Going lean on the smart?

[WilyB]

Smartusa.com:

Weight without driver is 1808 lbs (cabriolet: 1852 lbs) and the permissible maximum weight, 2315 lbs.

[Dave Van]

While I have not taken any weight out of my Smart I feel one reason I get 47-50 mpg is my Pure model is much lighter than the more popular Passion. When you do not have A/C, power windows, power steering etc that is a lot of weight for a little car. Add to that 95% of the time I drive alone.

[brian r]

Originally Posted by Dave Van

While I have not taken any weight out of my Smart I feel one reason I get 47-50 mpg is my Pure model is much lighter than the more popular Passion. When you do not have A/C, power windows, power steering etc that is a lot of weight for a little car. Add to that 95% of the time I drive alone.

I don't think there's much of a difference in the passion and pure. The a/c and steering pump isn't more than 50 lbs. The power windows are probably a draw. When the Elise came out many people thought about ditching the p/w for track use to save weight. Several people who stripped out their doors (after buying all of the manual window hardware) found that the power setup weighed 2 pounds less per door.

One strike against the pure is the steel wheels. Not only do they weigh at least several pounds more apiece, but dynamically, unsprung weight has the same effect as adding 3-4 times the static weight to the vehicle. It takes more energy to accelerate a pure because of that. So overall, weight shouldn't be a factor.

You just have great driving habits for mileage and are lucky to not have NYC traffic of San Francisco hills.

[Dave Van]

I understand 'unsprung weight' and all that, I am a F1, Colin Chapman, Ken Tyrell fan. I'd really like to take a base model Pure and a top end Passion to the truck scales one day and see IF there is much difference. The difference in wheel weight would make a difference on the track...but street...not a bunch....only IMHO!!

[Karl Roth]

Originally Posted by Dave Van

I understand 'unsprung weight' and all that, I am a F1, Colin Chapman, Ken Tyrell fan. I'd really like to take a base model Pure and a top end Passion to the truck scales one day and see IF there is much difference. The difference in wheel weight would make a difference on the track...but street...not a bunch....only IMHO!!

How much do the alloy wheels weigh vs the steel is there a difference?
karl
adding weight to this car makes no sense to me at all "ditto" for most extreme behavior.
karl

[VinceLA]

Dave, F1 fan here until Kimi became a red, MS and Montoya left. What's there to watch now really...

When I called smart USA last year, the curb wt numbers they gave me for Pure and Passion was 100lb diff. But now the difference (according to smartusa.com) is between Pure/Passion and the cabrio.

I presume that Pure while lighter w/o the PS and AC maybe penalized on the steel wheels and the solid roof. Then again, a solid roof should enhance the structural rigidity no?

I do think the weight difference can be "felt" and I believe EVERYONE with a stock setup has experienced it. Drive the smart with 8 bars, 4 bars and 1 bar left on the fuel gauge. Full tank is about 54lbs of fuel. The difference is night and day.

[Karl Roth]

roofs are both poly lots of factory alloys provide no weight savings, bling only.
karl