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Old 11-11-2020, 01:09 PM   #31
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how does that car require 2 front windshield wipers!?
I just noticed now that you mentioned it. It will rain tonight. I'll let you know how they work.

Also, what's with the spike in the rear bumper?
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Old 11-11-2020, 02:32 PM   #32
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Yeah, the original smart was, uh, remarkable. I enjoyed them for their shittiness.

A couple friends set lap times at Summit Main in theirs. I think that the fastest was 1:59. Note that they are competitive Spec Miata and SRF drivers. A SpecE30 will lap over 30 seconds faster.
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Old 11-11-2020, 04:13 PM   #33
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First, the loaner...

Note the 15" front and 17" rear rims.
Been teasing my older son the last couple of years that would be his first car Whenever we drive by one I point it out.
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Old 11-11-2020, 04:29 PM   #34
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Oh, I forgot another annoying thing: The brake pedal feels floor mounted and you can feel the brake pedal move up and away from your foot as you push it. Very weird.
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Old 11-11-2020, 04:33 PM   #35
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Sounds about right.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-revie...-review-196083

The real issue, though, is the transmission. The five-speed automated-manual transmission is indecisive, switching gears early and often. Furthermore, gear changes are remarkably slow. The result is an extremely jerky ride in a majority of driving conditions. We’ve praised some automated manual transmissions for quick, precise upshifts and downshifts. The Smart’s is not one of the better ones.

In fact, the fortwo’s lack of performance can be downright scary. When turning left onto a main road, the transmission always tries to make its shift to second gear exactly when it is crossing the near lane. Directly in the path of incoming traffic, the transmission seemingly takes eons to shift, stranding the driver in harm’s way.
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Old 11-11-2020, 06:39 PM   #36
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It's not bad once in gear up to 3rd gear.
You lie like Trump.

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WTF is the point of shift paddles if I have time to make myself a sandwich while it shifts?
This is one the most fantastic lines I can recall reading in quite some time.

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Now my car. Last night as I finished "fixing it" and this morning as I dropped it off after a 25+ mile drive.
Car looks sharp!
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Old 11-11-2020, 07:12 PM   #37
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You lie like Trump.


True. That was a lie. It is still bad. It's just not horribly bad.

----------------------------------

Upon further driving I can bestow upon this car the title of most apocalyptically bad AT I've ever driven.

It's not just the timing, or the delay, it's that (in full auto mode) it literally will SLOW the car down as it tries to shift. It's ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense. I'd be willing to excuse it by saying it's a 6-8 yo car, but it has only 26k miles. If it went bad in so few miles it gets no pass from me.

In the hwy, the car was unnerving at 70mph. Never mind that it had no power, a mild cross wind would send it noticeably off course. Also, bonus demerits for a terrible blind spot since the B/C pillar is massive.

It's the worst car I've driven in a LONG time. And considering it's pretty new and doesn't offer some massive other benefit (massive cargo or towing, caterpillar tracks, sleeping quarters for 6, etc.), you can blame me for some recency bias, but it's likely the worst car I've ever driven.
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Old 11-25-2020, 03:33 PM   #38
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FC ... how did everything come out ? Are you happy with it ?
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Old 11-25-2020, 05:29 PM   #39
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Yeah, I never followed up, huh?

Well, they did a good job with the application. But there are two things that bothered me:

1) I paid $200 specifically for them to remove the little rear arch factory-applied protection and put in a piece that went much higher - I even showed him where the couple of chips above the existing strip where and how I wanted that covered. Turns out he "found an existing kit profile" that they cut and installed. Much better coverage (wrapped around edges) and higher than the factory strip but also clearly below where I pointed out out I wanted it to be. The kit also included a corner slice for the lower rear doors which is added protection, but you can see those edges. So I am not thrilled but not exactly pissed off about it.

2) They said they would detail the car in advance. Well they kind of did. They used some product to "decontaminate the car" (read: strip wax) which makes sense, and they polished all areas where film was applied. The car looked stunning when I picked it up, but it now has no wax and they didn't really clean whatever they applied from the door sills, so I had to open the doors and wipe off that stuff. Since it's winter, it's going to be hard to find a weekend warm enough to re-detail and wax before the spring.

But overall, I am very happy.
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Old 11-25-2020, 08:10 PM   #40
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It bothers me too when they take matters into their own hands ... why didn’t they do what you asked with the protection ... this is what just happened to my son when we picked up his M340 from the detailer who charged him $1650 for a full paint correction and ceramic coating ... they removed the factory rear lip spoiler which we asked them to do and put the carbon fiber rear spoiler on which my son purchased and they did a horrible job putting the spoiler on ... we didn’t want the carbon fiber spoiler mounted we just wanted it ceramic coated but this shit happens ... they decided to do it and they messed it up.

It just amazes me these guys who are detailers don’t pay attention to details !!

Big picture the car looks awesome but it just bothers me they never get it right ....
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