I recently bought a smart car to be a little more environmentally friendly. I've looked at the cup-holder specificallly made for the car (remember, European cars have stuff like that as extra features you have to pay for). After reading some smart forums, I found the following statement:
"The smart cup-holder is good for shuttling drinks from the take-out to the office, but if you want to have a cup of coffee while driving..."
I'm used to having real cup-holders fitting real travelling mugs, not just one that sits right below the dashboard or one that only holds cans or small plastic bottles. So I thought it's time to make one on my own.
"The smart cup-holder is good for shuttling drinks from the take-out to the office, but if you want to have a cup of coffee while driving..."
I'm used to having real cup-holders fitting real travelling mugs, not just one that sits right below the dashboard or one that only holds cans or small plastic bottles. So I thought it's time to make one on my own.
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Signing UpStep 1: Finished cup-holder first
I start with the end just to first show, where in the car the new cup-holder will go. The ones familiar with the smart car will know, that right below the little square compartment of my cup-holer sits a coin-holder. Hey, who needs that?
As you can see, the cup-holder provides easy access to your latte, americano or whatever you prefer.
As you can see, the cup-holder provides easy access to your latte, americano or whatever you prefer.
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I had feared that the sides would break if someone bumps on the holder, but it's really sturdy.
I just don't like that look. And all in all, the interior is pretty gray all around (fabrics, plastics), so this one is adding some color splash ;-)
Yes, I know, the color is not perfect, but hey, it really works well. I use it every day since I made that thing which is about 2 years.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Carbon-Fiber-Effect---How-to-paint-the-carbon-fibe/
Then you crash and someone gets hurt. Are you driving or drinking?
The Smart, being European, has no cup holder because it is ILLEGAL in many countries in Europe to drive and distract yourself by eating, drinking, smoking, doing makup in the mirror, using your mobile phone, reading your newspaper, watching tv, catching 20 winks or generally not looking at the road and thinking about the difficult and dangerous act of actually driving your heavy weapon down the road among flimsy human beings. European roads, like those here in the UK, are crowded, narrow and require your brain to be in gear while driving down them.
It wasn't some afterthought or omission by neglect by the manufacturer.
That is why such things are sometimes 'options' on European cars.
Be nice about Europe.
And for the stopping of people, I rather prefer they take people off the street for speeding and DUI.
But those are just my 2 cents.
And the orange color, well....
That was all they offered in the store. I would have gone for a darker brown :-)
Orange leather ain't my taste...but there you go. Mine is ALL Jack Black!
Smart make TWO perfectly good cupholders (the review you originally read is a bit off) which screw into the console column below the cd radio and its cd holders (optional). E*ay have them.
That's where I got mine!
And woe betide any driver caught drinking from a cup at traffic lights. Instant fine!
Deaths on the roads are way down.
RESULT!
5*s though :)
I think because it is a european car. The Smart was brought to market some years ago, and at that time, cupholders weren't common in european cars. Today there are a lot of cars having them, although I have the feeling they first came in cars of makes which were also intended to be sold in the US (mostly expensive car makes). Then others followed in the "me too" mentality.
But still, none of them could accomodate the cups I brought with me from the US ;-)
But hey, that's why we have DIY and instructables.
Thanks for the 5*s :-)
I have an Accord that has a broken cup holder, I can use your idea to make an insert to make it a usable one. I will be happy if mine comes out 1/2 as good as yours.
Ro
I guess just going with the little cylinder (depending on your cups and holders size) and some papermache to make it more or less watertight would probably already do. I use white wood glue mixed with water to make my papermache. After it is dried, it makes for a nice hard surface and it's pretty wtertight. I've been using my cupholder for a year now every day and it still looks brand new.
My truck has 3 in the middle, one in each front door and 2 in the back.
That's what I'd call sufficient.
But for my little commuting ride, one cup holder works pretty well.
If I had to use some space for other stuff (I had my guitar with me or my photo gear) I still have the little trunk (the guitar actually fits in there, I almost didn't believe myself) and if I need it bigger, I use my wifes car ;-)
I was actually thinking about adding a small compartment for my mp3 player, but the button positions would be a little odd.
what I don't understand is the purpose of the smart car in the first place. from this instructable I can assume that there are no cupholders, add that to the fairly standard gas mileage and lack of space, I just dont get it. but maybe its just me.
The color of the leather might be due to wrong white balance. Usually I shoot raw instead of jpg because I can easily correct such issues later when using raw.
We have a family car, too, also the truck we brought from the US. Soback seats are dispensable. I also think that the smart has some kind ofapple-factor. It's kind of cool, even if it comes without cup-holders.But that's what I tried to fix. And by the way, thanks for the 3-star rating.