Road trip

[lancekilgore12]

Hello All
A simple question, I am planning on taking the smart car on a 1200 mile trip. I plan on driving approximately 78 mph. will this cause any problems with car? any sugestions.

Thanks in advance

[Stretchmobile]

Originally Posted by lancekilgore12

Hello All
A simple question, I am planning on taking the smart car on a 1200 mile trip. I plan on driving approximately 78 mph. will this cause any problems with car? any sugestions.

Thanks in advance

Other than a couple of pleasant meetings with police officers, no.

[jkjahobbs]

Your smart will have no problems with 78 mph. We've done alot of long road trips with ours. Driving anywhere from 65 to 80 mph. Several of those trips were pulling our little trailer. Do you have a cruise control, it helps on long trips.

will see some drop in mpg at the higher speeds, depending on whether you run the AC or not. A couple of trips we got the highest gas mileage we've ever had.

Enjoy your trip.

[Kermit]

I regularly do 80+ on a lot of my longer trips. No problems. If you get pulled over tell the cop the car won't do over 71mph and it must have been someone else.

[deepblueQ]

Third best MPG I ever got on a tank was at 77 MPH. Cruising at that speed puts you right in the sweet spot for thermal efficiency.

As for reliability, no issues at all. Just about the only way you can hurt the engine by simply working it too hard is by overheating the oil, which you don't really have to worry about unless you're pushing 5000+ RPM for quite some time at once... so it would only be a potential issue if you spent the trip at 78 MPH in 4th gear.

[jkjahobbs]

Originally Posted by Stretchmobile

Other than a couple of pleasant meetings with police officers, no.

Depends on which state he's driving in. Speed limits on our turnpikes is 75mph and 70 on divided highways. Some states it is 75 on the highways.

[The Rigger]

Originally Posted by lancekilgore12

I plan on driving approximately 78 mph. will this cause any problems with car?

It will if you do 78 through a school zone...

[Spacepod]

The smart can do 78 all day long. That speed is fine on most freeways if the flow of traffic supports it. Speed limits and flow of traffic are two different animals. Some states have lower tolerances and if you have out-of-state tags you could be a target (for a variety of reasons).

[rawhidekid]

If I were you, I would take a spare tire & jack.

[lancekilgore12]

Yes speeds on the interstate in Colorado and New Mexico are 75, so no worries of cops. I guess I am going to have a fun trip. cruise control, I only wish.