My wife drives very similar. The best advice, which is something Ive been trying to but into words for my wife, is drive like you don't want something to fall out of the front seat. Smooth. I drive with my big toe, if that helps. My foot is firmly grounded, and I only operate the throttle with my big toe. Same with my breaking, except in an emergency. I think what helped me was I had an automatic as my first car, but I sold it and used my girlfriends stick shift geo. From then on, my driving has improved. Does that help?
I don't know- no one else I've driven with complains as much as he does. *lol* When we test-drove the smart, actually, he freaked out when I was pulling a 3-point-turn and I had to just park it and get out and let him drive it- and we were only like 100 feet from where the car needed to be parked. Ah well.
But I'll try, I'll work on being a smoother driver, for my little smartie, if not for the hubby. *lol*
'atta girl!
Many people are giving similar advice here an on many other threads - smooth driving is the golden key to smart happiness...
Sylvan, from your descriptions of yourself and your hubby, it seems like there's a huge difference in your driving styles. If you can't tell the difference, you may be the driving equivalent of tonedeaf. Perhaps you need to rely on non-tactile clues, like counting to 3 before pushing further on the pedal, or pushing the accel no more than 2" down, ever. Some ppl just can't rely on kinesthetic clues, so find a different way.
I would bet 50% of the difference is AC, the other half is driving style. One of the few good things to come out of the "Defrost turns on AC" thread is a pretty across the board confirmation that AC takes about a 10% hit (3-4mpg). So, thats part of it.
I'm betting the rest is just driving style. One thing to try is driving w/ a small inflated ball in the passenger seat. (A kids bouncy ball will do.) The goal is to not have it leave the seat. Slower/earlier breaking, and less bouncy acceleration is a plus.
I also shift into neutral and coast up to stop lights unless I know they're going to go green soon. Leaving the car in neutral at the light helps a little I'm sure. There are tons of little tricks to do, but I do few of them and am getting ~40ish.
Another thing to consider is what the two of you do in the car. Is your driving mainly city driving, where his is mainly highway? Thats a big factor there too.
Sylvan - Do you shift with the tach or by engine sound or by speed? Do you accelerate quickly or slow and smooth? Is the A/C on all the time on the coldest setting and high fan?
You might try just putting it in 'D' and forgetting about the shifters. Run the A/C sparingly, keeping it on 'Vent' as much as possible. Drive smoothly and accelerate slowly but enough not to interfer with the traffic flow. Good Luck...I think you could beat your husbands milage with practice!!!
Well, my smart has no tach. I've gone by the arrows, I've noticed that they start blinking at certain speeds, and I try listening and maybe letting it rev a little more.. But all this paying attention to the shifting takes my eyes off the road, and that's not a good thing.. *lol*
I accelerate as quickly as I can, because I'm not trying to get people behind me all pissed off. Plus sometimes around here, you have to GO when pulling out of a stop sign or else you'll be stuck sitting there forever.
And I usually have the AC on, low fan, coldest setting, with the air on recirc, and then I'll shut it off when it gets really cold and then turn it back on when it's just too hot. :P
My wife drives very similar. The best advice, which is something Ive been trying to but into words for my wife, is drive like you don't want something to fall out of the front seat. Smooth. I drive with my big toe, if that helps. My foot is firmly grounded, and I only operate the throttle with my big toe. Same with my breaking, except in an emergency. I think what helped me was I had an automatic as my first car, but I sold it and used my girlfriends stick shift geo. From then on, my driving has improved. Does that help?
Sylvan, from your descriptions of yourself and your hubby, it seems like there's a huge difference in your driving styles. If you can't tell the difference, you may be the driving equivalent of tonedeaf. Perhaps you need to rely on non-tactile clues, like counting to 3 before pushing further on the pedal, or pushing the accel no more than 2" down, ever. Some ppl just can't rely on kinesthetic clues, so find a different way.
*lol* He's actually tonedeaf and can't sing to save his life... Ah well. I wish I could be a passenger when I drive, so I could see what has him so bothered...
I would bet 50% of the difference is AC, the other half is driving style. One of the few good things to come out of the "Defrost turns on AC" thread is a pretty across the board confirmation that AC takes about a 10% hit (3-4mpg). So, thats part of it.
I'm betting the rest is just driving style. One thing to try is driving w/ a small inflated ball in the passenger seat. (A kids bouncy ball will do.) The goal is to not have it leave the seat. Slower/earlier breaking, and less bouncy acceleration is a plus.
I also shift into neutral and coast up to stop lights unless I know they're going to go green soon. Leaving the car in neutral at the light helps a little I'm sure. There are tons of little tricks to do, but I do few of them and am getting ~40ish.
Another thing to consider is what the two of you do in the car. Is your driving mainly city driving, where his is mainly highway? Thats a big factor there too.
Yeah, I'm sure my preference for the AC doesn't help. I don't understand what braking has to do with the gas, though.
I have a bell on the purse I take to work.. I wonder if I could drive all the way to work with it on the front seat without the bell ringing? Well, excluding any chimes from potholes and generally crappy roads...
As far as where we each are driving, it varies.. Though he does tend to "get" to drive highway, mostly, while I'm driving to work, backroads and then only going up one exit on the highway. Ugh. :P
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Big Red
R2-D2 42
Ah well. 
I have a bell on the purse I take to work.. I wonder if I could drive all the way to work with it on the front seat without the bell ringing? Well, excluding any chimes from potholes and generally crappy roads...
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