smart MHD - welcomed in US or not?

[sato7]

Originally Posted by Notti

I'm driving a brand new 451 MHD and I think it's great.
I hear lots of people saying it sucks in fast stop and go traffic. This is absoluty right. But what everybody seems to forgot (or doesn't know):
you can TURN IT OFF!.

You cant just let the cat out of the bag and not tell us about it.... How does it suck? what criteria are you using to determine that? How does it behave in your so called fast stop and go traffic???? PLEASE TELL US MORE!!!

[sato7]

I heard that part of the MHD is that the A/C is electric and not belt driven... so converting an 08 or 09 to MHD on our own would be short of a nightmare. Also I'm assuming that the ECU does not cycle on off with the engine shut down as some nay sayers were referring to, so reprogramming that is no piece of cake either.
By the way some of you forget that there are WHOLE countries that mandate you turn off your engine at traffic lights... there is a no "idling law". and I've heard the mini and other vehicles in EU already have this engine shut down in their cars.
I for one would like the feature and would love the lack of noise and vibration in the cabin at stand still.

[Mike T]

Actually the 71 HP naturally aspirated version of the 451 is no longer avalable in Europe WITHOUT mhd, so the non-mhd that Canada and the USA get are in the tiny minority of total production and are probably more expensive to produce as a result.

So the mhd should be a no-brainer over here.....sure it needs certification, so what? It's cheaper than having a separate power team just for the low volume of USA and Canadian sales (maybe 20% of the total).

Same with the silly USA/CDN transmission changes.....oh well.

[forestacademy]

Originally Posted by Mike T

Actually the 71 HP naturally aspirated version of the 451 is no longer avalable in Europe WITHOUT mhd, so the non-mhd that Canada and the USA get are in the tiny minority of total production and are probably more expensive to produce as a result.

So the mhd should be a no-brainer over here.....sure it needs certification, so what? It's cheaper than having a separate power team just for the low volume of USA and Canadian sales (maybe 20% of the total).

Same with the silly USA/CDN transmission changes.....oh well.

I wouldn't expect a change untill 2011.

But I do expect change. With the newer US MPG standards comming up smart is going to have to do something to pull away from the pack. Their has to be gain other than parking over the other small cars on the market.

OK Fun is a gain but its harder to sell than other advantages.

[jwight]

The only change for (maybe late) 2011 would be the 2012 smart ED finally hitting the dealerships. No mhd, no diesel, no turbo. Dave Schembri has answered this question several times and it ain't gonna change.

[Notti]

Originally Posted by sato7

You cant just let the cat out of the bag and not tell us about it.... How does it suck? what criteria are you using to determine that? How does it behave in your so called fast stop and go traffic???? PLEASE TELL US MORE!!!

The system works like this:

When your foot is on the brake and you drive less than 5 mph the engine shuts down. When you release your brake pedal, it restarts (quiet silent).

When is it great:
- Long traffic jams when it takes more then 10 seconds between every 'move'.
- A road filled with traffic lights
- Any other circumstance where you have to stop longer then 5 seconds.

When does it suck:
- When you make a turn onto another road and you have to wait just 1 sec to see if there isn't other traffic coming.
- When you're parking
- When it's fast stop and go traffic.

BUT: Like I said before, you can turn it off easily.
Now I don't know if it will really saves a lot mpg, but it certainly has some other advantages:

- It's psychological; you're not wasting ANY fuel, while everybody around you is idling.
- It's really relaxing to be in a quiet car right in the middle of a busy traffic jam or traffic light. Especially with the panorama roof (for those who have one). You see everybody around you stressing, while you just sit there in a perfectly silent car with a great city view, relaxing.

Now I don't know how the US situation is but here in Europe we indeed have some other cars with similar systems for example the Volvo and Mercedes 'start & stop system'.

To make this report complete:

Is MHD a good system: YES !
Why; because you can select for yourself when to use it.
Would it be a good system if you couldn't turn it off?
Hell no, it would totally suck!

[BigWarpGuy]

I would rather have a 'diesel electric train' type hybrid. The little gas engine powers a generator with electric motors in each wheel hub. I think it would get really good MPG since the engine is running at a constant speed (most of the time).

With so many vehicles being hybrids of some type, I think it might have a great market here in the USA than it did before.

[sandalscout]

BWG, the problem with a system like that simply comes down to expense, at the moment. wheel hub motors and EXPENSIVE, especially when you run 2 or 4 of them.

Someone did something like you are describing, with a twist, as described in this 1979 (!!!!) article:

Electric Car Conversion: The Amazing 75-MPG Hybrid Car

[BigWarpGuy]

I think there was a more recent car company (Sweden I think?) that had this diesel electric type setup (as opposed to that in the Prius). One would not have to have some fancy transmission since it is electric motor powered with the diesel powering the generator.

My Dad suggested this setup for a flying car. Instead of having a fancy device to switch from the wheels to the propeller, one could have a motor powering a generator and have a switch to change it from powering the wheels to powering the propeller. (another story but I thought it would be neat to mention it).

[august8pm]

Originally Posted by jwight

The only change for (maybe late) 2011 would be the 2012 smart ED finally hitting the dealerships. No mhd, no diesel, no turbo. Dave Schembri has answered this question several times and it ain't gonna change.

I am not an expert in anything, but it seems like the height of stupidity *not* to bring in the diesel to the US. 85mpg would shut up the critics once and for all. Even the most hateful would have to acknowledge that virtually nothing on the road could come close to that kind of number.