thanks for pointing that out. i didnt even notice that . thats funny. one thing that i will say about the smart car is that i am 6'1" and 290 pounds. i drove a smart car once and i had plenty of room in it. driving on the highway you dont even realize that you are driving such a small car. i myself own a 2012 Scion iQ which i absolutely love. in fact this is my second Scion iQ which i have had. great fuel mileage. i live in a small city. my Scion iQ makes it much easier to find a parking space. i can fit 3 people in my iQ
Here in Ireland, a company I worked for had a Four2 as a promotional vehicle for a month or so. On loan from the franchise owner. Great fun around town, like driving a rollerskate, and you could fit it in ridiculously small spaces.
Your summary of the Smart's transmission is absolutely spot on. I dream of improving one by fitting a Daihatsu engine and gearbox. Maybe you could do the same with Trabant running gear?
I use to drive a CityCoupe which was in '99 and this is from memory. I think the transmission was actually a 3 speed with a transfer box, and then the six ratios created means that sometimes to go up a gear the computer had to change down a gear and move into the next set of ratios, and it was the dumbest auto box ever, I use to leave it in auto but be constantly tapping the lever, because the gear change indicator would be telling you how to drive more efficiently that the auto box??? Also as it was an early model it did not have ESP, but if the rear end did ever lose traction it had a system which would did the clutch kind of making the car lurch rather violently into the direction the steering wheels were pointing, I think they called it the Smart Trust system, which you did n't for a while after experiencing it, nor did anybody who was following you.
There were plenty of companies in the uk that did remaps, which not only improved the engine's performance but vastly improved the speed of the gear changes. However, if you get the chance to drive the electric Smart, you'll find if vastly better than any of the ICE Smarts.
The original Smart ForTwo is one one of those cars I really liked before I actually had to live with it. Granted, the example I had to use for a few years (due to a lack of alternatives) was old, poorly maintained and half broken, but still, it was quite a disappointing experience, from the criminally bumpy ride to the indeed godawful transmission that sometimes forgot it was in the changing gears business and instead spent its time composing poetry (at least that's what I like to think). Having said that, it's a surprisingly spacious car (I once filled mine to the roof with stuff, which interestingly improved the ride considerably), at least on the driver's side (the passenger has a reduced amount of legroom due to the battery being placed in the foot well). There's ample cargo space, the seats are good, the non-assisted steering is light once the car is moving (servo steering was an option), it's easy to drive, the interior is pleasant to look at and I never felt unsafe or exposed in this car. With the Diesel version, the mileage is rather spectacular and it's still really quick at up to inner city speed thanks to its low gearing and ample torque given its low weight. I would never again take it on the motorway however. It follows every rut in the road, is ridiculously susceptible to cross winds. Not a pleasant experience. It's not like they didn't learn from their mistakes though. The current model ForTwo only shares its dimensions and issues with cross winds with the old one. Every other aspect has been improved immeasurably and with the lively 90hp engine, it's an agile little car that is surprisingly fun to drive, especially on country roads. There's not much feedback through the light steering, but the handling is very neutral and it has much more grip than you would think looking at its tiny tires. The convertible version is a little wobbly compared to the normal car however; I was expecting more stiffness, but it's not like this matters much with a little city car. What I like is that you can get the current Smart with modern active safety features like forward collision warning and lane assist, features that were once in the domain of high end luxury cars. The infotainment system is also really competent. Considering that there's now a second generation of electric Smart ForTwos, are you planning on reviewing the first or current generation of electric Smarts in the near future? It would be quite interesting to perhaps see a triple comparison, if possible, of the Wheego, your old ForTwo and the current model. Love your video by the way, easily your most interesting and funniest video to date!
Composing poetry HAHAHA!!! I had a 2006 diesel ForTwo and I entirely agree with your opinion on the ride and the transmission. I routinely took mine out on the motorway and I never really had any trouble with tracking in ruts or crosswinds although I would get a sore ass after an extended journey because I found the seats didn't have enough butt support
My wife lusted after a Smart Car for years. When we actually tried one on a dealers forecourt we realised neither of us would be able to drive it (I'm tall and she is quite short). The bump in the passengers floor was most noticeable. Instead she bought a Skoda Citigo which was probably a much better choice.
Interesting comparison, and congratulations for your new Smart car. I bought mine in 2004 and I still enjoy it. Minimal maintenance costs. Workshop manuals are available and I haven't been at the dealership service since the last warranty check. That kind of plastic panels is pure genius and the car looks almost new despite having been bashed on all sides while parked. The plastic simply springs back in the original position like nothing happened, but the paint finish does look like conventional metal sheet. The greatest fun to me is the noise of the motor, barely secluded from the interior of the car by a small trapdoor. My Smart does not have the power steering option, and with the glass ceiling is almost like driving a kart. My other car is a BMW with a waaay more powerful engine, but driving a Smart in the city is a lot more fun. At least you have the thrill to see the spedometer at 12 and hear the motor revving heawily while being still at safe speed under the city limit. And you will easily park in places where a normal car/truck can't.
Man, the idea of four seats in something the size of the Wheego... the Noble must have had a very G-Wiz / Aixam microcar layout, with the back of the rear seats butting up right against the inside of the tailgate, so the glass hatch would simply be there for you to dump things on the back seat without having to reach in from the front doors.
If I remember correctly, ShuanHuan was actually taken to court for "ripping off" the Smart Design. I think the verdict was that while they were aesthetically similar, you can't patent aesthetics, and the aesthetics copied weren't part of a trademarked design (Like the Jeep grille is a trademarked design element, and you can't directly copy it). Mechanically, they were different, and that's what the courts cared about.
Your absolutely correct Fuddleton they were taken to court by mercedes around the same time a car company creating a BMW X5 clone were taken and the verdict was both cases dropped because well its actually perfectly fine to copy a cars design in china since china has no copyright laws, the shuanhuan was lost because the car while looking like a smart car was mechanically completely different BMW lost because the clone car was built ans desinged in china for the chinese and because the aforementioned lack of copyright laws, BMW had no leg to stand on despite the clone BMW being a complete copy and paste job aside from some little tweaks and the drivetrain being V6 rather than BMW's famous Inline 6.
@@compzac Mercedes technically could have taken any manufacturer of a Noble/Wheego outside of China to court for reusing some of the same parts though They actually do have grounds to sue Wheego if they wanted to really
Coming from Europe, I am very familiar with the Smart and its clever design touches. The crude Chinese imitation looks clumsy in comparison. Great content as ever. Keep up the great work.
@@tiborklein5349 they are virtually indestructible and if you add a toyota turbo 4 cylinder engine they will beat supercars and do wheelies AND STILL GET GOOD GAS MILEAGE.
5:31 Only the highest trim levels of the Smart car had the glass roof. The trims of the first generation Smart car that were sold in Canada did not offer the glass roof at all, only a plastic roof was available.
Had 2 Smart cars now over last 3 years, they are wonderful and would never change now! I live UK and am a school bus driver, so one minute I am driving a big manual bus, the next a Smart automatic
hey buddy. I have a 2011 Smart Fortwo passion. Have owned it for 3 years now, terrific piece of engineering once you learn about them. Transmission is shit, but shifts well enough with paddle shifters and never misses. Easy MOBILE 1 oil changes and basically maintenance free other than that. Gets 40-44 MPG overall in mixed NYC driving.
John Hull I'd be laughing right back, to be honest. Why? At least the Smart is rear wheel drive. Also, I'm kind of biased towards liking them since a friend is the number one salesman for Smart cars in the US.
the problem with all these hater comments is that people misunderstand the point of the smart. Since I have one, I'll tell you all. It's the ability to park, nothing else. MPG is good, but when you live in city condition you need a car that can park where other small cars cant. Thats all there is to it.
Me too, it’s 15 years old and drives like new, no creeks or strange noises and not even a spot of rust anywhere, I lifted the carpets to check the floor pan and it’s just sparkling Silver metal. They built this one well 👍😎
Have a crash in the weego and then you tell me. Tridion structure on the original Smart is well known for its impact resistance. There was also al smart with paddle shifters and a better gearbox. Try the smart Brabus,roadster, and roadster brabus are the nicest ones!
That edit of you helping yourself was bad ass, love seeing stuff like that, makes me feel like I'm watching idubbbz. Weird ass car, I wonder if I've seen one here in Portland without even knowing.
I imported one of the first Smarts into the UK, in 1999. I managed to get it UK legal with very few changes, and got it SVA approved for its DVLA registration. It was an excellent concept, but absolutely awful to drive. Such a shame. That gearshift!
brilliant.particularly enjoyed your entirely accurate description of the smart's 'gearbox'. also noticed that if you remove all the glass from the rear of the wheego you could make the world's smallest electric pick-up.
With some clever editing and storyboarding, he'd only have to do it twice. Film all the scenes that one shirt requires, then film all the scenes the other shirt requires.
I didn't want all the clips to be out of order when I was editing so I picked the film chronologically / change shirts every five seconds route. Moving the cars around and setting up shots took more time than changing shirts.
Yup, I have similar odd taste in cars like you do.... Unfortunately my taste runs big and gas guzzly.... And yes, we both need to have other people with better sense hold our wallets when we car shop.
This *BIGGEST* difference and reason to get a Smart Car is the *Tridion Steel Safety Shell* . This is why it earns the highest safety ratings and will save your life in a crash. MB even crashed the Smart against an S Class and the Smart came out fine. Save your life..not your cash. If you need something this small be *smart* and get the Smart Car.
Even thought they are completely different in construction, apparently you could take the door off one of these and put it on the other and it would fit perfectly.
Can we just appreciate the fact that he changes shirts throughout the video to reflect to what he's talking about??? @3:09 - SMART tshirt. @3:13 - NOT SMART tshirt. I love it!
I saw a Smart Car in Spain, that had a souped up Hayabusa engine in it. It was as nuts as my old Chevy Monza, with the small block 350 in it. I swear. 😁
1:18 Oh thank god America never had to experience the first generation SMART... 1:37 Some idiots imported, converted and sold them nonetheless. WHY!? If you haven't spinal problems already, this car's transmission will give you some!
Best descripted as: Every traffic light becomes torture. Really, it only came in 2 flavours: automatic or semi-automatic (tip-tronic). There is still a flamewar going on which one of them was the worst.
I thought it was a semi-auto that you could just put into D and allow to automatically shift if you wanted to. And yeah, pretty notorious, particularly in the Smart Coupe, which was essentially considered as a car that would have been an excellent Kei-class alternative to the Lotus Elise for people who thought even _that_ was too large... if only it had a proper manual gearbox in it. The trick apparently is to let off the throttle during gearchanges (including the fully automatic ones), which smoothens them up quite a bit, rather like the preselector gearboxes of old buses (method is move the stick, let off the throttle, hit the change pedal, wait a second, then step back on the gas). Of course if you're used to driving a manual you might do that anyway when using the tiptronic mode, but if you're more used to a full automatic you certainly won't, and might end up shoving the pedal even harder when the drive cuts for a second or so between gears, which will make it jerk like nobody's business. Of course, if it was engineered a bit better, it'd just do that automatically and smoothly anyway...
In Italy, we call the Smart cars "Furgoni" (Vans) because the centre of gravity is so high and the wheelbase so tiny that it just handles like one. Plus, it doesn't help their case when you always find them either rolling on the verge of tipping over when taking a bend... or just straight up parked into a ditch upside-down because it decided to pass too close to a gust of wind.
I can’t believe I just noticed the shirt changes in between cars and shots corresponding to the car. I enjoy these videos more every time I watch them...
Nice Video! The 1st generation smart shifts so slowly, because it has two gearboxes. A main 3-gear and one at the axle with two gears. Like on a bicycle this makes six gears. The sixth is an overdrive, the brutal top-speed of 84mph is reached in 5th gear, when you shift into 6th, it gets about 3mph slower...and much quieter...on the left side, opposite to the gas filler neck on the right, is a vent...it looks similar to the filler neck, but it's difficult to remove by hands...but some clever people did it, poured in the gas, and ruined the turbocharger! 😂🤣 Greetings from Germany!
I would love to see you in a Smart ForFour, the 175 hp turbo version from Brabham. In 2008-2010 I had the 90 bhp version and I loved it to bits! Then I gave it to my son when I moved to Central America. Today I drive a 2022 Jimny with no regrets. But I would love to have the 170 bhp ForFour too!
Should have told the dealer that you needed to take it to have it inspected by your mechanic. Now you have to find a wrecked Smart ED and figure out how to swap the components :) "A rolling copyright infringement" bahaha! So funny and true.
Not the only car that has inspired a Chinese look-alike. Read up on the Daewoo Matiz. In court GM (who came to own Daewoo) showed that the doors from the Chinese car were interchangable with Matiz doors.
for that roof panel...i bet if you measure the smart & wheego's steel panel that they are identical. Wheego probably made that ridiculous glass blank to fill in the gap between the knocked-off panel due to the extra length of the wheego vs the smart. Just a theory.
2020 update: the last post on Autonomous "Wheego" Fusion's Twitter account is dated October 31st, 2018, and attempting to open their website gives an error page. Not an error page that mentions the company or anything, just the one you get from Apache httpd out of the box.
I remember being in the back of an original ForTwo. There was... not very much room, since I'm bigger than a handbag. I got out after 500 meters and did the rest on foot.
Pretty sure that car shown is a Smart Mk2 facelift model from post 2002. The headlights are peanuts instead of almonds, 1998 - 2002 is the mark 1 aka model 1. A lot of parts changed along with that facelift. I do believe it is the first version released in the US (unfortunately you guys never got the CDI diesel variant) so figured it was worth mentioning..
"Like some sort of weird swedish car that thinks it's an airplane"
That sentence made me smile.
ßaron RIP SAAB
Apparently you haven't heard smart sales are way down due to being total crap
maybe Smart wanted it to be a Swedish airplane but gave up when they figured that would cost to much and settled with it being a car instead
I miss my Saab 900S
This sentence earned him a Subscriber lol
I don't know much about cars, but absolutely love the humor of this channel.
Martin Paap same
I can't help but feel like this guy would've really uplifted American Top Gear. I'm glad this content exists, it's good.
Drive your car with *BOILED CABBAGE*
Lol
Martin what you posted is exactly what the CEO of both companies said as well. " I don't know much about cars, but absolutely love the humor!"😂
There is no front of the car. There is only anti-rear.
I laughed
Not too far from anterior
9:38 Seriously that frame is one of best thing the Smart has going for it, that Wheego is dangerous as hell in comparison.
9:32 look at his shirt : not smart
9:38 : smart
lmao everytime he was near the wheego he had the no smart shirt and vice versa
thanks for pointing that out. i didnt even notice that . thats funny. one thing that i will say about the smart car is that i am 6'1" and 290 pounds. i drove a smart car once and i had plenty of room in it. driving on the highway you dont even realize that you are driving such a small car. i myself own a 2012 Scion iQ which i absolutely love. in fact this is my second Scion iQ which i have had. great fuel mileage. i live in a small city. my Scion iQ makes it much easier to find a parking space. i can fit 3 people in my iQ
What?
I never noticed that before
Here in Ireland, a company I worked for had a Four2 as a promotional vehicle for a month or so. On loan from the franchise owner.
Great fun around town, like driving a rollerskate, and you could fit it in ridiculously small spaces.
Your summary of the Smart's transmission is absolutely spot on. I dream of improving one by fitting a Daihatsu engine and gearbox. Maybe you could do the same with Trabant running gear?
Nice to see you here!
Daihatsus are awesome
I use to drive a CityCoupe which was in '99 and this is from memory. I think the transmission was actually a 3 speed with a transfer box, and then the six ratios created means that sometimes to go up a gear the computer had to change down a gear and move into the next set of ratios, and it was the dumbest auto box ever, I use to leave it in auto but be constantly tapping the lever, because the gear change indicator would be telling you how to drive more efficiently that the auto box???
Also as it was an early model it did not have ESP, but if the rear end did ever lose traction it had a system which would did the clutch kind of making the car lurch rather violently into the direction the steering wheels were pointing, I think they called it the Smart Trust system, which you did n't for a while after experiencing it, nor did anybody who was following you.
There were plenty of companies in the uk that did remaps, which not only improved the engine's performance but vastly improved the speed of the gear changes. However, if you get the chance to drive the electric Smart, you'll find if vastly better than any of the ICE Smarts.
Are you suggesting he fits the Trabant's running gear in the Smart :-)
4:20 super excited to see you got the budget to hire a crew to help with videos!
Claude Mountain
Imagine how much work he would have done, if he had 2 bros!
The original Smart ForTwo is one one of those cars I really liked before I actually had to live with it. Granted, the example I had to use for a few years (due to a lack of alternatives) was old, poorly maintained and half broken, but still, it was quite a disappointing experience, from the criminally bumpy ride to the indeed godawful transmission that sometimes forgot it was in the changing gears business and instead spent its time composing poetry (at least that's what I like to think). Having said that, it's a surprisingly spacious car (I once filled mine to the roof with stuff, which interestingly improved the ride considerably), at least on the driver's side (the passenger has a reduced amount of legroom due to the battery being placed in the foot well). There's ample cargo space, the seats are good, the non-assisted steering is light once the car is moving (servo steering was an option), it's easy to drive, the interior is pleasant to look at and I never felt unsafe or exposed in this car. With the Diesel version, the mileage is rather spectacular and it's still really quick at up to inner city speed thanks to its low gearing and ample torque given its low weight. I would never again take it on the motorway however. It follows every rut in the road, is ridiculously susceptible to cross winds. Not a pleasant experience.
It's not like they didn't learn from their mistakes though. The current model ForTwo only shares its dimensions and issues with cross winds with the old one. Every other aspect has been improved immeasurably and with the lively 90hp engine, it's an agile little car that is surprisingly fun to drive, especially on country roads. There's not much feedback through the light steering, but the handling is very neutral and it has much more grip than you would think looking at its tiny tires. The convertible version is a little wobbly compared to the normal car however; I was expecting more stiffness, but it's not like this matters much with a little city car. What I like is that you can get the current Smart with modern active safety features like forward collision warning and lane assist, features that were once in the domain of high end luxury cars. The infotainment system is also really competent.
Considering that there's now a second generation of electric Smart ForTwos, are you planning on reviewing the first or current generation of electric Smarts in the near future? It would be quite interesting to perhaps see a triple comparison, if possible, of the Wheego, your old ForTwo and the current model. Love your video by the way, easily your most interesting and funniest video to date!
Composing poetry HAHAHA!!! I had a 2006 diesel ForTwo and I entirely agree with your opinion on the ride and the transmission. I routinely took mine out on the motorway and I never really had any trouble with tracking in ruts or crosswinds although I would get a sore ass after an extended journey because I found the seats didn't have enough butt support
My wife lusted after a Smart Car for years. When we actually tried one on a dealers forecourt we realised neither of us would be able to drive it (I'm tall and she is quite short). The bump in the passengers floor was most noticeable. Instead she bought a Skoda Citigo which was probably a much better choice.
Interesting comparison, and congratulations for your new Smart car. I bought mine in 2004 and I still enjoy it. Minimal maintenance costs. Workshop manuals are available and I haven't been at the dealership service since the last warranty check. That kind of plastic panels is pure genius and the car looks almost new despite having been bashed on all sides while parked. The plastic simply springs back in the original position like nothing happened, but the paint finish does look like conventional metal sheet. The greatest fun to me is the noise of the motor, barely secluded from the interior of the car by a small trapdoor. My Smart does not have the power steering option, and with the glass ceiling is almost like driving a kart. My other car is a BMW with a waaay more powerful engine, but driving a Smart in the city is a lot more fun. At least you have the thrill to see the spedometer at 12 and hear the motor revving heawily while being still at safe speed under the city limit. And you will easily park in places where a normal car/truck can't.
Now up here in the anti-rear. Great writing man. Just found the channel and if all the videos are this witty I'll be binge watching your catalog.
Hey, you're the dude with the Trabant that Duggy D reviewed right?
Should get Doug DeMuro to review your wheego
That'd be too much quirkiness in one place.
Omg exactly what I was thinking
Oh God, please don't. Doug Demuro is the dweebiest dweeb that ever dweebed.
Yes please 😂😂
Nick Higgins yep
Man, the idea of four seats in something the size of the Wheego... the Noble must have had a very G-Wiz / Aixam microcar layout, with the back of the rear seats butting up right against the inside of the tailgate, so the glass hatch would simply be there for you to dump things on the back seat without having to reach in from the front doors.
If I remember correctly, ShuanHuan was actually taken to court for "ripping off" the Smart Design. I think the verdict was that while they were aesthetically similar, you can't patent aesthetics, and the aesthetics copied weren't part of a trademarked design (Like the Jeep grille is a trademarked design element, and you can't directly copy it).
Mechanically, they were different, and that's what the courts cared about.
Your absolutely correct Fuddleton they were taken to court by mercedes around the same time a car company creating a BMW X5 clone were taken and the verdict was both cases dropped because well its actually perfectly fine to copy a cars design in china since china has no copyright laws, the shuanhuan was lost because the car while looking like a smart car was mechanically completely different BMW lost because the clone car was built ans desinged in china for the chinese and because the aforementioned lack of copyright laws, BMW had no leg to stand on despite the clone BMW being a complete copy and paste job aside from some little tweaks and the drivetrain being V6 rather than BMW's famous Inline 6.
@@compzac Mercedes technically could have taken any manufacturer of a Noble/Wheego outside of China to court for reusing some of the same parts though
They actually do have grounds to sue Wheego if they wanted to really
@@shawnjoseph4009 It didn't make enought success.
The lawsuit would only give wheego free publicity.
The chinese just loves ripping off designs and in my book it doesn't help to take them seriously as legit brands
Coming from Europe, I am very familiar with the Smart and its clever design touches. The crude Chinese imitation looks clumsy in comparison.
Great content as ever. Keep up the great work.
Tibor Klein That is completely dumb and describes how narrow minded your people are. Here is Croatia Smarts are EVERYWHERE.
Tibor Klein Lmao don't comment then kid
Tibor Klein Grow a pair loser
@@tiborklein5349 Hungary elected a fascist who thinks George Soros runs the world
I am not inclined to believe them about cars.
@@tiborklein5349 they are virtually indestructible and if you add a toyota turbo 4 cylinder engine they will beat supercars and do wheelies AND STILL GET GOOD GAS MILEAGE.
11:17 The most accurate description of the smarts transmission ever
5:31 Only the highest trim levels of the Smart car had the glass roof. The trims of the first generation Smart car that were sold in Canada did not offer the glass roof at all, only a plastic roof was available.
Looking at that build quality...
I'll just stick to my 20 year old Toyota yaris hatchback.
My 30 year old firebird is doing better than that Wheego.
YARIS!!! I had one and LOVED it. I hope your keeps on a goin'!
2011 Yaris over here and still going strong 💯.
Had 2 Smart cars now over last 3 years, they are wonderful and would never change now! I live UK and am a school bus driver, so one minute I am driving a big manual bus, the next a Smart automatic
hey buddy. I have a 2011 Smart Fortwo passion. Have owned it for 3 years now, terrific piece of engineering once you learn about them. Transmission is shit, but shifts well enough with paddle shifters and never misses. Easy MOBILE 1 oil changes and basically maintenance free other than that. Gets 40-44 MPG overall in mixed NYC driving.
hybrid32494 So basically it gets the same fuel mileage as my old Geo Storm.
Der Pinguin
Or my 79 rabbit with a late model diesel swap.
0-60 in 5.5.
14.0 in the 1/4, high 40mpg around town, low 50s highway.
Yeah but isn't it hard to deal with that nagging feeling that EVERYONE is laughing at you when you go by
John Hull I'd be laughing right back, to be honest. Why? At least the Smart is rear wheel drive. Also, I'm kind of biased towards liking them since a friend is the number one salesman for Smart cars in the US.
the problem with all these hater comments is that people misunderstand the point of the smart. Since I have one, I'll tell you all. It's the ability to park, nothing else. MPG is good, but when you live in city condition you need a car that can park where other small cars cant. Thats all there is to it.
Please take the Smart to the strip, I wanna see if it beats the Trabi in the quarter!
I also own a 2005 silver Fortwo! Absolutely brilliant cars, keep up the good work and greetings from the 🇬🇧
Also I recommend you install a clock pod, they take only a few minutes to install. Looking forward to more Smart car videos please!
Stuart Fry I had a 2006 model. It had a clock pod too. Here in Canada they only sold them with the diesel engine.
Passenger 58 Brits love Fords and for good reason!
Me too, it’s 15 years old and drives like new, no creeks or strange noises and not even a spot of rust anywhere, I lifted the carpets to check the floor pan and it’s just sparkling Silver metal. They built this one well 👍😎
I like this dude's style, dry and sarcastic delivery.
Have a crash in the weego and then you tell me. Tridion structure on the original Smart is well known for its impact resistance.
There was also al smart with paddle shifters and a better gearbox. Try the smart Brabus,roadster, and roadster brabus are the nicest ones!
3:13 the reason for that front end Robert is because you park the Smart nose on to the kerb
That edit of you helping yourself was bad ass, love seeing stuff like that, makes me feel like I'm watching idubbbz. Weird ass car, I wonder if I've seen one here in Portland without even knowing.
I imported one of the first Smarts into the UK, in 1999. I managed to get it UK legal with very few changes, and got it SVA approved for its DVLA registration.
It was an excellent concept, but absolutely awful to drive. Such a shame. That gearshift!
"Some kind of weird Swedish car, that thinks it's an airplane."
lmao
shh don't tell the car it's not an airplane you'll hurt it's feelings
I'm not much of a car guy, but your editing alone makes this channel worth watching.
brilliant.particularly enjoyed your entirely accurate description of the smart's 'gearbox'. also noticed that if you remove all the glass from the rear of the wheego you could make the world's smallest electric pick-up.
how much times did you have to change your t shirt for this vid
I noticed this too, I loved the Smart / not smart shirts when standing next to the respective cars. Attention to detail!
I lost count, so I'm going to say millions of times
With some clever editing and storyboarding, he'd only have to do it twice. Film all the scenes that one shirt requires, then film all the scenes the other shirt requires.
I didn't want all the clips to be out of order when I was editing so I picked the film chronologically / change shirts every five seconds route. Moving the cars around and setting up shots took more time than changing shirts.
It's many not much
No ridiculous jump cuts. AWESOME!!!!
4:20 This is incredible editing
What China REALLY thinks of International Intellectual Property rights
store brands are licensed. O.o
I really enjoyed your presentation. I have TWO Smart ForTwo's, wouldn't swap 'em for anything!🇪🇸
I'm on my second smart fortwo. But, only owned them one at a time. My first one was totaled by Hurricane Michael. :-(
@@NLmitchieNL Asshole
Yup, I have similar odd taste in cars like you do.... Unfortunately my taste runs big and gas guzzly.... And yes, we both need to have other people with better sense hold our wallets when we car shop.
♪ 'Wheegos wobble but they don't fall down...' ♬
What? Oh, right. Sorry.
I love my 2011 Smart. It have shown reliability and awesome aging.
This *BIGGEST* difference and reason to get a Smart Car is the *Tridion Steel Safety Shell* . This is why it earns the highest safety ratings and will save your life in a crash. MB even crashed the Smart against an S Class and the Smart came out fine. Save your life..not your cash. If you need something this small be *smart* and get the Smart Car.
Great video. I really like your commentary. The weirdest car comparison in the world. Keep making videos, your great.
Great video as always! I 'love' that Wheego, it's like a modern Trabant
Even thought they are completely different in construction, apparently you could take the door off one of these and put it on the other and it would fit perfectly.
Can we just appreciate the fact that he changes shirts throughout the video to reflect to what he's talking about???
@3:09 - SMART tshirt.
@3:13 - NOT SMART tshirt.
I love it!
You definitely showed your dominance at the dealership man! 😂 great video
I've subscribed to your channel because you've bought a Smart Fortwo 2005, my favorite car !
Great editing in your videos! I enjoy your attention to detail!
Woah woah, leave those weird swedish cars that think they're airplanes alone lol.
Signed - A Saab Fan-.
I saw a Smart Car in Spain, that had a souped up Hayabusa engine in it.
It was as nuts as my old Chevy Monza, with the small block 350 in it. I swear. 😁
This is a real good vid. Perfect comment. Matching accent.
Would love to see more of this!
1:18 Oh thank god America never had to experience the first generation SMART...
1:37 Some idiots imported, converted and sold them nonetheless.
WHY!?
If you haven't spinal problems already, this car's transmission will give you some!
The transmission is really awful. I can't yet decide if it ruins the entire car.
It can't give you spinal problems, it's too slow for that lol
Best descripted as: Every traffic light becomes torture.
Really, it only came in 2 flavours: automatic or semi-automatic (tip-tronic). There is still a flamewar going on which one of them was the worst.
I thought it was a semi-auto that you could just put into D and allow to automatically shift if you wanted to. And yeah, pretty notorious, particularly in the Smart Coupe, which was essentially considered as a car that would have been an excellent Kei-class alternative to the Lotus Elise for people who thought even _that_ was too large... if only it had a proper manual gearbox in it.
The trick apparently is to let off the throttle during gearchanges (including the fully automatic ones), which smoothens them up quite a bit, rather like the preselector gearboxes of old buses (method is move the stick, let off the throttle, hit the change pedal, wait a second, then step back on the gas). Of course if you're used to driving a manual you might do that anyway when using the tiptronic mode, but if you're more used to a full automatic you certainly won't, and might end up shoving the pedal even harder when the drive cuts for a second or so between gears, which will make it jerk like nobody's business.
Of course, if it was engineered a bit better, it'd just do that automatically and smoothly anyway...
i owned one in germany in 99 and forward, it was a great smart car.
im so glad you bought that smart. excited to see a lot of content on it!
Which cars and coffee do you go to? I live in Missouri and would love to meet you and comrade Trabant and wheego!
Why the name "weego " ( we go )
cuz " YUGO " ( you go ) was taken ...
BA DUM TSSS
True that wow I was thinking wheego sounded familiar
Ever driven one? It was like riding in a shoe box...
Wego yugo Geo hobo the rails abide...
Shuanghuan sounds very stereotypically Chinese 😂
If I drove this car, you’d catch me leaving my house like “here wheego!”
In Italy, we call the Smart cars "Furgoni" (Vans) because the centre of gravity is so high and the wheelbase so tiny that it just handles like one. Plus, it doesn't help their case when you always find them either rolling on the verge of tipping over when taking a bend... or just straight up parked into a ditch upside-down because it decided to pass too close to a gust of wind.
I definitely enjoyed this video. Your timing is great. Made me laugh out loud several times.
4:21 that was some good editing
My grandmother has a blue 2007-08 smart car and I love it ❤️
Whoa. My mom has one of those first generation ones. I had no idea it was rare...
...and the outro clip of the trabi is great every time :-)
Wheego somewhere
(Not) smart ECU design
Small knockoffs in China are very common, and not very hated, and they get as cheap as 10000 Chinese yuan, or around 2000 dollars.
Hubnut pointed me in your direction.
Fantastic review and the Wheego/Shuanghuan is a car I have wanted to see a review of for a while.
I can’t believe I just noticed the shirt changes in between cars and shots corresponding to the car. I enjoy these videos more every time I watch them...
Great editing man... your definitely doing awesome work
That was actually one of the best car related videos I have seen in the last months.
These cars are doors with wheels.
Thanks. Nicely paced and refreshingly tongue in cheek.
The guy changed shirt whenever he talked about different car, man this is good channel.
"like some weird swedish car that thinks it's an airplane" that saab reference tho
Is it just me or did you change t-shirts when you went to each car? haha this is so funny
We have had gone through two smart cars. Would have bought a third had they not changed the design. Great video.
I loved the t shirt changes! It’s fun finding subtle things like that in videos
Great Video, the shirt changing was a really great idea, it really suprised me and i had to laugh
Nice Video! The 1st generation smart shifts so slowly, because it has two gearboxes. A main 3-gear and one at the axle with two gears. Like on a bicycle this makes six gears. The sixth is an overdrive, the brutal top-speed of 84mph is reached in 5th gear, when you shift into 6th, it gets about 3mph slower...and much quieter...on the left side, opposite to the gas filler neck on the right, is a vent...it looks similar to the filler neck, but it's difficult to remove by hands...but some clever people did it, poured in the gas, and ruined the turbocharger! 😂🤣 Greetings from Germany!
the MK I smart 4-2 "city coupe" was sold NEW in Canada with a 3 pot turbo diesel and the Chimpanzee box and OPTIONAL paddle shifters
I would love to see you in a Smart ForFour, the 175 hp turbo version from Brabham.
In 2008-2010 I had the 90 bhp version and I loved it to bits! Then I gave it to my son when I moved to Central America.
Today I drive a 2022 Jimny with no regrets. But I would love to have the 170 bhp ForFour too!
Should have told the dealer that you needed to take it to have it inspected by your mechanic. Now you have to find a wrecked Smart ED and figure out how to swap the components :)
"A rolling copyright infringement" bahaha! So funny and true.
Not the only car that has inspired a Chinese look-alike. Read up on the Daewoo Matiz. In court GM (who came to own Daewoo) showed that the doors from the Chinese car were interchangable with Matiz doors.
Love the intentional shirt changes... :) Thanks for sharing, be well!
I knew this as the "Noble - Smarter than the rest"! It cost about €7k!
Νομίζω η Ελλάδα ήταν η εξαίρεση στις ευρωπαϊκές χώρες. Είχε γίνει και δικαστήριο και αθωώθηκε ο τότε εισαγωγέας
@@gg_vard Οι Γερμανοί τα πήραν στο κρανίο πανευρωπαϊκά αλλά εδώ στην Ελλάδα η Noble κέρδισε τη διαμάχη, καλά θυμάσαι!
4:21 "Shadow clone jutsu"
This is my new favorite car channel. Thanks for the great content.
He is like a strange hybrid of Doug Demuro and Hoovies Garage. Yet I still love his videos.
The t shirt changes.... absolute genius!
for that roof panel...i bet if you measure the smart & wheego's steel panel that they are identical. Wheego probably made that ridiculous glass blank to fill in the gap between the knocked-off panel due to the extra length of the wheego vs the smart. Just a theory.
Probably the best description of the smart car gear box I've ever heard..... Well done!.....what were Mercedes thinking?
You need to get Doug Demuro to review the Smart car!
I have a column companion to this video being released to autotrader.com/oversteer next week. That's not exactly what you asked for, but it's related.
p387t and the Wheego
Your vids are really good quality nice edits kept me watching
This was a delightful and informative comparison video. Very impressive and fun commentary!
7:50 - "Like some sort of weird swedish car that thinks it's an Air plane" lol
I like you videos, your information, and your comedy! Subscribed!
I had a smart roadster, and your description of the transmission is spot on.
2020 update: the last post on Autonomous "Wheego" Fusion's Twitter account is dated October 31st, 2018, and attempting to open their website gives an error page. Not an error page that mentions the company or anything, just the one you get from Apache httpd out of the box.
the smart fortwo first generation was sold in canada
I remember being in the back of an original ForTwo. There was... not very much room, since I'm bigger than a handbag. I got out after 500 meters and did the rest on foot.
Loved the SAAB reference!😁
Pretty sure that car shown is a Smart Mk2 facelift model from post 2002. The headlights are peanuts instead of almonds, 1998 - 2002 is the mark 1 aka model 1. A lot of parts changed along with that facelift. I do believe it is the first version released in the US (unfortunately you guys never got the CDI diesel variant) so figured it was worth mentioning..
Every time I see cars like these I just shake my head and wonder why.
You do sarcasm almost as well as a Brit. I like you.