The Heater Works Well

[Agent 99]

Mmmmmmm, Heated seats.....

[Suze]

Originally Posted by sheureka

I love my heated seats - sheureka

Originally Posted by Agent 99

Mmmmmmm, Heated seats.....

No Kidding... I'm spoiled for life!

[donschweika]

We have had some pretty cold mornings (and days) here in Southern Indiana since we picked up or Cabriolet last Friday. Heater works great. I have had to turn it down because it gets too hot. I don't turn it on until the car has had a reasonable time to heat up. Of course the heated seats are NICE.

[chieftmc]

Originally Posted by vandenberg

How about -17* (that's below zero) with a -33* windchill. The car was pretty stiff, but it started. I work night shift, so I'm always driving it when it is much colder out. It's warmed back up to the single digits again. I too have noticed that it takes quite awhile for it to put out some good heat. About 5-10 minutes of good driving. Once it warms up, it puts out some really good heat. I've had to play with the fan controls to vary the heat output though. Your feet tend to get cold if you direct too much heat up high. I either split it between defrost/vents, defrost/floor, or floor/vents depending how cold it is and whether I need to keep up with fogging up of the windows. The heated seats keep you toasty until things start to warm up. You can feel them even with a heavy parka on. I haven't had any defrosting issues at all though. The car clears up fairly quick. I use strictly winter only windshield washer fluid with de-icer which speeds up the de-icing/defrosting process in the morning.

One of "these" Car Cover, Car Sun Shade - California PopTop will really help with that icing problem (size C-18)

[Docthrock]

I rephrased the title of the thread a little in my response.

I haven't had too much problems with my heater. I do however almost always keep my car indoors, so heating it when I venture out isn't very tough. I realize that this motor is pretty small, and so the radiator is and the coolant capacity is small as well. And I tend to keep my foot out of it, which perhaps causes the thermostat to open slower and cooling capabilities to be delayed. So I get all that. And it's not bad by any means.

However... when the car has been outside and the entire thing is COLD, like others have said, it does seem to take an inordinate amount of time for the heater to catch up with my comfort level. Fortunately, the heated seats in my smart heat more quickly than other vehicles I've owned, and that toasty feeling on my butt, thighs and back is VERY nice. Even as the heater, set on max temp, is still blowing cold.

Given enough time to catch up, the heater works adequately. I still think the "thermostat" on the dash is very biased toward all or none. In fact all of the controls seem to be biased toward all or none. Trying to get a decent and varied mix of air around the cabin is almost a joke. It all works, but not particularly well.

Just another not so smart quirk. There's quite a few on this car. Yep, a lot of it is "character" and not a deal breaker. But I begin to wonder who was (ir)responsible for designing a lot of the smart. They shoulda asked ME.

[ayanefan]

Unfortunately, I'm having a problem with my heater. It's been 13 degrees here and the windshield frosts a lot. I turn on the heater and have to put in on the turbo mode (CDI diesel) to get any heat for the first 10 minutes.
3/4 of the windshield gets defrosted but my side windows get totally frosted over. It doesn't matter how much I scrape, they will frost over after about 10 minutes of so.

So anyone here have the same issue? I'm not sure if I need to keep the vent on inside air or outside anymore. Then I'm not sure if I should turn on the Air Conditioning to take advantage of the dehumidifier in it. I pretty much tried everything but nothing seems to get it to work well.

Called my dealer and he said it could be blocked air filters. I doubt that because it really blows but just doesn't get as hot as it should.

[boater454]

I also think it takes a long time to warm up compared to other vehicles I've owned. But with mine once it's hot it will toast you. It's strange that such a small engine and cooling system take so long to warm up. It's usually the other way around. Maybe it's because it's front radiator, rear engine?

[burtandnancy]

OK boater 454, tell me what you've got. (Hallett owner)

[tensai2110]

I've not noticed it taking long to heat up, but then again I'm in SoCal so cold is not really COLD. The heated seats are insane! They get warmer and warmer faster than any car I have owned... most of the time I just use them instead of trying to crank up the heat. Most people tell me after a few minutes to turn them off... their butts are sweating.

[bucketboss]

It's been way below zero the past few days (warmer today) and the heater is.....disappointing. For short jaunts, I can't defrost the windshield and keep my feet warm at the same time. It takes time for it to warm up and if let idle it definatly does not get very warm. You have to drive it a while and not putt...I have a scangauge and the water temp is only running 136 degrees running aroung town. I have now made a winter front for it. Hope to see how this changes the water temps.

Thank goodness for the heated seats.

Dave F