Voided Warranty

[Smart Car Geek]

[QUOTE=mmmeat;89431]It doesn't mean that you made it better and it doesn't mean that you made it worse.]/QUOTE]

That's exactly what we said. Weird.

[mmmeat]

Originally Posted by Smart Car Geek

The bottom line is that the better your car runs, the less gas it will waste, meaning you will get better miles per gallon.

"Better" is subjective, and in no way means simply that you will increase your mileage. Better can mean that the motor produces more horsepower and torque which will propel the vehicle down a drag strip in 8 seconds. And I've never seen any vehicle that can do that that gets "better" mileage than the motor does in stock trim.

There is virtually nothing you can do with an off-the-shelf item that will do anything to make the car run "better" - and that certainly applies to air filters. A motor is an air pump. If you pull more air in, but don't allow more air out, then you've accomplished nothing.

Seat-of-the-pants engineering based on what the side of the box says is irrelevant and just plain silly. If you're going to attempt to improve - or make "better" - any system in the car, you need know the system, understand what the system does, and make the necessary changes to all the parts of that system.

When I changed the air filter and intake on my silver Miata, virtually nothing happened. When I changed the exhaust system - header to exhaust tip - on my smurf Miata, virtually nothing happened. When I changed the smurf Miata - added the air filter & intake, recalibrated the fuel injectors and computer to match the exhaust system, the car did make gains in both horsepower and torque - that didn't, however, make it 'better.'

When I yanked all that stuff out and dropped in a Ford V8 ... well, okay, THAT did make it 'better.'

So 'better' is in the eye of the beholder.

Your pal,
Meat.

[mmmeat]

Originally Posted by Smart Car Geek

Nope. What you said was:

Originally Posted by Smart Car Geek

..."altering" could also mean you are making the car better. The pope doesn't bless factory parts.

...and, as I've already written, that is an untrue statement.

Your pal,
Meat.

[mdfortwoguy]

Originally Posted by Smart Car Geek

I've seen Smarts in accidents and I can tell you first hand that there is nothing left of the front end/wheels. The car is DESIGNED to absorb the impact and the wheels don't effect how the crumple zones work. I will post a picture of this and you will immediately see what we mean ;)

Just to clarify, you are aware that the smart is designed with a relatively small crumple zone, and the tridion is meant to activate the crumple zones of other cars, correct?

The wheel is designed as part of the structure... case in point, my current wallpaper here at work:

[Smart Car Geek]

Originally Posted by mmmeat

...and, as I've already written, that is an untrue statement.

Amazing how you could read what we said and yet gloss over it at the same time I thought only politicians had that ability In any even ask your English teacher what 'could also' means ;)

Originally Posted by mdfortwoguy

The wheel is designed as part of the structure

Terrific. Now explain how an aftermarket wheel that meets the same specs could hurt those results. Per the Smart brochure, the wheels (because of the short wheelbase, not because of the wheels themselves) act as a shock absorber. There is nothing unique about the "Smart wheels" except that they come with the car. Replacing them with a QUALITY wheel that is the same size would not effect anything on the car. Replacing them with a cheap chinese knock-off wheel however might. It would be just as silly to say that replacing the cars antenna would effect what stations you could pick up. As long as you meet Smarts specs no change would (could) occur. The wheels of the Smart are connected to longitudinal structural members and axles that help to displace the crash energy. It's simple physics. I'm sure the Smart wheel is made very well, however there are no patents on their wheel, and there are other companies that build just as good of a wheel, if not better.

[SmartCard]

when push comes to shove, I don't think the dealer would have leg to stand on in voiding your warranty for changing your wheels. SO LONG, that is...that the new wheel fitment is within reason range of factory specs. Certainly going up one size is no problem (ie, Brabus) Now if you try to slap on 20" suckers that are 8 inches wide...they might have an issue!

[SMART]

So can smart USA answer this -- Are the Brabus wheels going to effect the safety of this vehicle and under their terms do they void the warranty?

[xcrew229x]

Warranty is not the worry......... if the car is indeed designed with the wheels as part of a system, get in a serious crash, and watch the insurance company deny your claim due to you disabling part of the system with custom wheels. Don't laugh.... same as if you disconnect or otherwise disable an airbag. It's all about who is liable, and the percentage of that liability.

[Smart Car Geek]

Originally Posted by SMART

Are the Brabus wheels going to effect the safety of this vehicle and under their terms do they void the warranty?

Here's one with Brabus wheels and it looks great

[WilyB]

Originally Posted by SMART

So can smart USA answer this -- Are the Brabus wheels going to effect the safety of this vehicle and under their terms do they void the warranty?

Given the BRABUS wheels sports "451" part numbers, the answer is most probably "no".