Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Lizzie_Zoom on 02 February 2011, 19:06:33
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Yesterday I was talking to my nail technician (for the men that means a lady who keeps your finger nails all nice and painted! ;)), and got onto the subject of her Smartcar that was not parked outside as usual.
She explained that she had had trouble starting it, in fact not starting at all!! The alternator had gone, along with a belt. She had also decided to have a full service as it was well overdue.
After the faults were identified she found that no local garage wanted to touch it, as they stated they did not have all the special tools required, and the cars were a pain to work on!! It finally ended up with a Mercedes main dealer, who had originally sold her the car, taking on the work as of course Smartcars come from the Merc stable. The cost of the alternator, belt, and full service? £800, yes, £800 after a discount!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Bloody hell I said, and I thought my Omega can cost enough if I was stupid lacking the skill so I had to take it to a Vx main dealer, but £800 for a Mickey Mouse or Noddy car!!! :o :o :o
So these "green, eco friendly and environmently great" cars are actually the most expensive for servicing and repairs in the average car stakes!! :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
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Yesterday I was talking to my nail technician (for the men that means a lady who keeps your finger nails all nice and painted! ;)), and got onto the subject of her Smartcar that was not parked outside as usual.
She explained that she had had trouble starting it, in fact not starting at all!! The alternator had gone, along with a belt. She had also decided to have a full service as it was well overdue.
After the faults were identified she found that no local garage wanted to touch it, as they stated they did not have all the special tools required, and the cars were a pain to work on!! It finally ended up with a Mercedes main dealer, who had originally sold her the car, taking on the work as of course Smartcars come from the Merc stable. The cost of the alternator, belt, and full service? £800, yes, £800 after a discount!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Bloody hell I said, and I thought my Omega can cost enough if I was stupid lacking the skill so I had to take it to a Vx main dealer, but £800 for a Mickey Mouse or Noddy car!!! :o :o :o
So these "green, eco friendly and environmently great" cars are actually the most expensive for servicing and repairs in the average car stakes!! :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
Any main dealer is going to nail your hat on if you just ask them to fix it. My local MB daler charges £100 an hour so it doesn't take long for the price to upwards & onwards. I've no idea about your neck of the woods specifically, but there are loads of independant Smart specialist around who don't charge the earth & have a better idea of what they're doing. She should count herself lucky she doesn't drive a Roadster, the back end has to come off if you need your 6 spark plugs changing.
I was speaking to a Vectra owner recently whose alternator had died on him while he was away on holiday. He was recovered to the nearest Vauxhall dealers who billed him around £450 for a fitted replacement alternator, they reduced it to just under £400 when he questioned it.
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Yesterday I was talking to my nail technician (for the men that means a lady who keeps your finger nails all nice and painted! ;)), and got onto the subject of her Smartcar that was not parked outside as usual.
She explained that she had had trouble starting it, in fact not starting at all!! The alternator had gone, along with a belt. She had also decided to have a full service as it was well overdue.
After the faults were identified she found that no local garage wanted to touch it, as they stated they did not have all the special tools required, and the cars were a pain to work on!! It finally ended up with a Mercedes main dealer, who had originally sold her the car, taking on the work as of course Smartcars come from the Merc stable. The cost of the alternator, belt, and full service? £800, yes, £800 after a discount!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Bloody hell I said, and I thought my Omega can cost enough if I was stupid lacking the skill so I had to take it to a Vx main dealer, but £800 for a Mickey Mouse or Noddy car!!! :o :o :o
So these "green, eco friendly and environmently great" cars are actually the most expensive for servicing and repairs in the average car stakes!! :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
Any main dealer is going to nail your hat on if you just ask them to fix it. My local MB daler charges £100 an hour so it doesn't take long for the price to upwards & onwards. I've no idea about your neck of the woods specifically, but there are loads of independant Smart specialist around who don't charge the earth & have a better idea of what they're doing. She should count herself lucky she doesn't drive a Roadster, the back end has to come off if you need your 6 spark plugs changing.
I was speaking to a Vectra owner recently whose alternator had died on him while he was away on holiday. He was recovered to the nearest Vauxhall dealers who billed him around £450 for a fitted replacement alternator, they reduced it to just under £400 when he questioned it.
:o I hope he counted his fingers after being robbed handing over the money :D ;)
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main dealers are at least £100+ per hour labor, so not a surprise.
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lol i have to do the starter motor on a smart soon, average time to do it is?????
6 hours!!!! just about everything and anything has to come off to get to it including intercooler, shrouding, various electrical plugs and sensors removed offside engine mounting then drop the engine down as far as you can go then if your very very lucky you can wriggle it out of the gap that appears, if your not the engine other side has to come down to give more room, merc reckon you have to drop the engine out!!!
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I've got a 'thing' about ladies with nice fingernails Ms Zoom!
;D ;D ;D
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lol i have to do the starter motor on a smart soon, average time to do it is?????
6 hours!!!! just about everything and anything has to come off to get to it including intercooler, shrouding, various electrical plugs and sensors removed offside engine mounting then drop the engine down as far as you can go then if your very very lucky you can wriggle it out of the gap that appears, if your not the engine other side has to come down to give more room, merc reckon you have to drop the engine out!!!
Blimey!! :o :o :o So what some local mechanics told my nail lady was correct. They all said they were a pig to work on, and they wouldn't!! :o :o :o
From what you say it is even worse than working on an original Mini, and that could be a right pain!! ::) ::) ::) :-X :-X
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Yesterday I was talking to my nail technician (for the men that means a lady who keeps your finger nails all nice and painted! ;)), and got onto the subject of her Smartcar that was not parked outside as usual.
She explained that she had had trouble starting it, in fact not starting at all!! The alternator had gone, along with a belt. She had also decided to have a full service as it was well overdue.
After the faults were identified she found that no local garage wanted to touch it, as they stated they did not have all the special tools required, and the cars were a pain to work on!! It finally ended up with a Mercedes main dealer, who had originally sold her the car, taking on the work as of course Smartcars come from the Merc stable. The cost of the alternator, belt, and full service? £800, yes, £800 after a discount!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Bloody hell I said, and I thought my Omega can cost enough if I was stupid lacking the skill so I had to take it to a Vx main dealer, but £800 for a Mickey Mouse or Noddy car!!! :o :o :o
So these "green, eco friendly and environmently great" cars are actually the most expensive for servicing and repairs in the average car stakes!! :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
Any main dealer is going to nail your hat on if you just ask them to fix it. My local MB daler charges £100 an hour so it doesn't take long for the price to upwards & onwards. I've no idea about your neck of the woods specifically, but there are loads of independant Smart specialist around who don't charge the earth & have a better idea of what they're doing. She should count herself lucky she doesn't drive a Roadster, the back end has to come off if you need your 6 spark plugs changing.
I was speaking to a Vectra owner recently whose alternator had died on him while he was away on holiday. He was recovered to the nearest Vauxhall dealers who billed him around £450 for a fitted replacement alternator, they reduced it to just under £400 when he questioned it.
Makes me getting charged £170 seem quite good really :-X
Thing is, its probably either the rectifier pack or the voltage regulator, or the connections, and I'm sure the electronics modules cost not much more than £10 each.
Ever get the feeling we are all getting screwed, by everyone.
Ken
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Yesterday I was talking to my nail technician (for the men that means a lady who keeps your finger nails all nice and painted! ;)), and got onto the subject of her Smartcar that was not parked outside as usual.
She explained that she had had trouble starting it, in fact not starting at all!! The alternator had gone, along with a belt. She had also decided to have a full service as it was well overdue.
After the faults were identified she found that no local garage wanted to touch it, as they stated they did not have all the special tools required, and the cars were a pain to work on!! It finally ended up with a Mercedes main dealer, who had originally sold her the car, taking on the work as of course Smartcars come from the Merc stable. The cost of the alternator, belt, and full service? £800, yes, £800 after a discount!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Bloody hell I said, and I thought my Omega can cost enough if I was stupid lacking the skill so I had to take it to a Vx main dealer, but £800 for a Mickey Mouse or Noddy car!!! :o :o :o
So these "green, eco friendly and environmently great" cars are actually the most expensive for servicing and repairs in the average car stakes!! :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
Any main dealer is going to nail your hat on if you just ask them to fix it. My local MB daler charges £100 an hour so it doesn't take long for the price to upwards & onwards. I've no idea about your neck of the woods specifically, but there are loads of independant Smart specialist around who don't charge the earth & have a better idea of what they're doing. She should count herself lucky she doesn't drive a Roadster, the back end has to come off if you need your 6 spark plugs changing.
I was speaking to a Vectra owner recently whose alternator had died on him while he was away on holiday. He was recovered to the nearest Vauxhall dealers who billed him around £450 for a fitted replacement alternator, they reduced it to just under £400 when he questioned it.
Makes me getting charged £170 seem quite good really :-X
Thing is, its probably either the rectifier pack or the voltage regulator, or the connections, and I'm sure the electronics modules cost not much more than £10 each.
Ever get the feeling we are all getting screwed, by everyone.
Ken
Yeah mate - constantly >:(
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I've got a 'thing' about ladies with nice fingernails Ms Zoom!
;D ;D ;D
Well I have ten of them Byron, plus 10 painted toe nails! :D :D :D :D I hope you sleep well tonight! :D :D :D :D ;) ;)
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I've got a 'thing' about ladies with nice fingernails Ms Zoom!
;D ;D ;D
Well I have ten of them Byron, plus 10 painted toe nails! :D :D :D :D I hope you sleep well tonight! :D :D :D :D ;) ;)
Mmmmmm ...........
Night night sweetness! ;D ;D ;D
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lol i have to do the starter motor on a smart soon, average time to do it is?????
6 hours!!!! just about everything and anything has to come off to get to it including intercooler, shrouding, various electrical plugs and sensors removed offside engine mounting then drop the engine down as far as you can go then if your very very lucky you can wriggle it out of the gap that appears, if your not the engine other side has to come down to give more room, merc reckon you have to drop the engine out!!!
Blimey!! :o :o :o So what some local mechanics told my nail lady was correct. They all said they were a pig to work on, and they wouldn't!! :o :o :o
From what you say it is even worse than working on an original Mini, and that could be a right pain!! ::) ::) ::) :-X :-X
Liz i would welcome doing a head gasket on aclassic mini rather than doing a smart!!!, next time you see you nail lady just ask her to show you the engine, and see if you can spot the starter motor!! :y
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lol i have to do the starter motor on a smart soon, average time to do it is?????
6 hours!!!! just about everything and anything has to come off to get to it including intercooler, shrouding, various electrical plugs and sensors removed offside engine mounting then drop the engine down as far as you can go then if your very very lucky you can wriggle it out of the gap that appears, if your not the engine other side has to come down to give more room, merc reckon you have to drop the engine out!!!
Blimey!! :o :o :o So what some local mechanics told my nail lady was correct. They all said they were a pig to work on, and they wouldn't!! :o :o :o
From what you say it is even worse than working on an original Mini, and that could be a right pain!! ::) ::) ::) :-X :-X
Liz i would welcome doing a head gasket on aclassic mini rather than doing a smart!!!, next time you see you nail lady just ask her to show you the engine, and see if you can spot the starter motor!! :y
If access is as good as on a Roadster, when you remove the engine cover, you're lucky to see anything at all. ;D ;D ;D
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lol i have to do the starter motor on a smart soon, average time to do it is?????
6 hours!!!! just about everything and anything has to come off to get to it including intercooler, shrouding, various electrical plugs and sensors removed offside engine mounting then drop the engine down as far as you can go then if your very very lucky you can wriggle it out of the gap that appears, if your not the engine other side has to come down to give more room, merc reckon you have to drop the engine out!!!
Blimey!! :o :o :o So what some local mechanics told my nail lady was correct. They all said they were a pig to work on, and they wouldn't!! :o :o :o
From what you say it is even worse than working on an original Mini, and that could be a right pain!! ::) ::) ::) :-X :-X
Liz i would welcome doing a head gasket on aclassic mini rather than doing a smart!!!, next time you see you nail lady just ask her to show you the engine, and see if you can spot the starter motor!! :y
If access is as good as on a Roadster, when you remove the engine cover, you're lucky to see anything at all. ;D ;D ;D
Much better access if you ditch the standard engine and fit a GSX-R engine instead:
(http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/Dino%20Dalle%20Carbonare/JUNE2009/TIS09-PT2/TIS09-144.jpg)
;D
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I thought a smartcar was a V6 starter motor, maybe an alternator?
Gay cars. :(
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Much better access if you ditch the standard engine and fit a GSX-R engine instead:
(http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/Dino%20Dalle%20Carbonare/JUNE2009/TIS09-PT2/TIS09-144.jpg)
;D
..and you can probably mow the lawn in half the time too. :y
Kevin
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Much better access if you ditch the standard engine and fit a GSX-R engine instead: ....
The standard 80bhp engine is lacking in torque, I'd imagine a bike engine would be even worse. :-/ :-/
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and no reverse gear ;D
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I could live with this speed : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCu2iTh5_bs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
:D :D :D
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Much better access if you ditch the standard engine and fit a GSX-R engine instead: ....
The standard 80bhp engine is lacking in torque, I'd imagine a bike engine would be even worse. :-/ :-/
The 2010 gsxr1000 engine has a claimed 190bhp,only 87 torques though.Sounds like a lot of fun to me. ;)
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lol i have to do the starter motor on a smart soon, average time to do it is?????
6 hours!!!! just about everything and anything has to come off to get to it including intercooler, shrouding, various electrical plugs and sensors removed offside engine mounting then drop the engine down as far as you can go then if your very very lucky you can wriggle it out of the gap that appears, if your not the engine other side has to come down to give more room, merc reckon you have to drop the engine out!!!
Blimey!! :o :o :o So what some local mechanics told my nail lady was correct. They all said they were a pig to work on, and they wouldn't!! :o :o :o
From what you say it is even worse than working on an original Mini, and that could be a right pain!! ::) ::) ::) :-X :-X
Liz i would welcome doing a head gasket on aclassic mini rather than doing a smart!!!, next time you see you nail lady just ask her to show you the engine, and see if you can spot the starter motor!! :y
Will do OT, as I must admit I have never seen one! :y :y :y
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lol i have to do the starter motor on a smart soon, average time to do it is?????
6 hours!!!! just about everything and anything has to come off to get to it including intercooler, shrouding, various electrical plugs and sensors removed offside engine mounting then drop the engine down as far as you can go then if your very very lucky you can wriggle it out of the gap that appears, if your not the engine other side has to come down to give more room, merc reckon you have to drop the engine out!!!
Blimey!! :o :o :o So what some local mechanics told my nail lady was correct. They all said they were a pig to work on, and they wouldn't!! :o :o :o
From what you say it is even worse than working on an original Mini, and that could be a right pain!! ::) ::) ::) :-X :-X
Liz i would welcome doing a head gasket on aclassic mini rather than doing a smart!!!, next time you see you nail lady just ask her to show you the engine, and see if you can spot the starter motor!! :y
If access is as good as on a Roadster, when you remove the engine cover, you're lucky to see anything at all. ;D ;D ;D
Much better access if you ditch the standard engine and fit a GSX-R engine instead:
(http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/Dino%20Dalle%20Carbonare/JUNE2009/TIS09-PT2/TIS09-144.jpg)
;D
One shock after another Aaron; how on earth do you work on that engine? :o :o :o :o
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I cannot wait to see a Smartcar engine live, so I have looked up some pictures.
First the lovely, cute little car, with a great driver!! :D :D :D
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/All%20Things%20Interesting/Smartcar.jpg)
then the engine in its compartment:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/Smartcarengine.jpg)
What!! I see what Omegatoy means!! Bugger working on that!! :o :o :o :o
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One shock after another Aaron; how on earth do you work on that engine? :o :o :o :o
I think most of the bike-engine conversions come with a tubular subframe at the rear, so I'm guessing step one for anything except the very top of the engine (intake trumpets & plug leads!) is going to be 'remove the engine' - just like the Porsche Boxter, in fact, where all you can do is check the oil without dropping the engine (so I hear)!
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then the engine in its compartment:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/Smartcarengine.jpg)
<Looks to see if he can spot the "Briggs and Stratton" logo> :D
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Not much a daily driver with the bike engine fitted though.....and with full rebuilds every 10K miles to!
They are hateful things for daily use these little Smart cars, pretty noisey and unrefined.
I think they may have a place for inner city use.
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It would have to used pretty hard to need a rebuild after 10k miles. Engines in road bikes (even little 600 screamers) can normally go way past 50k with nothing more than regular servicing. ;)
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Remember they are not WWD
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It would have to used pretty hard to need a rebuild after 10k miles. Engines in road bikes (even little 600 screamers) can normally go way past 50k with nothing more than regular servicing. ;)
Yes, and it will be.
Your no longer shifting a few hundred kilos, your moving 3-4 times that!
So it will be working VERY hard
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Sky do special versions, just for
Daz pink :y
Edit, d'oh need to re-upload images
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I can see your point on that, although if thats the case it would be as easy to just drop another engine in, at £500 for a decent second hand unit. :-/
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I can see your point on that, although if thats the case it would be as easy to just drop another engine in, at £500 for a decent second hand unit. :-/
They appear surprisingly durable in kit cars, contrary to what you might expect. I tour with quite a few guys who run bike engines doing pretty high road mileages and abuse them on track (you wouldn't put up with BEC "ergonomics" for road use alone!).
They have swapped the odd tired engine between them but IME they will last much longer than 10k miles. Most failures are due to the oil system not being properly engineered causing oil surge or scavenge pump drive failure rather than wear.
When you consider that you can drop a standard bike engine in from a scrapper (and bikers are always putting them through hedges) whereas at the same level of performance with a car engine you are probably doing at least a bit of tuning work, and hence investing time and money in the engine, I'm not sure, from a durability point of view, that there's much in it for a small, light car.
You'd have to ask how durable a Smart engine is against a normal car engine too, of course!
Kevin
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then the engine in its compartment:
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/lizziefreeman/Smartcarengine.jpg)
Looks to see if he can spot the "Briggs and Stratton"
Of Milwaukee USA, Mr Wood? ;D
Quite like the Lombardini jobs meself! :y
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Ime the amount of use/abuse a japanese bike engine will take is astonishing.
They are brilliantly engineered. :y
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I can see your point on that, although if thats the case it would be as easy to just drop another engine in, at £500 for a decent second hand unit. :-/
They appear surprisingly durable in kit cars, contrary to what you might expect. I tour with quite a few guys who run bike engines doing pretty high road mileages and abuse them on track (you wouldn't put up with BEC "ergonomics" for road use alone!).
They have swapped the odd tired engine between them but IME they will last much longer than 10k miles. Most failures are due to the oil system not being properly engineered causing oil surge or scavenge pump drive failure rather than wear.
When you consider that you can drop a standard bike engine in from a scrapper (and bikers are always putting them through hedges) whereas at the same level of performance with a car engine you are probably doing at least a bit of tuning work, and hence investing time and money in the engine, I'm not sure, from a durability point of view, that there's much in it for a small, light car.
You'd have to ask how durable a Smart engine is against a normal car engine too, of course!
Kevin
Trouble is, your going a stage further again from a Kitcar as its heavier still and more likely to hit a lot of stop start driving.
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Special Daz versions ;D
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Misc/smart1.jpg)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Misc/smart2.jpg)
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Not much a daily driver with the bike engine fitted though.....and with full rebuilds every 10K miles to!
I don't deny it would be hugely impractical and not an every day car at all, but I bet it would be a blast down the country lanes - although they do have an absurdly high CoG (at least looking at them) .. perhaps a bike engined Smart Roadster would be more fun.
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Not much a daily driver with the bike engine fitted though.....and with full rebuilds every 10K miles to!
I don't deny it would be hugely impractical and not an every day car at all, but I bet it would be a blast down the country lanes - although they do have an absurdly high CoG (at least looking at them) .. perhaps a bike engined Smart Roadster would be more fun.
TBH, if you want something like that then a Smart in any form is the wrong starting point.
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(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Misc/smart1.jpg)
You would have to pay me some serious dosh before I got behind the wheel of that bucketfull of sickness. Jesus, that is one horribly vinyl'd up concept by some friend of Dorothy agency exec rocking on Special K at the time. And they got paid for that.
I was looking at these Smart things last year for some stupid 'I could save money' reason. After seeing so many up for grabs with failed head gaskets and ovalled bottom ends I dropped the idea quicker than Katie Price's knickers.
There is one micro car I like the look of, although it's not in production which is a shame. The T25.
(http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/jpg/201006/gordon-murray-t25-t2w.jpg)
Behind the wheel it doesn't have that nancy boy look about it either:
(http://www.carsmagz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010-Gordon-Murray-T.25-Concept-from-Interior-View-Picture-800x576.jpg)
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Jesus, that is one horribly vinyl'd up concept by some friend of Dorothy agency exec rocking on Special K at the time. And they got paid for that.
Its no concept, they are some of the sales fleet cars ;D
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Ime the amount of use/abuse a japanese bike engine will take is astonishing.
They are brilliantly engineered. :y
Mine took a fair bit :-X :-X ::) ::)