How many miles is this little engine good for?

[scottrx]

More and more I hear comparisons between the Smartcar engine and motorcycle engines. Granted my Victory does have a 1300 cc engine vs my Smart's 1000 but will Smart's engine hang in there for the long haul? (100,000 mi plus). Having just been released I doubt any Smart is the US has reached this number yet but I wonder if the factory has given any projections.

[limey]

I don't have any hard data, but the engine doesn't seem to be that highly stressed, so I would expect it to last 100,000 without any problems.

I have two motorcycles, and they both have more powerful motors than my smart One is my Buell with a 1200cc twin, and the other is a Triumph Tiger with a 955cc triple.

[xcrew229x]

Friend has a Mitsu 1500cc motor in his '88 Colt. 160000 miles, never apart, 3500 mile oil changes.

[konati]

The engine is a Mitsubhsi 1BE or something ike that so do google on that engine and you should find all the information you woud want.

[Fredvon4]

Tis a 3bxx and a new variant not in any other vehicles yet so no long term data

My belief is this will not be a real high mileage motor in the 200K or more range but should be reliable out to 175K+ with proper maintenance... the real sticking point at 60K and 120K will be the valve lifter shim checks and replacements.

The rest of the motor looks pretty bullet proof IMO with fairly beefy bottom end and well designed cylinders and piston thrust offsets to counteract bore erosion and other problems with a slant motor

[tverb]

Fredvon4, Thank you for your posts. You seem to be well informed & technically knowledgeable. Tom

[BobbyBRD]

If you use high end lubes and keep good intervalls between oilchanges there will be no difference between a smart engine and any other quality car. the more you floor it the faster it ages.

my 800cc oldliner cdi was driven hard in germany and if my younger bro wouldn't have wrecked it, it would still be running. had 165tkm at the time of his autobahn crash! 150tmls should be no problem at all on a larger non turbo engine.

Bobby

[stevenvillatoro]

The best answer I can give, based on personal experience, is at least 4,278 miles... and counting...

[MPrice2984]

If this engine is maintained well (ie: oil changes, tune ups, etc. according to schedule or better) there is no reason to believe it will not last 200-250,000 miles or more. The fact that is a 3 cylinder is not a problem, remember most of the Chevy/Geo Metros were 3 cyl cars and they have gone on forever. This is also an automobile engine, not a motorcycle engine that is much more highly stressed because they rev higher. Modern machining tolerences, metallurgy and assembly make engines and transmissions (except Chrysler trans-axles) far better than anyone in the past could even imagine.
Mitsubishi has years of experience with 3 cyl engines, wether as automobile engines or for industrial use and there is no reason to worry. I expect this exact same engine to be in the Mitsubishi "i" when it goes on sale here.

[rubyg]

A friend of mine had a mobile home generator with the 3 cilinder mItsh motor run it for 8-10 hours a times never had troble.