Not safe on the highway....(lowering springs?)

[Okiesmrt]

I've had my Smart for a month and 750 miles now. I refused to allow my wife to drive it on the highway because of the way it swayed and was blown around by the wind. To me it felt like it would roll during a quick lane change. In my opinion Daimler made a huge engineering mistake when they chose such unnecessarily tall and weak coil springs. Yesterday I swapped in new aftermarket coil springs that lowered the car about 1". Now it drives like any other car on the road. It feels safe at 80 mph in 20 mph crosswinds. I highly recommend that everyone do this mod for their own safety.

[jwight]

Where is that dead horse smiley? At least two other threads on how unsafe the smart is so far; glad you feel changing the springs makes the smart safer. Over 2K miles on long trips so far with an 08 and an 09 - personally I don't feel the need to change anything. YMMV, of course.

[Okiesmrt]

Originally Posted by jwight

Where is that dead horse smiley? At least two other threads on how unsafe the smart is so far; glad you feel changing the springs makes the smart safer. Over 2K miles on long trips so far with an 08 and an 09 - personally I don't feel the need to change anything. YMMV, of course.

You have a Z06? I have a 2007 myself. I can't believe the smart sway doesn't drive you crazy!

[tvengineer]

Originally Posted by Okiesmrt

You have a Z06? I have a 2007 myself. I can't believe the smart sway doesn't drive you crazy!

I have an 09... never bothers me..
yea.. I can feel a little crosswind behind a big truck.. but no worse than
my old minivan did..

I dont see a need to change anything.

[jwight]

Originally Posted by Okiesmrt

You have a Z06? I have a 2007 myself. I can't believe the smart sway doesn't drive you crazy!

No, but then I don't expect it to drive like the Z. I actually prefer the smart seating position to the Z now. We also have a 76 Mini and believe me, a few hundred miles in that will really make you appreciate the smart.

[John_H]

Keep in mind that the sway is probably more "feel" than actual danger. If you're used to a lot of effect from strong winds, there's no problem. It may "feel" unnatural for the sway when the winds impinge on the car but the actual movements are minor. There's no strong danger, just a need to be alert and not overreact. We're all used to having complete control over our cars with little to no feedback from our environment. A little feedback is fine. Actually swerving into a different lane is a different issue. I haven't heard of anyone doing this, just "feeling" like it would happen.

I'm happy with my Eibach springs more for the improved road feel and less bobbing on shift changes in the old '08 programming.

[Padawan]

Originally Posted by jwight

personally I don't feel the need to change anything.

Me neither. Mine feels perfectly safe and secure all the way up to top speed, and has been very comfortable on long highway trips.

[mdfortwoguy]

The car is perfectly fine... they've been going up and down highways for years with nary a problem. You need to take it out on a twisty road and push it, and you'll see exactly how stable it is. Additionally - you need to learn to trust that it does track well even if it does get shaken around by wind.

It's no worse than my SUV in crosswinds... I think I will trust the millions of dollars of Daimler engineering that went into the stock suspension more than potentially suspect aftermarket parts.

[Critical Thinker]

Lowering the center of gravity on any vehicle will make it feel more secure, all else equal. A 1" drop should be significant enough to make a noticeable difference in the feel of just about any car, IMO.

[Wdhitch]

47,000 miles and most of it on the interstate.... and at that I'm usually running 75-80mph. Never once felt unsafe on the road... more than once people have had to get out of my way.