? for those who drove new smart semi-auto tranny

[mr_Cash]

question:

given what the tranny was in your test drive, what caused you to go ahead and place an order?

thx.

[spdickey]

I have driven the 450 (in Italy and USA gray market). 451 Euro at the street tour and the 451 US spec version at the smart house.

The US spec tranny is much "tighter" than either of the Euro vehicles. Not as much nose dive and the shift points fit better for our style of driving. The time between shifts (clutch out) is about the same.

Its always better with the paddle shifters, picking your shift points depending on traffic. But when its bumper to bumper on the freeway and you just don't want the hassle, I just let it shift itself. No problem.

The tranny has never caused me to pause about buying the smart.

[lhoboy]

The U.S. tranny is better than the Euro version, but still nose dives during a down shift like a feeding pelican (multi-second lag). In a word, it still sux.

Why am I still getting it: I've built race cars. Adding a modulated clutch pedal by wire should not be a tough task once I find the assembly schematics or parts explosion. Adding the factory turbo should be even easier.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by mr_Cash

and "also" have a confirm order.

the new semi-auto smart tranny seems to be one of the smart issues of

"darn i wish it was better, ... wish it felt more solid like a std manual or std auto".

i would be interested to hear, "only" from those who "both" have 1) personally driven the new 451 semi auto tranny such as at the recent nationwide events, and 2) have a confirm order.

question:

given what the tranny was in your test drive, what was your primary thinking on the tranny and the vehicle, that caused you to go ahead and place an order?

thx.

1) The basic time it took to shift is no different than the time it would take a person driving and shifting a normal standard shift car except for eliminating the need to depress the clutch and lift on the accelerator. That being the case, I would get used to not having to depress a clutch on each shift and probably like it more. I have a play car with a clutch that I can do that with if I want to.
2) It only took me around half way around the block on the test drive to understand how to maximize shifting, if I so chose, with proper use of the paddle shifters. The shift delay was not that big of a deal to me no matter how it was shifted...automatically or with the paddle shifter.
3) I have loved the Smart ever since I learned of it about 2 years ago and feel that it will be the epitomy of a PHEV or EV for my transportation purposes once they become available. *Electric fuel* is the WAY TO GO in my humble opinion.
4) My present car is very tired and in need of replacement and so will be replaced with the first year model Smartfortwo. I will get a complete understanding of what makes it tick and perhaps how to make it tick alittle faster when I want it to and it WILL BE my stepping stone to a Smart PHEV or EV when they become available in 2-3 years.
If one is still not available by then, the one I have WILL be converted to a PHEV or EV by yours truly.

[smartie]

Dear Smart Colleagues,
Check out the performance curve from one of my earlier posts.
http://smartcarofamerica.com/forums/...2767#post12767

The performance curve is for a euro-spec 451. The clutch-out time is about 1 second.
I have been doing some experiments with my cars recently to see what a reasonable 0-60 mph time is. (All my cars are either turbo or supercharged and capable of 0-60 times of sub 7 secs). I live in a semi-rural, area with flat 6-lane divided highways and stop lights every few miles so I get lots of timing opportunities. I find that a 0-60 time of about 15 seconds is what I need for most purposes. Any faster than that and I leave everyone else in my dust. In real life I almost never use the full capability of my cars, and almost never get above half of the rated top speeds.
When I drove the 451 duringthe tour. I found no unexpected/unpleasant issues with the trans shifting. I have a confirmed reservation.

[lhoboy]

Originally Posted by jonnysan

1) The basic time it took to shift is no different than the time it would take a person driving and shifting a normal standard shift car except for eliminating the need to depress the clutch and lift on the accelerator. D

The shift time on this tranny is a full second. The acceleration curve is the choppiest I have seen on any car (see below). The typical "driving enthusiast" takes far less than a second to complete a manual transmission shift.

[lhoboy]

Originally Posted by smartie

I find that a 0-60 time of about 15 seconds is what I need for most purposes. .

Agreed. To me the Smart feels like it accelerates far more quickly than the specs would indicate. Plenty of power for the purpose of merging onto freeways, etc. (when I want blistering power in the sub 5s, I'll launch the modded JCW) However, the lengthy loss of power during a "kick-down" shift in the Smart is very disconcerting.

[Smartster]

I drive a smart 451 everyday and when I hear people say driving a smart 451 is "no different" they driving a standard I wonder how they drive a standard as it is "no different" then driving a standard if you don't know how to drive a standard ;)

Ok ok, before you go and say I'm an idiot/wrong/don't know what I'm talking about, you have to know when I say "driving" a smart or any car I mean giving it gas and getting some power out of the car. Yes if you baby the throttle like many of the smart owners who claim its no different then driving a normal standard then yes that's not a far off statement.

The difference comes in when you want to get power/give it gas and go, the car just can't shift fast enough and for me I used to race cars, drag, street, solo I and solo II and the smart transmission is nothing like a normal standard in any of those cases. But that's not stopping me I'll still drag, solo I and solo II with my 451, sure people will giggle and sure I'll curse under my breath during shifts but I'll still love my smart and be happy.

Don't let the transmission prevent you from owning and loving the smart as you'll be able to do all your daily driving without issue and if you don't mind the performance lag you can still race and have fun with it on the weekends but you do need to understand that it is a unique transmission and while you will get used to driving it it will never be totally like a normal standard transmission, but if you wanted "normal" then you're not thinking smart ;)

[kmeinhold]

Smartster - I think you nailed it pretty well.

I drove the car (the PAG rep. said the US version would shift smoother/faster) but to me it was not a matter of how fast it shifted, it was that I was unable to anticipate the shift to let up on the gas to make it smoother.

I suspect after a few days of driving, the "issue" with the transmission will go away as we get familiar with the car/transmission.

[valbeck]

'Xcuse me, but what are you guys talking about??? I drove a grey market in Chicago - rough drive jolty, didn't like it decided NO on smart car. THEN I went to road show and drove the car - GREAT, and they said the US one would be smoother. I decided to stay with the smart. However, I still don't know what mr cash was talking about. And the Charts, Ihoboy, I'm just a girl, What Are They All About???