EPA changing ratings for smart

[bumblebee]

I just came back from the dealership and was told that the EPA is considerating or is going to change the MPG rating for the smart to 37 city and 47 highway.

Any thoughts on this?

[SmartCard]

hmmm, if it was just a 2-3 mpg bump, I could see it. From the reports we see so far, there's no data to support those numbers!

[smartcenterSeattle]

Can you find out where this information came from? I can't confirm it.

[bumblebee]

Originally Posted by smartcenterSeattle

Can you find out where this information came from? I can't confirm it.

I got my info. from Smart center of Dallas. Jed the parts manager told me that. He's on this forum and perhaps he can chime in.

[bmx43]

Originally Posted by bumblebee

I just came back from the dealership and was told that the EPA is considerating or is going to change the MPG rating for the smart to 37 city and 47 highway.

Any thoughts on this?

here's my thoughts. somebody is very very confused.

i hate to burst the bubble here. my first tank in all city driving garnered a 28mpg rating. my second tank in all city driving ALWAYS shifting when the "shift now" arrow came on, garnered on a slight increase to about 29.5. the numbers on the window are correct. any other numbers are fantasy.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by bumblebee

I just came back from the dealership and was told that the EPA is considerating or is going to change the MPG rating for the smart to 37 city and 47 highway.

Any thoughts on this?

Either the guy driving the cycle (on the chassis dyno) had a lead foot OR more likely than not they realized that in order to get optimum gas mileage with a smart, the driver driving the test on the dyno MUST know how to use the transmission properly. I personally think that the shift point logic in the automatic mode is set to shift up TOO QUICKLY using conservative (hypermiling) accelerator application.
I don't like at all the way the engine labors (lugs) due to the fact that you're into too high of a gear too fast. And then you have to kick it down if you want to get on with it and that is not in keeping with obtaining good gas mileage numbers at all....
I almost always drive my smart in the manual mode because of this. It's all about a learning curve....I'm convinced of that now that I've put several hundred miles on my own in and around Albany. I love the way it shifts in the manual mode...you can optimize rpms and road speed to your ultimate advantage whether you want get up and go or if you just want to keep the engine from lugging (Never to do while breaking one in..... )
So that's good and I'm off my rant with the gas mileage and erroneous EPA numbers...I knew it!!!
I just hope that the info is verified and not hype from some hypster.....

Be well

John

[bumblebee]

Originally Posted by bmx43

here's my thoughts. somebody is very very confused.

i hate to burst the bubble here. my first tank in all city driving garnered a 28mpg rating. my second tank in all city driving ALWAYS shifting when the "shift now" arrow came on, garnered on a slight increase to about 29.5. the numbers on the window are correct. any other numbers are fantasy.

I think it also depends on where you live. If you live in hilly area your mpg is probably gonna be lower. I live in Dallas where it's flat everywhere and get close to 39 mpg doing 75% city driving and 25% highway.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by bmx43

here's my thoughts. somebody is very very confused.

i hate to burst the bubble here. my first tank in all city driving garnered a 28mpg rating. my second tank in all city driving ALWAYS shifting when the "shift now" arrow came on, garnered on a slight increase to about 29.5. the numbers on the window are correct. any other numbers are fantasy.

getting fuel with ethanol in it? Does California indicate on the pumps what is in the gasoline? If you use the manual mode (upshift arrows showing tells me that) the your numbers should be accurate.
Soon I will have my engine break-in complete and I'll begin doing some mileage numbers to correlate to others' experiences.
Boy those numbers of yours sure aren't anything to write home about are they!

I would not use the "silly arrow" (shift indicator light expression) as a died in the wool, absolute time to shift for the same reason I dislike the automatic mode shift schedule described in my post below. I think they are one in the same and in my opinion are not really optimized for best mileage and performance. I base that on the way the engine sounds and how it *feels* as I drive it.

Try shifting it the way you would if you were driving it by engine sound and how the car feels as you're driving it rather than by using the arrows and see if your mileage increases.

John

[jediknight36]

Jed hunh? When I go down their saturday, I think I will have a talk with Jed.

[bmx43]

Originally Posted by bumblebee

I think it also depends on where you live. If you live in hilly area your mpg is probably gonna be lower. I live in Dallas where it's flat everywhere and get close to 39 mpg doing 75% city driving and 25% highway.

naw, i live in San Diego. not too hilly here. i drive the same route to work each day, only about 5 miles or so. even if that were the case, changing the numbers on the estimate isn't something they just do overnight. they would have to justify those numbers, and in theory, prove them. i don't see that happening. i did everything i could on this last tank of gas to see how "good" my numbers could get. and they didn't improve all that much. i'm still fine with the mileage i'm getting. i never expected to get crazy numbers nor did i ever expect to beat the EPA's new "real" driving numbers.

personally, i'm not sure how much faith i'd put into the opinion of a parts manager of a brand new brand with little to no track record in the US market.