Newbie Review and Pros and Cons SO FAR

[nootrak4]

Please keep in mind I have only drove this car for about 60 miles. And currently I’m High from the engine Fumes

PROS
As far as I can tell, this car drive as well and any other. Acceleration is not different then my V6 3.0l Ford Escape.

I was giving the car with 22 miles on it and I drove it up to 70 miles now and lost one of the boxes in the fuel meter, so I will just guess that is 1 gallon of gas as this take 8.7 gallons and the fuel meter has 8 boxes. And if this is the case this car is really going to make me happy MPG wise

It really handles like a manual. And I love it. It makes me feel like I’m in a sport car LOL

It very fun to drive!!!!!

CONS

Brakes are SUPER HARD

IT feels like it doesn’t have power steering (THIS IS MY BIGGEST PROBLEM, I think by the time I’m sell or trade up I will gain about 2-3 inch’s on my arms

I’m High from the fumes of the engine. Something no one every said anything about. I can smell the combustion and fuel oil running engine smell.

[Kermit]

Smell is newness burning off. Brakes, you're just not used to them. Power Steering, do you have it? A PS car steering is tight at speed. (I don't care for it myself, my car is a non-PS car though I've logged about 3k in PS cars)

[HGB]

Welcome to the club nootrack4.

There should be zero fumes coming from your car. I'd have this checked out. It could also be burn off from paint,etc on the new motor and will dissipate in due time.
If you are having difficulty turning the wheel...well then check your air pressure all around. I have mine set at 31PSI up front and 38 in the rear.
The brakes, I bet will get better as they wear in and besides you'll adapt.
Good Luck.

[rfernatt]

Glad you're enjoying the car!

To address some of the items on your list:

- The fuel gauge is not linear. You will travel more miles on the first block or two than the rest. I've gone as far as 120 miles on the first block, but the rest dropped much faster. Still, I've averaged over 43 MPG over 55K miles.

- You'll get used to the brakes. It is a different feel since the pedal is not setup like other vehicles, but the brakes work very well when you really need it to stop.

- Power steering is optional. My Passion does not have it, but I ordered it that way. With the light front end and skinny stock tires, it's not bad, but you notice the difference when compared with a heavily boosted power steering car. I upgraded my front tires so it's a little harder than stock, but I'm used to it. I think the feel at speed is better without power steering and it's one less thing to break. But, it is a personal preference.

- You will have the "new engine smell" for a while outside the vehicle. It's very noticeable when you get out and near the back, especially if it's slightly wet outside. However, if you smell it heavily inside the car while the car is moving, then you might want to ask the dealer about that.

Otherwise, enjoy the new ride!

[deepblueQ]

Originally Posted by nootrak4

I was giving the car with 22 miles on it and I drove it up to 70 miles now and lost one of the boxes in the fuel meter, so I will just guess that is 1 gallon of gas as this take 8.7 gallons and the fuel meter has 8 boxes. And if this is the case this car is really going to make me happy MPG wise[/FONT]

The boxes don't really correspond to anything. The first (top) one often behaves completely different from the rest.

Originally Posted by nootrak4

Brakes are SUPER HARD

IT feels like it doesn’t have power steering (THIS IS MY BIGGEST PROBLEM, I think by the time I’m sell or trade up I will gain about 2-3 inch’s on my arms

I’m High from the fumes of the engine. Something no one every said anything about. I can smell the combustion and fuel oil running engine smell.

I've always thought smarts had great brakes in all respects... by hard brakes, do you mean hard pedal, lots of force required to stop, or... ?

If you've got a Pure, then chances are you don't have power steering. You can make it a bit easier to steer by raising the front tire pressures. I actually disabled the power steering on mine, and I don't think it's too hard to steer at all, but I have always run significantly higher front tire pressures than the factory spec.

It isn't really feasible to swap in power steering because the PS and non-PS racks are slightly different ratios, so it'll miscalibrate the stability control by a significant amount if you try. Putting in a PS rack will make it really quick to correct against oversteer, but way too slow to correct against understeer.

The smell will go away, it's just stuff on the surface of the engine burning off...

[nootrak4]

Im going to write an email to the sales person and see what she tells me. But the smell is there. I thought that it was just the fact that the car is new and the engine is in the same cabin as you, but if the smells continues i think i will have to take it in. The Gasoline engine smell had me getting headache today and had to drive with the windows open. I even checked and see if i was leaking oil.

PS It feels like I'm going to break the wheels every time i have to put some muscle into it to turn. I'm used to turning and accelerating and having the car straightening it self again with my guides of course. So are you trying to tell me that with use it would get softer?

[jkjahobbs]

to the forum aka The Asylum. We are all a bit crazy about our cars and some of us are just crazy!


The smells/fumes from the engine will lesson and go away the more miles you get on the engine. Checking with your dealer on the gas smell is a great idea.

[ca smartone]

Check and make sure the engine cover is secured. Make sure it's under the two tabs in the front and screwed down in the back. When I got mine it was not under the tabs...

[Neonspinnazz]

I have a brand spankin' new smart as well and I see that your cons aren't cons at all!

The fuel gauge:
- It's more inaccurate than someone's judgement while under the influence. The bars only roughly guess how much fuel is left, they're far from accurate and shouldn't be used to calculate MPG.

The smell:
- That's the smell of the engine breaking in. For me, it dissipated around 1,000 miles (I crossed into 2,000 today). Make sure your engine lid is properly closed and give it a few more miles.

The brakes:
- Since the pedals are floor mounted they feel different than their dash mounted counterparts, you'll get used to them.

Power Steering:
- I'm going to assume you don't have the power steering option. Not all smarts have it (mine doesn't and I'm glad), only if you chose to have it. The wheel of a smart with power steering is so light that you can turn it using just your pinky!

[deepblueQ]

Originally Posted by nootrak4

Im going to write an email to the sales person and see what she tells me. But the smell is there. I thought that it was just the fact that the car is new and the engine is in the same cabin as you, but if the smells continues i think i will have to take it in. The Gasoline engine smell had me getting headache today and had to drive with the windows open. I even checked and see if i was leaking oil.

You might check and see if the lid for the engine bay (under the cargo area carpet) is seated and latched properly. If it weren't, then that would explain things.

Originally Posted by nootrak4

PS It feels like I'm going to break the wheels every time i have to put some muscle into it to turn. I'm used to turning and accelerating and having the car straightening it self again with my guides of course. So are you trying to tell me that with use it would get softer?

So it's not only extra stiff, but not self-straightening very well? Definitely check the tire pressures, but it sounds like something's really not right there... mine with the disabled PS still self-straightens quite nicely. If you can find another without PS to test drive, it may turn up something interesting.