used to driving my mom's old 4 cyl Chevy Corsica and my dad's old 4 cyl Honda CRV. The old beater Ford Exploder I used to drive would blow the doors of them. But that's been in the old parts dump grave for some time now. I think the smart was definitely peppier than the Corsica and comparable to the CRV.

The Brakes:

The brakes were very good. The did, however, take a little getting used to. The first time I applied them I jerked the car forward. I got used to it by the second time I drove it though. The peddle could be improved upon I think.

The Blue:

The blue color in person was a lot better than I thought it would be. It's still not the best blue I've seen but I like it. I will be happy to pay the extra $225 to get the blue panels.

The Black:

Black is always cool in my book. If I wasn't pleased with blue I would get black.

The Red:

In my opinion, it's not red. It's orange trying to be red. If it's supponed to be red, be red. If it's supposed to be orange be orange. Choose! :biglaugh: I took a pic of it with my cell phone but it looks nothing like the picture.

The Silver:

I liked it. I'm not a huge fan of silver but it looked good.

The White:

I've never understood why some people really like white cars. But, I think the white with lack and silver accents on the fortwo really pulls it off.

The Yellow:

They didn't have a yellow one. :puppy:

The Fit:

I fit in it quite well. I'm 6'1" an had no problem. I actually had to move the seat forward because the steering wheel was at the en d of my reach. There were a few guys at least 6'4" getting in it without a hitch.

The Radio:

They didn't have any with the subwoofer but I was pleased with how good they sounded without it. I'm still going to get the smart premium sound system because it's only $350 to upgrade on the passion. If it was too expensive to get the upgrade I would be happy without it. One of the reps hooked up an iPod to the aux jack and it sounded great.

The Day:

:yahoo: I did get a little sunburned but what are you gonna do? :flame: All in all a very fun day.

I'll probably go the the regular event on Sunday as well being held in Tigard. (a suburb of Portland) I have a golf tournament I'm playing in today otherwise I'd probably go today.

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Brilliant review, and NEVER apologize for a long post. They're the best ones, especially when they're as well written as yours.

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Thanks, Mike. I'm glad you liked it. I didn't even know I could write. I didn't even think I would have anything to say. But I started it and kept thinking of things to put down.

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Gotwavs - you mentioned the Rose Garden in Portland. Is that place up on a hill overlooking Portland?

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Gotwavs - you mentioned the Rose Garden in Portland. Is that place up on a hill overlooking Portland?

No, I think what you're talking about is the Pittock Mansion which was built by the Portland Rose Festival's founder I think. It has a large rose garden and has a view of Portland.The Rose Garden is the arena where the Portland Blazers basketball team plays. The event took place in one of the small parking lots near the arena.

Nice review..

Thanks, SCHMART

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Maybe the mansion is what I'm thinking about. All I can recall is that I went up Terwilger Blvd. Up Sunset Blvd in Hillsdale where Wilson High School is and at the top of the hill was a huge building.

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Great review, gotwavs. I was not able to make it over to see one of the stops for the 451 tour, but everyone here gave such great reviews that I feel like you all did the work for me.I especially appreciate the reviews by other G&K 450 owners, who gave a good comparison of the old to new models. The Canadians 450 owner reviews were also great, but comparing the performance of the diesel to the gas engine is not the same as comparing the 450 gas to 451 gas power. Hopefully the shifting lag issue is resolved in the North America models when they ship.Tom

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Thanks, Tom. Glad you liked it. I also have enjoyed reading the reviews from current owners. They give a better perspective in my opinion. You have to consider that I and some other 1st time drivers of a smart still have our beer goggles on and can't see any flaws. I drank the kool-aid and I haven't seen straight yet. :)

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Gotwavs,Loved your review as well and I felt your enthusiasm too! Let's keep breathing and saying our little smart chant...."Just 3 more months until the US Launch!" Wow! I'm still excited!!Regina:)

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Thanks, Regina. I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, I can't believe my enthusiasm hasn't worn off yet. I must really love this car. :D

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Hi all,Just wanted to share a few short notes about my trip to the Dealer Preview event today (9/20). Mercedes Benz of South Charlotte was the location, and they had architectural renderings of how they will be renovating one side of their showroom facility to be the local Smart Dealer. Everyone was all smiles today, from the Smart folks, to the dealer staff, and certainly all of us Smart enthusiasts. Food (hot dogs, chips, ice cream) and sodas were served. Great weather today. It was mild and cool, breezy, and a little cloudy, so I wasn't blinded when examining the Smarts up close.Only one local TV station showed up to shoot some B-roll video, although I'll be watching the news closely over this coming weekend for coverage of the actual Road Show stop in Charlotte, NC. Surely out of four major affiliates, there should be some coverage of this weekend's event.Unlike my visit to a Labor Day weekend Road Show stop in Greensboro, NC, there were only 4 test vehicles available to drive, including one convertible. I only had to wait in line for 20-30 minutes, although the line built quickly as many folks started streaming in over the lunch hour. Even several of the dealer's staff were in line with us to test drive the cars. It also seemed like my test drive lasted a little bit longer, even though I was gassing my Smart with less hesitation than before. :smirk: I noticed no major problems in this, my second test drive. I'm still completely sold on the ForTwo. Maybe even more after today's test drive. :smitten: Like many of you, I can't wait for the rest of this fun ride to transpire, and land one of these unique machines in my garage. The only thing that would change my thinking would be if I could land one of the dealer's 507-horsepower AMG Mercedes sedans in my 'paddock'. Maybe I can afford the $111,000+ sticker as soon as Publisher's Clearing House drops by with my balloons and big cardboard check. :lol: Just kidding...a new Smart would turn more heads than their mega-buck roller.Adios for now, Smarties. Hope everyone else is having a good ride on the Road Show!See ya,Wayneo66

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Sweet, Wayneo66. Thanks for sharing. I also noticed that they had 5 test vehicles available on my first roadshow and only four running for the testers on my second roadshow. They had the extra one parked in a parking lot nearby actually a few spots away from where I parked. I think it was the one I tested first, two days earlier.

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All in all an enjoyable experience at Baker Automotive on the Savannah Hwy. This event was about a mile away from the site of our nation's deadliest single disaster for firefighters since Sept. 11. It was the Sofa Super Store fire and its remains are still there. We lost 9 firefighters when it collapsed.Our general consensus:Great time. My most trustful and obedient? wife both took off in the demos at the same time. Due to my superior driving skills I blew off her doors in the 1/4 mile in front of us. :biglaugh: I wished I could have heard the engine but there was just too much going on to catch that. It seemed to have all the power I'll need. Some of the Canadians have said it's OK in the mtns. but I'll find out for sure when I take I-26 up to the North Carolina border and hit the Saluda grade. As far as the shifting - neither of us had complaints in any of the modes.I didn't think the blue was all that metallic. Maybe our versions will be different. The red I'll let go. Black was okay. We only had these 3 colors to drive.As with so many CsC members I done got the facts more so than our hosts. I had to write the website down for two people waiting in line while others were listening intently. That's kind of fun. You're the Professor and they are the students so eager to learn. Plus you meet some nice people. Tomorrow the whole shebang will be at a shopping ctr close to home. I'll probably attend that too.Alright I'm out of here!

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Hey Commander Cody,Sorry to bounce off topic, but I couldn't help noticing that Sirius Radio tent in your pix. Was there any correlation to the Smart display, or were they just there trying to siphon off some of the crowd around the Smart display? There were no "ancillary" displays at the two NC roadshows I went to.And, so very sorry about the loss of your area's firefighters. A very sad, tragic event.Thanks,wayneo

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Wayneo66 - none of the Smart people mentioned Sirius to me. I think they (sirius) just made some kind of deal with the owner to set up shop and see if they can sell the product. I'm going to another Smart event today in a public shopping center so I'll look around for any ancillary displays. This is a gigantic shopping ctr. so this may be interesting! By the way, I was told the cars use premium fuel and the one I drove did not have power assisted steering.

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Wayneo66 - none of the Smart people mentioned Sirius to me. I think they (sirius) just made some kind of deal with the owner to set up shop and see if they can sell the product. I'm going to another Smart event today in a public shopping center so I'll look around for any ancillary displays. This is a gigantic shopping ctr. so this may be interesting! By the way, I was told the cars use premium fuel and the one I drove did not have power assisted steering.

Yes, I've heard about the premium fuel thing. It sounds to me like it's a case of "you can burn regular unleaded or mid-grade unleaded, but ya gotta burn premium if you want to get the rated MPG". Plus, I thought I read something about this little engine having high compression, so I get it that they would be leaning to premium.And the Smart rep at our Charlotte Road Show told me that none of the testers there had the 'electric-assisted' power steering. His words were along the line of "it's such a little lightweight car, you don't really need power steering." So, I'm leaning heavily towards just having regular old "non-power-steering" when I order mine.Hope you enjoy that Road Show today. Thanks for sharing your photos and preview event experience with all of us.See ya,W

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And the Smart rep at our Charlotte Road Show told me that none of the testers there had the 'electric-assisted' power steering. His words were along the line of "it's such a little lightweight car, you don't really need power steering." So, I'm leaning heavily towards just having regular old "non-power-steering" when I order mine.

Yeah, when I was back in line for my second test drive someone asked me about the steering and I realized that I hadn't even noticed. It works fine without power steering and I'm not gonna get it.

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Some more thoughts and teachings of Cdr Cody.

Go back a page to Razorback's analysis of the premium fuel thing. It's very interesting as to what their 95 RON and 91 mean as compared to regular 87 and 89 octane ratlings.

As far as power steering. If you get the comfort pkg. the power steering is part of the deal.

If I'm not mistaken that oil filter sure looks exposed underneath the car. Be careful what you drive over.

Yesterday I showed up at the shopping mall around 3 and almost had the whole set up to myself. No other vendors were there - just the Smart van and the 3 cars to drive around. The airconditioning worked fine and remember - this is Chas. SC.

I can't tell you how many of the prospective customers told me they had seen or driven the Smart in Europe.

Check how the passenger seat folds forward and flat to load up your 6-packs!

I now realize why I had it to myself. We had a massive traffic tie-up in this area (East Cooper). An Explorer blew a tire and catapulted off the bridge and into the marsh - 2 killed. A semi turned over somewhere else and two main bridges were backed up for miles.

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Re: Commander Cody's pic of the Smart goodies (jacket, key rings, etc.)Like many others, I was hoping to score some of those goodies some way or another in advance of the cars hitting our shores. I guess they have enough buzz going though, and they can take their time in getting out the Smart 'swag'.I'm trying to be patient, but I'm really 'jones-ing' :banghead: ....maybe I should take a weekender to Atlanta and hit the Road Show stop there, and get another 'fix' of a test drive. :watchout: Thanks for the pix, too, Commander.....stupid me forgot to take my camera to the Charlotte Dealer Preview event. Arrggh!!!

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Cdr. Cody - That Blue/Silver trid looks great. I didn't get to see this color combo in person rather than the blue/black trid., but now definitely want that color combo. Thanks for posting the picture.

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