Canadian smart car aiming for 100 mpg (US)

[smartzuuk]

They claim it works on ALL, except those specifically noted as incompatible. I really wonder if it would work on the smart.

We have some comptuers from misterdotcom.de that do work, but even then we aren't sure about the calibration... is the mileage really that accurate?

I take it the Insight drivers getting ridiculous numbers would be better off pulling out the hybrid system (so to speak), and make the car lighter. It sounds like Auto Stopping is the trick in urban, and the aerodynamics are the trick on the highway. Neither need a hybrid system to work. Someone really should try putting a smart diesel in an Insight, oh wait, wasn't I already thinking about that? LOL

[smartzuuk]

Oh, so I finally found the definition for CODFISHING, and I cannot employ that method in the smart... not a good idea.

I was thinking about covering the rear wheels (like some here have done), and pehaps adding a vortex generator or two or three to the back of the car. I think the smart is .38 CD, which is bad...

I guess the challenge would be to find 3-4 things I could do to get the aerodynamics improved and/or decrease the rolling resistance.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by smartzuuk

but even then we aren't sure about the calibration... is the mileage really that accurate?

My SG1 is very accurate and was calibrated very closely out of the box - within 2 percent. I have tweaked it further, and it was within 0.6% on my last fill up.

It sounds like Auto Stopping is the trick in urban, and the aerodynamics are the trick on the highway. Neither need a hybrid system to work.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. Also, lean burn on the highway is the trick in the Hondas.

Oh, so I finally found the definition for CODFISHING, and I cannot employ that method in the smart... not a good idea.

I take it that's because the smart has the sequential gearbox, yes? You can't simply go from, 4th gear to neutral, for ICE-off coasting, then from neutral back to 4th.

I was thinking about covering the rear wheels (like some here have done), and pehaps adding a vortex generator or two or three to the back of the car. I think the smart is .38 CD, which is bad...

I guess the challenge would be to find 3-4 things I could do to get the aerodynamics improved and/or decrease the rolling resistance.

Rear skirts may gain you a couple per cent at highway speeds. Not sure about the VG's - read about them, but haven't tested them. As for rolling resistance, not much you can do there except possibly opt for LRR tires, increase tire pressure, or lighten the vehicle.

[The Toecutter]

Toes: I'm curious, what do you drive and where do you drive it?

My current daily driver is a 1994 Suzuki Sidekick. It's my step mom's. It's very slow, tops out at ~75 mph on flat ground, 0-60 time was over 20 seconds. It needs a tune up, which is probably why the performance is so poor. If I drive it like normal, full throttle to accelerate(which comes just short of keeping up with traffic), and 65-70 mph on the highway, it gets around 16 mpg. I can eek near 30 mpg out of it at a steady 50 mph, which is what I've been doing, and getting tailgaited very frequently as a result. An 18-wheeler even tried to run me off the road. It's not fun to drive and if I don't get enough speed going up a freeway on-ramp, I'll have to pull over on the shoulder and wait for the highway traffic to clear, because it isn't safe to merge into 70+ mph traffic at 15-20 mph. This POS easily gets stuck on steep hills, and thus I have to find alternate routes to them.

When I was a teenager, I had a 1996 Ford Contour with a Diablo performance chip and MSD ignition system. 0-60 was ~7 seconds, and with the electronic speed limiter rendered useless, it buried the 130 mph speedo. Stock these made 170 bhp, but I don't know what the modifications upped the power to. Given the 15.0-15.5 second 1/4 mile times achieved at Gateway International, my best guess would be ~190 bhp. Gas mileage was so-so, between 25-30 mpg. My favorite places to take it were Route 15 between Belleville and East St. Louis, and the rural areas near Freeburg, Illinois. What is currently keeping it off the road? Needs the entire emissions system replaced, needs a new alternator, and the engine itself is about ready to give out. It sits in the driveway.

I have the GT6 as well. That is my project car. I haven't taken it out much, as it doesn't have up to date license plates on it; if I get pulled over, I'd be ****ed. But it has been excellent to take out into the country to go hooning in the middle of the night while stoned off my *** with a friend. The engine has been bored to 2.5L displacement, and flooring it sounds like a Harley Davidson getting ***-raped by a Formula Race Car. It's loud enough to set off alarms of parked cars. It will be an electric car within months after getting my electrical engineering degree, as engineers make quite a bit of coin and it won't take too much cash to convert(Parts ~$10-12k in total). The straight 6 will be sold on Ebay, and in its place will be a WarP 9" series DC motor, Zilla 1k HV controller, and perhaps a 300V+ pack of Exide Orbital AGMs. This combination would give 0-60 mph ~5.5 seconds and a top speed in excess of 140 mph limited by RPM, at least according to simulation. With extensive aeromods, range could be 100 miles at 65 mph. I could do a cheaper 156V setup that would have similar acceleration and range using larger sized batteries, but it would only top around 120 or so; this would shave $4-5k from the conversion cost. Sadly, converting to electric will cause it to lose that beautiful engine noise.To get it to pass inspection, I need to weld in new floorboards and need a new windshield. I don't yet know how to weld.


My dad used to have an Audi TT. He's had that to 145, before the governor kicked in. Amazingly stable at that speed.

[The Toecutter]

I'm not so old that I've forgotten the feeling of invincibility I had as a youngster but seriously a good crash will make you think of these things a little differently. Yah and if someone was telling me this when I was 24 I'd probably nod then laugh it off after walking away. Well now I've had plenty of experiences that have finally proven to me that it isn't always the other guy that stuff happens to, no matter how smart and capable you think you are.

I don't at all feel invincible, not by a longshot... High speed driving shunts, death is seldom instantaneous. Miss one downshift? Miss the apex of the turn going too fast? Lose traction? Arms or legs get fatigued, mid-turn? Every move you make, you're crunching a level IV integral in your mind, without realizing it or consciously running the numbers. Do not falter. Pain shows no mercy. At your dying breath, ravens will first lay claim to you.

I don't even consider myself capable, really. I more or less would rather have fun. If it one day ends my life, so be it. I merely see it as my responsibility that it never harms anyone else except for a willing participant inside the vehicle. If that prospective participant is not 100% willing or able to understand the possible implications of the activity? He or she doesn't participate. Needless to say, it's quite fun baiting the AFT, continuously committing a felony on the open road, and playing with pipe bombs while intoxicated on a myriad of controlled substances.

I've been like this since I was a child, and I will more than likely stay this way. In the future when I'm on my own, I may militantly defend what liberties I have from those who wish to take them. It's my nature.


I do have access to a drag strip, and use it. But it just doesn't compare to an open country road, free of inhabitants, endowned with many beautiful curves and small fluctuations in elevation, and the pure sense of liberty that is felt...

Actually it was pretty moot before too, but in MN/North Dakota there are some really desolate areas where a person can really wring 'er out without jeopardizing anyone else's life and limb... but now if you get caught it'll really cost ya. And there's always them damn deer to consider.

The consequence of living in a society drifting towards a police state... Bureaucrats, corporations, and politicians, lusting for uncompromised control over our lives, our money, and demanding our unyielding faith and obedience, see it fit to punish most severely those activities they deem illegal which pose no risk to others or their property. They justify the existence of such laws merely because such laws exist. A logical fallacy.

Provided the mounted camera can't make out you or your license plate(or you don't have plates on your vehicle for the duration of the run!), and provided a chopper isn't on your *** in under 3 minutes, pursuit is untenable.

Sport bike guys know this and they know it well. So too do sports car guys.(corollary: rare exceptions exist where sport bike guys outrun helicoptors)

Just don't slip up, or Ponch and John will throw the book at you, even if you never hurt anyone or posed any risk to anyone but yourself. Perhaps someone could fire a few bullets in Ponch and John's direction, but that would sink them to their level. Besides, many times Ponch and John are just doing their job, even if they may not agree with it. Like many others, they will trade the tangible liberties of other people or even their own liberties for a temporary feeling of security, an illusion engineered to make them feel good, appease the over-bearing security moms for the sake of 'the children', and be patriotic. After all, it's food on the table, a roof over their head, protection from those evil terrorists that will destroy every last remaining WASP...

"But officer, it's just a forklift motor and a bunch of batteries."

I think the Tempo could get by on two cylinders. Around here there is hardly any city driving so out on the road where people come blasting up behind me, they can just pass if they don't like my pace. My most common "long" trips are 60 miles and 350 miles away. At 52 mph vs 59 mph (my old cruise speed) the time penalties are 10 minutes and 48 minutes- I can handle that. I easily fritter away 10 minutes before going or 48 minutes at breaks on six hour trips so it gets “lost in the noise” anyway.

With a few subtle changes, this would have been a fine automobile. My friend Matt has a 1989 Ford Tempo. It reeks of illegal plants and McDonalds, and he even got stoned in it with Tommy Chong(I have autographed pictures to prove they at least met), but compared to that piece of **** Suzuki I use for a daily driver, it's a Porsche! With a few changes to the rear rake of the car, rear wheel skirts, LRR tires, partial grill block, smooth hubcaps, full smooth underbelly, and updated engine technology, this would have made a fine car. The car's overall profile and dimensions lend itself to the possibility of having excellent aerodynamics without sacrificing stability, storage space, performance, handling, or any other parameter, without adding anything significant to the cost. But it just wasn't to be. But the big automakers don't really care about the finer details; they care about making subpar products with the highest possible profit margins. They answer to investors who demand maximized profits, and not the consumer who demands fuel economy, performance, reliability, and affordability. Advent of the monopoly, the 'free market society' gives the consumer choices: either buy from a selection of uniform products driven into archetypes with similar prices and traits to competitors, or do without. Price discrimination at work.

The Tempo could have very easily been a 50 mpg car with the right touch ups. I'm quite partial to the diesels myself. In my opinion, the only thing it would need after all of the above were done is more power, but not everyone shares my opinion.

[onegammyleg]

?I don't even consider myself capable, really. I more or less would rather have fun. If it one day ends my life, so be it.?

About the most dangerous thing I do now days is watch MTV's JackAss

[smartzuuk]

Holy O/T batman... but neat, I did like Rush growing up.

Uhm, about the scanguage, okay, I need to find someone in the Vancouver area that has one. I want to try this thing out for 5 minutes. I could sell a hundred if it works.

[MetroMPG]

ScanGauge ... try contacting philmcneal on this board. He's in your neck of the woods.

[smartzuuk]

I have pm'd the fellow in Surrey.

[smartzuuk]

Okay, many thanks, I now have a Scanguage I in the smart, and will work on calibrating it over the next few days. Then I will kick some arse on numbers again...