another smart cdi owner

[Mike T]

Hi all,

smartzuuk referred me to this place. I am not a hard-core MPG guy like him, but I do enjoy my smart, and I will be getting a ScanGauge for Xmas, so I am given to understand.....

I've had the car for two years now, and the lifetime fuel consumption has been 60.6 US MPG, over 55,500 km.

My smart is a convertible, and it has wide tires (175/55-15 on the front and 195/50-15 on the rear). These make the car handle a lot better and raise the ESP intervention threshold, but do add somewhat to the fuel consumption. I run them at about 30 PSI.

In good weather, the soft top is always down, which sucks for FE but is totally a great feeling. I don't drive with much of an eye on fuel economy these days, though the ScanGauge may change that. I nearly always have the heate seats on the "high" setting, and I use A/C frequently (not with the top down though).

It's a great car, fun to drive and I will still have it in 20 years......

[SVOboy]

Hi there, welcome to the site.

Nice to have another smart driver around. Neat cars.

[Mike T]

Thanks, it is very fun to drive, despite the diesel only having 41 HP....though it does have 74 lbs.ft of torque, peaking from 1800-2800 rpm.

I tried the ScanGauge today and it was interesting. I had no choice but to cross a small mountain pass and it was pissing rain, so great MPG wasn't on the cards, though I did get about 60 US MPG for the day.

[MetroMPG]

Nice work! The SG turns driving into a whole other game, doesn't it?

Welcome to the site.

[Mike T]

Thanks for the welcome! 71+ US MPG from a Metro...that is fantastic!

Yeah it is great, getting instantaneous feedback on fuel consumption. I can see how it could become addictive...

I have done a couple of things to my car that mitigate against maximum MPG anyway: I put the wider tires on it as I mentioned above, and I drive a lot with the top down! But I still have a set of skinny wheels and tires in the garage

[MetroMPG]

Thanks. Not entirely representative though. To get those numbers, I don't drive the car in what most would consider "normal" conditions (or methods).

You don't put the skinnies back on for the winter? Or do you need the extra wide grip to hold the road in the recent wind storms?

[Mike T]

I think next year I might get some snow tires, mounted on the skinny rims. They'll probably suck as much juice as the wider summer tires do though.

Yes, the wide ones help a lot in the wind!