The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[carol1412]

They've actually done quite well in crash tests and have passed all safety regulations in the US and Europe.
http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/latest-reviews/safe-smart-fortwo-mini-car-article-1.1307474

The whole car is a roll cage, so it's safer to be in than a lot of other cars. Lots of glass as well, so there's really no blind spot. I've found, though, that I drive more carefully, mostly because everybody thinks it goes so slow and they want to get around it. So I drive the speed limit or just above. Let the rest of 'em do whatever they want...

Some guy on a motorcycle the other day asked me if I felt safe in my car. Told him I was just as safe as he was, if not more AND I didn't have to wear a helmet. 

[Ser Lucien Liliane]

Someone near me has one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29133179@N06/3688990826/

Whenever I see a Smart Car in the wild, I involuntarily burst into laughter.  It's a reflex.

I LOVE those cars. I would love to have one, but sometimes I need to buy more than a loaf of bread at the store!

I've had my smartcar for almost two years now. Can fit at least 5 bags of groceries in the back plus another three in front if no passenger. There's a lot more room than you think there is. Plus they're fun to drive and get ~ 40mpg.

POD. I don't own a Smart (yet ), but I've had a look inside one and they're actually really roomy for the size.

[Bethczar]

I would be interested in the Smartcar but I'm in northern Wisconsin and it doesn't look like it would do well in snow. Has anyone had experience with it in a blizzard?

[Diane AKA Traska]

I've read that the Smart Cars are designed with a racing roll cage around the passenger compartment so they are actually safer than a lot of other vehicles.  Doesn't help you much when you are under a semi, mind you.

Semi nothing... when we got in our accident, our minivan went UNDER the rear end of the SUV in front of us (cracked the engine block clear in half).  Not too many SUVs on the road, yeah?

[Bluenomi]

My coworker has a smart car and recently ran into a kangaroo. Surprisingly the car won. They are tougher than they look!

[Kaesha]

I had to laugh the other day when I was next to one at a stoplight.  I looked over there, and then back at the inside of my truck, and back and forth again.  I estimate that if you parked four of them side by side, they would occupy about the same amount of space as my truck.  (I drive a 1976 Suburban that weighs about 3 tons.)

While it would be nice to get 40 MPG, I am 5'11" with long legs, and I don't think that I would be very comfortable in that small of a vehicle!

[marcel]

While it would be nice to get 40 MPG, I am 5'11" with long legs, and I don't think that I would be very comfortable in that small of a vehicle!

I am 6'1'' and can easily drive a smart.

Also, regaring space, I have transporte a 50 hp outboard engine in a smart while we were 2 people in there.

[GreenHall]

Does anyone have suggestions for sites to search for a specific clothing item, across the Internet?  Or the google-fu way to get google to give me ALL shopping results, and not just sponsored ones?

I used to just tell google what I was looking for, clicked "shopping" and mentally disregarded the eBay results, and similar on the many, many pages of results.  Now I get two pages of results its long, but when I'm a) picky and b) looking off season, that's just not helpful.

(currenltly looking for a moderately priced, longish, no button cashmerer cardigan.  I wear them all day long at work, so need to replace regularly ( especially when my dumb/lazy asterisk self decides the washing machine will be fine....))

[WillyNilly]

I don't understand the issue - I just put womens cashmere cardigan into google and clicked shopping and plenty of results showed up (and none, on the first page at least, were from ebay). Google is how you do an across the web search for an item...

[lady_disdain]

I don't understand the issue - I just put womens cashmere cardigan into google and clicked shopping and plenty of results showed up (and none, on the first page at least, were from ebay). Google is how you do an across the web search for an item...

Same here - over 10 pages of results and no eBay. I got JCrew, Barney's, Vince, Michael Kors, Bluefly, etc on the first page.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cashmere+sweater&oq=cashmere+s&aqs=chrome.0.59j57j0j5j62.4214j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=cashmere+sweater&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=eevWUebSEcLg0gHcl4HACg&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAw&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48705608,d.dmQ&fp=82319a03e805eed0&biw=1366&bih=643

[Elfmama]

Does anyone have suggestions for sites to search for a specific clothing item, across the Internet?  Or the google-fu way to get google to give me ALL shopping results, and not just sponsored ones?

I used to just tell google what I was looking for, clicked "shopping" and mentally disregarded the eBay results, and similar on the many, many pages of results.  Now I get two pages of results its long, but when I'm a) picky and b) looking off season, that's just not helpful.

(currenltly looking for a moderately priced, longish, no button cashmerer cardigan.  I wear them all day long at work, so need to replace regularly ( especially when my dumb/lazy asterisk self decides the washing machine will be fine....))

Don't click "shopping."

[carol1412]

I would be interested in the Smartcar but I'm in northern Wisconsin and it doesn't look like it would do well in snow. Has anyone had experience with it in a blizzard?

Bethczar, I'm in SE Wisconsin and have been through two winters with it. We swap out the tires for snow tires around the end of November. Have had no issues driving it in snow or ice. In fact, I get better traction on slush than some of the bigger cars and trucks out there, especially those that don't have snow tires.

[RingTailedLemur]

Someone near me has one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29133179@N06/3688990826/

Whenever I see a Smart Car in the wild, I involuntarily burst into laughter.  It's a reflex.

I LOVE those cars. I would love to have one, but sometimes I need to buy more than a loaf of bread at the store!

I've had my smartcar for almost two years now. Can fit at least 5 bags of groceries in the back plus another three in front if no passenger. There's a lot more room than you think there is. Plus they're fun to drive and get ~ 40mpg.

I get ~65mpg...

[carol1412]

Yes, there are a number of cars getting 40+ mpg now. Smart was one of the first non-hybrid ones to do so. Would be even better mpg if we could get approval to bring the diesel version in.

[emwithme]

Someone near me has one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29133179@N06/3688990826/

Whenever I see a Smart Car in the wild, I involuntarily burst into laughter.  It's a reflex.

I LOVE those cars. I would love to have one, but sometimes I need to buy more than a loaf of bread at the store!

I've had my smartcar for almost two years now. Can fit at least 5 bags of groceries in the back plus another three in front if no passenger. There's a lot more room than you think there is. Plus they're fun to drive and get ~ 40mpg.

I get ~65mpg...

I pretty much get that in my car - and that's a 2.0l Diesel Peugeot 206 SW (Estate/station wagon).  Mixed Motorway/Town driving it is around 60 and motorway only I can get 85 mpg.  (I got DH to double check the figures because I was astounded).  My previous car (2.5l Vauxhall Vectra) I averaged 30mpg - which is why this car is called Ana.