[Sci-Fi]

quote:Originally posted by bobs turbo pt

"Front Wheel drive is an evil child of satan and should be illegal"

That particular Smart roadster is rear wheel drive with a mid-ships mounted turbo 3 cylinder engine. The car only weighs 1738 lbs. The transmission is a sequential 6-speed transmission. All the body parts can be easily removed and replaced with body panels of your choice. It is a very safe and economical car too. This is not to say the car rides comfortably, but from the videos I have seen it handles the twisty roads quite well without showing much body roll or understeer. In the states, it would make a good commuter car and weekend cruiser. Hopefully Dodge will not "tune" the suspension for the American market. There are many go fast and appearance parts already available. Includes ECU upgrades (removes the speed limiter too), cyc heads from port and polished to full race, and larger turbos, plus SS exhausts. Many people may not like the 3 lug wheels and replacement wheel choices will be limited.

The Smart front wheel drive 4-door may reach the marketplace first though. Whether or not DC decides to recreate the Smart brand in the states and/or just rebadges them as Dodge is still unknown. Won't see the Smart micro cars imported though, too small and the styling won't sell here. DC will have a hit if they move up the time table for stateside introduction of the Smart cars to 2005 instead of 2006, esp with the price of gas they way it is now and the projected low teens MSRP, even if they only sold the cars on the east and west coasts. Believe there is already a limited/preliminary presence in Canada right now (2004).