Just kidding.

Base Yaris has front airbags, but no side airbags. Smart has front and side airbags standard in the base model. Without the side airbags, though, the Yaris receives a “poor” crash test rating. With them, it goes to “good”.

“Del little tiny manageable drip” is still getting my seats wet.

Just a funny story about leaky roofs: I drove a convertible Trans-Am for a few years. It leaked only when we washed it, but it was still too much. I took a girl on a date, and on the way back, we ran it through the car wash. She got all wet, and we both thought it was pretty funny. But since then, and since a convertible MG, a Del Sol, and a few other convertibles I drove, I’ve steered clear of convertibles. But I wonder if that Veyron Roadster leaks…?

I wouldn’t even consider a Smart Cabrio because of that.

However, I did really dig the Del Sol design. It would be very interesting if they brought it back. Maybe a 1st generation Insight/Del Sol mix would be interesting…

They fixed the del sol leakage in.. i believe.. 1996. The original seals had to be greased every 6 months, which few people actually took the time to do. I have a ‘94. we greased the seals. it went from a ‘del soak’ to a ‘del little tiny manageable drip’. not bad.

Raine.. I agree that someone should offer a basic vehicle that eschews power windows/mirrors/locks and such.. but with the massive number of large car/SUV owners apparently flocking to the Fit to save money on fuel, what is the incentive for Honda to offer a cheaper Fit? Even GM decided to soak these same buyers by raising the base Aveo price from $9900 to over $12K this year.

On a more related note. Who needs AM/FM/CD/MP3/Aux. all in a radio? There is nothing on AM… if you have Aux. capability you don’t need it to be able to read MP3 CDs. A base model car could really do without power windows, locks, and mirrors too. It seems that leaving all of those unnecessary options out would drop the base model’s price by a few thousand.

again

I’m not sure where you guys have been but cars cost a bit more than they used to in your day. At $14,5550 for base Fit that not very much. “The base model will come with an AM/FM/CD player with RDS and MP3 playback, an auxiliary input and power windows, locks and mirrors.”

So comparing this to a base Smart seem ridiculous. Comparing this to an Accent or Yaris would make more sense.

a navigation system 4 a fir> I guess cheep cars R not cheap abymore.

stability control is unnesecary.

the s,mart is much better & the Fit costs 2 much. Only thing is the Smard tdoesnr have as much mpg as it should.

yes, all three American manufacturers wish they had something this size. Y don;t they?

this is not a gr8 car, but it makes ¢ these days.

honda has cars ub the rite suizes.

the Fit ius not a bargain by any means.

people buy the smart car over a toyota yaris bcuz its better.

they can’t keep these things on the lots bcuz peope R realizing they don’t need the hummer 4 solo driving & gas is 44/. The fit has li’l compenetition.

The Fit is smaller than the Civic. It is bigger than the CVCC, tho.

For that price I’d rather have a Smart or a stripped mazda3

The Fit is not a good value, but it mite B considered cute … like Summer Papania or JLH

$20,000 is about $19k 2 much for a civbic

Yaris vs. Smart … the Smart is the better choice. period.

nobpody who buys a smart or yaris cares a lot about acceleration

it is tru that looks R is probably the #1 reason 4 buying a car.

The Fit interior is pretty decent to me, but I still like the Smart interior better.
$16,500 is 2 much 4 a Yaris. What happened 2 the $6488 tercel?

minivans R unvool but useful. make more ¢ than a Tahoe or Sequoia.

I want a Corvette ADD a BMW

Rio is cheap, and Aveo is about as good as the fir. ,

but you are right, they are kind of different classes of cars.

a 1.8 duz not have “considerably more balls” than anything.

the del sol should never cum back

Honda won’t have a problem getting rid of every single one they can make. the diesel wood be popular, 2.

But I think Honda needs to fix the leaky roof of the Del Soak before they bring it back.

They have done a lot of work to get the smart car to ride well, but it’s still a super short wheelbase golf cart in car guise. A pot hole or rough pavement will make the ride super unpleasant. I would be leary of taking it on the highway as far as merging goes. I have driven some pretty slow cars in my day… but the smart car has something like an 18 or 19 second quarter mile. They haven’t made a civic that slow in over 20 years.. and people drive faster than in the 80’s.

If you’re determined to buy a smart car i would consider the operation of the semi-auto clutch.. i keep hearing that is it like driving a horribly designed automatic transmission.

It’s sad we don’t get the good models of smart car they have in europe/elsewhere ( turbo diesel, turbo gas, etc )

but you are right, they are kind of different classes of cars.

and to lively j, the FIT is not a 5 door civic hatch at all. There are a lot of differences, major one being that the fit is a different series of engine, a 1.5, and the civic has a 1.8, with considerably more balls, yet better mileage. I wish they offered the civic in a hatch, or maybe a different body style… return of the del sol and civic 2 door hatch anyone?

It was the dot on the last one that made the difference, Beatus.

Yaris vs. Smart, well, they are totally different vehicles. I can explain why people buy the Smart over the Yaris. This is U.S. only, though…

1) Safety – Base vs. base, the Smart has more standard safety features than the Yaris. In order for the Yaris to have the same safety rating as the Smart, the Yaris needs to add about $3,000.

2) Mileage – Yaris 29/36 – Smart 33/41 – That’s much more than 1 to 2 mpg. Mileage taken from http://www.fueleconomy.gov, the EPA fuel economy website.

3) Room – Well, that depends on what kind of room you’re talking about. Interior room for the driver, Smart wins. Interior room for passengers, Yaris wins. Room left over in your parking space, Smart wins. Cargo space, Yaris wins. If you’re strapped for parking, and some people in big cities are, the Smart is the better choice for daily drivers and commuters. If you have to pay $600 per month to park your car, you can probably split that cost with another Smart driver. However, if you need to take passengers places (family, carpool, etc.), Yaris is the better choice.

4) Ride – The 2008 Smart is very different than the 2006 model, so if you’ve driven the 2006 or earlier, you can’t really use it for a ride comparison. The 2008 is much smoother, and it feels more “luxurious” (if you can say that) than the 2006 or earlier model. Between Smart and Yaris, they have pretty similar ride quality, until you hit a huge freakin’ pothole. Both get knocked around, but the Yaris handles it a tad better.

5) Acceleration – Smart 0-60 in 12.8 seconds – Yaris 0-60 in 10.7 seconds (auto). I couldn’t find any numbers on the Yaris with the manual. However, even though there’s a 2 second difference, the people that buy these cars aren’t concerned with acceleration. If they were, neither of these cars would sell well.

6) Handling – I found the Smart to handle a bit better than the Yaris, however, with the Smart having the engine in the back, the rear-end likes to push in corners under braking. It’s a bit weird, at first, but if you hit the accelerator, it gives you more traction in the back and helps through the corner. Yaris was more stable, but I didn’t find it to be quite as nimble. I can’t find any performance numbers for either, but I will say that most people that buy cars of this type would prefer stability. Also, they aren’t too concerned with handling, either.

7) Looks – This is probably the number one reason for buying a car. There are people who like the looks of the Smart. There are people that like the way the Yaris looks. I like the looks of both, but I like the look of the Smart better. I don’t know why, I just do. I also like the front end of the Fit, but I don’t like the back. That’s all subjective, but it happens to be a major influence in car buying.

Interior – This is the most important to me, and it is important to a lot of people as well. I like the Smart interior much more than the Yaris interior. That’s not to say that the Yaris interior is bad, but just that I don’t like it as much. The Fit interior is pretty decent to me, but I still like the Smart interior better.

9) Price – The Yaris starts at $11,550, while the Smart starts at $11,590. The Smart has more standard features, though. If you try to equalize them, the Yaris will be $14,000 before the Smart starts to climb in price. My Smart is going to be $14,395, and an equally equipped Yaris was over $16,500. Yeah, it’s only $2,000 for more seats, but I don’t look at it that way. I look at it as $2,000 for something I don’t need, want nor care for (not the Yaris but the two extra seats). I have a minivan, so if I want to take people places, I’ll take the minivan. But for my daily driver, I choose the Smart because I only need room for me.

Also, the argument of two seats doesn’t really work for me. That’s like saying, “Why buy a Corvette when you can get a BMW with more seats for the same money?” The answer is, “Because I want a Corvette, not a BMW.” I know it’s not totally the same because of the performance aspect, but I’m sure my point is well made. People that buy the Smart aren’t looking for a family car, but a second car, a daily driver. Most likely, they purchase the Smart for one person, not for two (or more).

I like both, and I’ve tested both. I’m choosing the Smart due to interior, exterior, a great A/C, price, and the really nice stereo. Oh, I also like the panoramic roof, which no car in this price range has. That’s why people buy the Smart over something like the Yaris. It really comes down to subjective interests, and I don’t feel people can argue with subjective opinions.

I never understood why people bought this car over the civic.
Then again i also don’t understand why people buy the smart car over something like a toyota yaris, which has 1-2mpg less highway mpg, way more room, way more acceleration, way better handling / ride quality, etc etc etc.

Ahh wait.. the price of a base civic shot up by about $500
Supply and demand i guess.. they can’t keep these things on the friggin’ lots.

Why is it that HRR’s and Deanster’s comments get edited, but a guy named “Fuk-U-Asshole” has almost total freedom of speech?