seriously, why cant a car this small get better mpg?

[mnext02]

makes no sense to me

[bumblebee]

you'd expecting this'll get 100+mpg

[spdickey]

You can get high mileage with an engine designed to do no more than 35 miles per hour. But if you want to be able to do 90 mph expect to give something back in the mpg.

[smartune]

Small motors have to work harder to push big things?

[msjohnson1974]

I'm getting 37 MPG on my commute... I don't floor it and I keep the speed down to 5 over the limit on the highway. On surface street I drive reasonably... you can't fly around and expect high mileage (i'm assuming you're not driving slow). Also, the emission controls we put on cars in this country rob us of better fuel economy.

[partsrme928]

I think it's aero.

[jwight]

Originally Posted by msjohnson1974

I'm getting 37 MPG on my commute... I don't floor it and I keep the speed down to 5 over the limit on the highway. On surface street I drive reasonably... you can't fly around and expect high mileage (i'm assuming you're not driving slow). Also, the emission controls we put on cars in this country rob us of better fuel economy.

Actually, emission requirements are as strict or stricter now in Europe, so the emissions control impact cancels out. The smart 451 is a bigger, heavier car with a larger engine and transmission changes to provide more performance. The payback is lower fuel economy compared to the 450s. No free lunch, as they say.

[stevenvillatoro]

I got better MPGs in my 3,700# Camry Hybrid. A Civic Hybrid averages 25 percent better at around 50 MPG.

But... so what? The smart is what it is.

I'm not an engineer, I'm just the guy who bought one. And even at 'only' 40 MPG, when taking the purchase decision as a whole, I have NO regrets!

[Smart_ABQ]

The smart gets the highest mpg of any gasoline-only car currently available in the US. You can get much better with a hybrid but you will have to fork over at least another 10k. There are people on the forum that have achieved higher mileage figures than what has been published so a lot will depend on how you drive and how much you load it down.

[Wile E. Coyote]

My brother's 95' Honda Civic Hatchback gets over 40+ highway. Hell, my old 1980 Honda Civic 1500 DX Hatchback got that. Wasn't a streamlined vehicle by any means, but it wasn't loaded up with weight with silly things like Airbags etc...My wife bought a new scion Xa back in 06' she's been getting 39/gallon with mainly city driving. Can't wait till I get my Smart and give her a run for her money!