Questions about the Smart engine,oil,gas,etc.

[deltadart]

I was a rural mailcarrier for 30 years so I have had my share of cars. Very interested in the Smart engine. Does it come from the factory with synthetic motor oil? Also does the transmission come with synthetic fluid? As far as gas does the owners manual state that you must burn premium fuel?
Here in Iowa we get 3 grades of fuel. 87 octane,89 octane-which is ethanol,and 93 octane. Can the Smart motor burn the ethanol ? Also what mileage should you give the engine for the break-in period? I bought a brand new 2000 Neon and right at the 8,000 mile mark the gas mileage improved 4-6 mpg. I really do believe that you should break-in a new engine the proper way.
2 of my route cars were the Dodge Spirit with the 2.5L 4cyl. and the 3.0L 6cyl. I broke them both in and both of them only started burning oil at the 185,000 mile mark. After that when I would change the oil I would use a quart of Lucas oil treatment and sold both cars with 215,000 miles on them. Not bad.

[jwight]

More info than you can stand on oil and filters:

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/for...les-vs-3k.html

Trans fluid:

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/for...uid-451-a.html

Gas is at least 91 octane per the owner's manual; people are running regular but it's up to you.

[msjohnson1974]

If you do choose to use something other than premium gas make sure the ethanol content is below 10%. Putting E85 into your smart would be a bad idea.

The manual has the break in procedure which lasts 1000 miles. FWIW, I changed my oil at that point and found no evidence of shavings, grit, jimmy hoffa, or anything else you might expect to find.

[twelch]

doe anyone no what kind of oil should be ran in the smart, what wait oil

[Karl Roth]

Originally Posted by twelch

doe anyone no what kind of oil should be ran in the smart, what wait oil

The book answer is moble 1 full synthetic in a weight apropriate for your driving area I put 0 wt - 40 in mine. there are lots of treads on the subject
karl

[Old smart]

Actually, any good API "SM"-grade, full-synthetic will do. Mobil 1 is bound to come up frequently because both Mercedes-Benz and Penske accept a lot of sponsorship money from Mobil 1 (Maclaren-Mercedes in Formula 1, and Penske Racing in a number of US venues).

[Karl Roth]

Originally Posted by Old smart

Actually, any good API "SM"-grade, full-synthetic will do. Mobil 1 is bound to come up frequently because both Mercedes-Benz and Penske accept a lot of sponsorship money from Mobil 1 (Maclaren-Mercedes in Formula 1, and Penske Racing in a number of US venues).

I did preface my post with book answer but thanks for clarifying that.
karl