Smart in the mountains

[Decorleon]

I am hearing lots of things about the smart car not doing well going up hills/mountains. Living in Phoenix if I wanna go to Vegas or San Diego, I will have to go up some big mountains. Has anyone had any mountain adventures yet? Is the 71hp gonna cut it?

[SmartBob]

Someone posted that it rocked in San Fran...that's pretty hilly, eh?

[prm1177]

Originally Posted by Decorleon

I am hearing lots of things about the smart car not doing well going up hills/mountains. Living in Phoenix if I wanna go to Vegas or San Diego, I will have to go up some big mountains. Has anyone had any mountain adventures yet? Is the 71hp gonna cut it?

I think the only issue you might find is that the automated manual transmission is programmed for economy, and as such, it can have a tendency to shift into higher gears earlier than most drivers might desire. The solution is the flick the lever left into manual mode, and select your own gear for climbing the hills. I make a daily commute over a hilly areas (700 ft elevation changes) in West Marin, CA and the car does just fine.

[Old smart]

I paced a Canadian cdi diesel (41 BHP, lots'a torque) up and over Kicking Horse Pass on Trans Canada 1 between Alberta and BC in a very dog-like rental PT Cruiser. We both made it in company; though not stellar in performance, we didn't hold the show up. We were mega-better than the RVs.

[lhoboy]

The big part of the issue will not be the grade of the hills (mountains) but the high elevation. At 12,000 feet your power will be down 30% in addition to the 7% grade.

Let's hear from the mile (or more) high drivers.