I knew it would happen.
I don't pick up the Fit until tomorrow and the 1st "why didn't you buy the Fortwo?" question was asked.
In Canada, we have had the diesel Fortwo for a couple of years and although they do get better milage than the Fit, the new Fortwo 3cyl gas is rated about the same or better in the city.
And they are the same money and only carry two people. My commute is mostly highway. I don't want to have an accident in a Fortwo.
I picked the Fit on other merits that the Fortwo doesn't have. I never even test drove the Fortwo.
I don't know why people think if you want an economy car, you have to get the smallest most economical car that is made?
The fit is rated at 50mpg (Canadian Imperial gallons) which is a huge step from my V10 F250 that gets a whopping 12mpg.

 

The smart ForTwo is the other car that I was considering before I bought my Fit; I even put in the $100 reservation (note to self: gotta remember to get that back). I was looking at the Pure model, but I had a chance to test drive the Passion.

Overall, it drove very nicely, but there are a few things about it that I didn't like.
There is about a 1 second lag between stepping on the gas and response by the car. Not so with the manual transmission Fit. :)
The buckets seats were built for somebody smaller and thinner than I. I'm 6' tall, 170 pounds, with wide shoulders. Headroom was great, but I had to hunch and curve my shoulders forward to sit in the seat; I would have replaced those as soon as I bought the car, so that added $1000 to the price. I sit very comfortably in the seats in the Fit; I've even taken naps in it on my lunch hour.
I read a few accounts of "smart tipping" (a la cow tipping) on the Net, and that isn't something I wanted to have to worry about.
Cargo space is pretty much nil in the ForTwo, and you can't put anything on the roof. Considering that I occasionally use my car as a truck (garden supplies, building supplies, tools (table saw size)), I needed the extra cargo capacity offered by the Fit.

I've had my Fit since 4/1/08, and I couldn't be happier with it. For me, it was a much better choice than the ForTwo, and I'm in the low 40's for gas mileage.

--Barry, 08 FS MT BBP

 

The Smart convertible would be a fun toy. If you need a car for more then just a toy I can't think of any reason to buy a "Smart" car over a Fit or Yaris etc. (in the USA at least). Way over-priced and the only perk is slightly better gas mileage (but only a tiny cost savings since the "Smart" car recommends premium gas). The base Fit is a better car in every other way and only $400 more than the Passion trim. The Smart4None will be a major flop in the states. Whoever greenlit this thing here would do well to polish up their resume.

 

After driving the fit around tonight I can't imagine having a noisy little diesel behind my back.
I made the right choice for my needs.

 

This was on the news this morning, so I thought I'd go ahead and post the news release from the IIHS:

http://www.iihs.org/news/2008/iihs_news_051408.pdf