Hotscoots
Elio Addict
My take on the transmission is, it's different. The driver has to adapt his habits to fit the transmission. If you take the time to learn how to work with the transmission you will be much happier with it than if you fight against it.
I'm not going to compare the smart against other cars. It is what it is. I like mine.
I think the Smart is an odd little vehicle , not unlike the Elio which I desire . A friend of mine bought one for his son . They fought against the tranny and reported that it took too much time to engage etc. He wound up buying a device that you install to flash the ECU and select various driving modes . He told me that in "Performance" mode , the tranny shifts perfectly for them.