2008 Smart fortwo 400 mile review

[Z man]

Originally Posted by thisisntjared

i fixed it.

The Civic Si and Fit are both great cars, to me.

[BumblingB]

I picked up my second Smart day before yesterday. This one is more heavily optioned though it cost about the same amount as the other one I have. Almost EXACTLY one year to the day to get the car. One more day and it would of been a year.

This one has body panels molded in the color of the car. HIGHLY scratch resistant and as dent resistant as your average Saturn though I've heard these don't crack on heavy impact like I have seen the Saturns do (not a bash on Saturns you guys - don't take it that way). Since extra wasn't paid on fancy metalflake paint I used the extra $$ to go towards an upgraded sound system. Not too bad though I will be upgrading the two 6.5" speakers I'll leave the midrange alone as well as the underseat woofer. I also got the alarm system, tach/clock, and fog lights.

As I said way back when and repeated before the Smart lacks cruise control, a plug and play system has been developed for it and is now on the market. It isn't cheap but IMO it is a fair price considering the R&D the guy put into it to bring it to market. Details later about that.

The dealer for the new car did a nitrogen fill on the tires (Mercedes).

The car does use premium - I don't have a problem with that since the tank is so gargantuan.

[Mike T]

Congrats! The yellow will be a rare colour soon!

[BumblingB]

Originally Posted by Mike T

Congrats! The yellow will be a rare colour soon!

I know and so will the orangish red interior but the wife says she doesn't like it and it has to go. Not the car but the color (or colour ). Later on I'll paint over the yellow.

Priority 1 is customizing the old orphan Smart. Here's some of things I'll hopefully cover before November.

1. Cruise Control (unit on order)

2. additional LED lighting for the hatch area as there is no lighting from the factory back there. (have the lights, need time to install)

3. Trailer hitch - THAT'S RIGHT! A trailer hitch! In the distant future I'd like to get a Little Guy Rascal trailer. In the more near future I will be getting nice motorcycle trailer. I know the whiners, haters etc. will cry about how you have to hook up a trailer every time you want to carry something but whoopdedoo. I do the same thing every time I want to carry anything that won't fit in the back of the Avalanche - hook up my utility trailer. Uhaul sells a nice hitch for the Smart 451 and I just picked up a receiver with a 6" lift and 2" ball from Goodwill today.

4. Paint the car from reg to Lime Green Metallic (mid-October scheduled to paint)

5. A few extra auxiliary 12V outlets so cords aren't draped all over the interior.

A few other small items will be done too.

[BumblingB]

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16,200 MILES and I stand by my 400 mile review. This car has been everything I anticipated & MORE!

I have wanted to personalize a brand new car for some time now and I have done it with this one. Since I've owned it in the last few months it has been 3 different colors. Personalizing this car is easy, maintenance is fairly easy too as the car comes apart quickly. CRUISE CONTROL has been added as well - it completes the car and has helped me on better mileage sometimes. I really do wish they would offer cruise from the factory, but I don't suppose they will anytime soon.

For the exterior - I PAINTED IT MYSELF and it shows since it isn't perfect. It is MUCH nicer than some paint jobs I have paid people to do for me. I stood by my projected date of mid-October on having it painted.

The interior comes apart easily as well. While none of these mods have anything to do with better mileage, they do make me happier when driving the car.

As always - the naysayers about these cars and EPA mileages (33 City / 41 Hwy), my mileage logs say it all. I DO NOT BABY THIS CAR! I don't drive like a maniac either but the #'s I'm turning out are combined which should be 36mpg according to the EPA.

[Hockey4mnhs]

That is a sweet smart car.

[Mike T]

Nice colour!

[opelgt73]

What RPM is the motor running at 65mph?

[BumblingB]

Originally Posted by opelgt73

What RPM is the motor running at 65mph?

I think it is around 3100-3250, something around there, just off memory but that is around the speed I normally run and the "sweet spot" in RPMs on this thing is between 2k-3k RPMs.

[opelgt73]

Originally Posted by Wazabi Owner

I think it is around 3100-3250, something around there, just off memory but that is around the speed I normally run and the "sweet spot" in RPMs on this thing is between 2k-3k RPMs.

I wonder if there is a possibility to "mod" the transmission to give you a lower ratio at highway speed? The torque curve aside, I wonder what type of MPG you would get with ratio's similar to the HF? Mine runs about 2K at 65mph.