Supporting what many others have written, it’s all about context for this car. Montreal, where I live, is pretty densely populated with hard-to-find parking by North American standards. For the Car2G0 program, which has permission to park in residential zones, the ForTwo is perfect. It fills all of the half spaces…

I looked into it, and my understanding is that, especially with the ForTwo, it was a development program led by Smart with input from Renault. The Renault side of things were relatively important for the ForFour, which *is* a badge-job Twingo (or rather more vice versa). So, I’m not sure your claim is accurate,…

The first gen was diesel-only, I believe. So it wouldn’t have been high octane, but perhaps you are remembering the high cost of diesel?

These suckers have been rolling out on Car2G0 here in Montreal, and they are so drastically improved over the previous generation that I’m not even sure what the engineers were doing for the gen2 car. The interior finally makes sense, the ride is downright pleasant, the engine actually has perceivable torque and, most…

[In Italian voice] Si, itsa lucky no one kia’d ‘er car!

Not at all. Emirates is one of Boeings biggest (their biggest?) customers. This disadvantages everybody now.

Solution (for now): Transfer through Canada. You’ll get better service and better airports anyway (unless you accidentally book Air Canada Rouge). This is the time for Air Canada and WestJet to make hay.

Nah, this is a chicken or the egg scenario. One could argue that TC exists because governments have put such limited requirements on drivers when it comes to learning how to drive. I’m sure lots of Mustangs crashed before the era of YouTube, cell phones, and cheaper horsepower. We just didn’t hear about it.

That was probably Swiss, not KLM. Four official languages in that country plus English commonly. As a Canadian that has to listen to every safety announcement in English and French, I’m happy knowing someone shares our scenario.

Air travel of ANY kind is a privilege. He’s just voting with his money and demonstrating what amount he feels good service is worth.

Interestingly, it turns out that Asia is a big place and airlines vary. Singapore, Cathay, ANA, JAL, EVA Air, Jetstar Asia, HK Express, and Hainan all rank in the top 20 worldwide for safety. Most of those beat their American counterparts in the ranking, while many (notably American Airlines) don’t even get listed in…

You’ve said it. I fly a fair bit, including many flights across the Atlantic. Even if the French offer superior service. EVEN. THE. FRENCH.

Except I don’t spend 4-10 hours being served a hotdog, nor thousands of dollars. Crappy comparison.

This. There is a reason you can’t get a few of their models with anything more powerful than a 170hp boxer engine, and it’s the same reason they haven’t really invested in their bigger engines much. People don’t care. Leather, nav, a backup camera, infotainment, sunroof. Yes, people care.

Just come up to Canada...you can still get it in the 4cylinder/manual combo. But, be forewarned, what with the underpowered nature of the 4-cylinder, it’s agricultural sound, and the rubbery feel of the manual...this isn’t what you’d call a dynamic drive.

The worst scam? The repeated damage claim. Paris-area rentals are the worst for this, where they’ll simply not mark down previous damage, then tell you the car has been thoroughly checked, then “discover” damage upon the return of your vehicle.

Yeah, Avis doesn’t try to pull that on me either.

There’s also no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto functionality, so those of you who can’t bear to have your eyes off of a screen will be stuck rocking one of those windshield suction-cup holders like an Uber driver.

...on it’s path to being one of the top selling brands in the US...

No one wanted that car. You know this, and Mazda knows this. The only reason to get a crossover over a hatchback is the supposed advantage of all-wheel-drive. If you were the type that had to have a clutch pedal you were better off getting a Mazda3 hatchback, which is available with a manual across the range, and…