By Warren Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 13, 2008; Page G01
My late brother-in-law, William McDonald Reed Jr., once lectured me on the Theory of Farm Life as Related to Highway Driving. His talk was occasioned by my hubris. I had driven to his home in Arlington, Tex., in a Hummer H1, the biggest Hummer available when Bill was fighting pancreatic cancer nine years ago.
I thought he would be impressed. Bill was a truck-loving Texan, as were all of the Reed men and women. But he smiled wryly and shook his head when I rolled into his driveway in the H1.
"Damn it, boy, you don't know nothin' 'bout farms, do you?"
Say, what?
"Farms," Bill said. "On farms, you got your chickens, your cows, your horses. If you're a chicken, you stay the hell out of the way of the cows and horses. You think you're bad runnin' 'round in that Hummer? I just hope you're smart enough to know there's always something bigger and badder. To an 18-wheeler, you ain't nothin' but a chicken."
I recalled Bill's wisdom while doing what many of you might consider a very unwise thing. I am a longtime advocate of the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz-sponsored Smart Fortwo micro-car in the United States, which, thankfully, has now gone on sale in this country.
I'd seen the little Fortwo cars running all over Europe, especially in Italy, where narrow streets, scarce legal parking and very high fuel prices have made their numbers legion. Smarts are city cars. But I've also seen them moving along Germany's Autobahn (in the right lane, of course) and Italy's Autostrada (in the same lane). I was so convinced of their safety, with their remarkably strong, patented Tridion roll-cage cell construction, I vowed to one day drive a Smart across the United States.
I bugged the Mercedes-Benz people about doing this. They initially laughed, reminding me that Smarts are built expressly for urban commuting. But they later relented, thinking it might be a fun thing to do. They put together a cross-country jaunt, replete with safety crews and backup vehicles, running from Los Angeles to Detroit following (as much as possible) old U.S. Route 66.
I joined the cross-country drive group -- mostly Italian and German automotive journalists -- in Amarillo, Tex. My Smart Fortwo of choice was one not yet on sale in the United States, the Fortwo Passion with Micro Hybrid Drive.
It is a tiny car, nearly three feet shorter than the Mini Cooper my wife, Mary Anne, drives at home when she can't get her hands on a truck. It weighs 1,660 pounds (tested Micro Hybrid Drive version). It can carry two people, two crushable overnight bags and two laptops. With its one-liter, gasoline-powered, three-cylinder engine assisted by a belt-driven starter/generator, it can crank out 71 horsepower and 68 foot-pounds of torque and hustle up to 90 mph on the highway . . . eventually.
Warning: Don't drive that fast in a Smart, especially not on moribund roads such as Route 66, and definitely not on wind-swept, multi-lane highways such as Interstate 40, whose construction rendered Route 66 obsolete. Steering the lightweight, tall-bodied Smart under those conditions is akin to steering a kite. The Theory of Farm Life as Related to Highway Driving applies: You are a chicken. Stay out of the way of the stampeding bulls and horses. Make peace with the right lane.
If you understand that, you'll love the virtuous little Smart, which gets about 44 miles per gallon in the regular gasoline version (under the tougher 2008 Environmental Protection Agency mileage rating system) and which, so far on this drive -- scheduled to end in Detroit this weekend on cue with the opening of media days for the North American International Auto Show -- has been getting nearly 55 mpg on the highway.
The tested Smart Fortwo Passion MHD is a neat little car, highly maneuverable, which means it's adept at scooting out of the way of larger vehicles, which it must do frequently on expressways.
Complaints: Cross-country driving in the Smart Fortwo is a gimmick that should not be tried at home and probably should not be done solo. Smarts are great city cars, great for suburban-urban commuting and parking. Operating them in a high-speed milieu is not a smart thing to do regularly.
This Story
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Driving One Means Life in the Right Lane
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Nuts & Bolts
Ride, acceleration and handling: The Smart Fortwo, regular gasoline-powered or MHD, is very good in all respects in dedicated city travel. But it is, at best, marginal in all respects on the highway.
Body style/layout: The Smart Fortwo is a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, high-mileage, two-door mini-car with a rear hatch. It is designed for city driving and parking. In the United States, it is available only with the one-liter, in-line three-cylinder gasoline engine in three trim levels: Pure (base), Passion, and Cabrio (convertible). Future U.S. models will include the tested Micro Hybrid Drive and Smart Fortwo CDi (direct-injection diesel).
Engine/transmission: Standard in currently available U.S. models is a one-liter, in-line, three-cylinder, 12-valve engine with fuel-saving, electronically controlled variable valve timing technology that generates 71 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 68 foot-pounds of torque at 4,500 rpm. In the tested MHD model, that engine is linked to an electronically controlled, belt-driven starter/generator and a five-speed transmission that can be operated automatically or manually.
Capacities: It has two seats and a maximum eight cubic feet of cargo space. The fuel tank holds 8.7 gallons of required premium unleaded gasoline. "Required" here means just that. This car has a high-compression engine that needs that higher-grade fuel.
Highway mileage at this point of cross-country drive: Driving solo with support vehicles tailing me, I'm getting 54.7 miles per gallon. (So far, I've needed the support vehicles only to carry excess luggage.)
Safety: Standard features include rigid body construction, four-wheel antilock brakes, side air bags, and electronic stability and traction control.
Price: Base prices for the current gasoline-only Smart Fortwo cars run from $11,590 to $16,590. The tested MHD and future diesel versions are likely to cost more. Prices sourced from Mercedes-Benz and http://www.edmunds.com.
Purse-strings note: This is one of the best, safest, most easily parked, most fuel-efficient city cars available. In emergencies, it can work for you on the highway applying the Theory of Farm Life as Related to Highway Driving.
This guy got 55mpg...I knew it! I knew it!!! I knew it!!! Far cry from the EPA 40 mpg highway!! I bet the city is better too!! Pretty soon I will find out for myself and boy, I can't wait for that day!
This guy got 55mpg...I knew it! I knew it!!! I knew it!!! Far cry from the EPA 40 mpg highway!! I bet the city is better too!! Pretty soon I will find out for myself and boy, I can't wait for that day!
Calm down. Be cool. He's driving a Mini Hybrid version of the 451. (Start Stop)
Calm down. Be cool. He's driving a Mini Hybrid version of the 451. (Start Stop)
I am cool, Carnut. Facts are facts, though, dwelling on the title of this post. If he said he got 55 in the city, then that may have been attributable in part to the MHD.
Another thing I recently found out about from our dealer when I questioned the 33/40 BS gas mileage numbers was that those numbers were obtained with AC ON and lights ON. Now isn't that a valid baseline test for gas mileage??!! :EEK
I am cool, Carnut. Facts are facts, though, dwelling on the title of this post. If he said he got 55 in the city, then that may have been attributable in part to the MHD.
Another thing I recently found out about from our dealer when I questioned the 33/40 BS gas mileage numbers was that those numbers were obtained with AC ON and lights ON. Now isn't that a valid baseline test for gas mileage??!! :EEK
They are not driving the interstates. They are following old route 66 which would account for a lot of stop and go driving.
They are not driving the interstates. They are following old route 66 which would account for a lot of stop and go driving.
nananana
Most of 66 is gone underneath I-40 out there in the west. For long stretches of open highway its just not there at all. When you get close to a settlement, you can get off and drive the Mother Road. Lots of internet sites that give the details. My guess after reading the blogs is that they went the fast way since they needed to get to Detroit in just a couple of days from Texas.
Most of 66 is gone underneath I-40 out there in the west. For long stretches of open highway its just not there at all. When you get close to a settlement, you can get off and drive the Mother Road. Lots of internet sites that give the details. My guess after reading the blogs is that they went the fast way since they needed to get to Detroit in just a couple of days from Texas.
When he mentions both Amarillo and Tulsa it sounds more local?
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