[ASmartMan]

Greetings again

Lets get to the meat of this post.

The commute, 10 miles highway, 7 miles back roads, 6 traffic lights and 5 stop signs.

On highway 65-75 Mph, back roads 20-40Mph, AC on (this tank) 75% of the time.

Drove to 298.5 miles on trip odometer and refilled with 7.1 "Yank" gallons ( I say this because in Canada as well as the UK they use Imperial gallons (about 1/5th more), for a grand total of 42 MPG for my first tank.

My first fill up was at Lukin (spelling?) 91 octane @ 2.93 per gallon, this new tank is from Hess, 93 octane @ 2.85 per gallon.

I will try all the gas brands because according to the UK posts there is a (sometimes a BIG) difference, once done the I will play with driving habits.

And for the EU readers that's 480 kilometers on 28.187 Liters or 5.872 L per 100 Km

More to follow

ASM

 

[SmartCard]

alright...way to go!

I know I will be happy with anything above 40 mpg with the 451's, for just the same type of driving you mentioned. woo hoo!

 

[jonnysan]

I'm betting with reasonable driving habits (not slamming it to the floor on every accel) and just driving like a maniac like some do, that 40-50mpg is going to be more the norm. If I was putting out a new, micro car supposedly for the high gas mileage, I would shoot low on the estimate just so I was not deluged by cranky first time owners claiming the mileage did not come up to snuff. Better to shoot under and have the actual mileages always come out above the average than the opposite to occur. The Smart HAS to really come in better than 40mpg realistically. If not, some old fashioned tuning and trickery are in order.
When I was 18 and in college in 1965-66, I had a '63 SAAB with the 3 banger, 2 cycle engine that consistently got 33 mpg. It was a pretty light car, too, with low HP. You just had to drive it right, anticipate passes whenever possible and just drive rationally. ONe thing it had which I really wish small cars today would have is free wheeling. I think that feature added alot to the mileage number really. Someone decided that cars with freewheeling were not safe because you did not have complete control of the car at all times, especially when coasting down a hill. Alittle braking allowed you to keep your speed controlled. The Smarts undesireable AT shifting may have something to do with a poor mileage number. Or simply shift it manually all the time.

 

[delyan]

...which reminds me that a trip computer in the dashboard would be nice!

 

[ASmartMan]

Remember All

I am driving

The 700cc Smart with the turbo charged motor (The turbo boost feels like a 4 barrel kicking in) and the new Smarts are coming with the 1000 cc motors.

SSOO don't be surprised if the new SMART does less than my SMART (MPG wise)

Now that the daily temps are dropping I will be getting MPG with less AC. the way I figure it is, THE ONLY way I can go is UP.

Now all it need is snow tires for the coming winter (speaking with our Northern friends to pull this off).

ASM

 

[jonnysan]

Speaking of snow tires

ASmartman...
I live in the great NE as well and if all goes well, I will be getting my new Smart sometime between Jan & March of '08. If it's towards the latter part of that period of time, I probably will just take my chances and stick with the original tires. If I am lucky and get delivery in January, I will surely outfit the rears with Nokian Hakapallettas with studs. I used to drive 100 round trip to work (now it's just 6 miles RT) and when I drove that crazy distance, I tried all kinds of Winter tires, wanting to be able to get myself home after work. Sometimes I would be driving thru 8" plus of snow on some unplowed roads and the Nokians really were the very best of class there. I now use the Nokian WR all season radial and am extremely pleased with those as a pretty aggressive all season tire, contrary to some of the *Summer tires* some tire makers call all season radials.
I'll be reporting on here with all kinds of things once I get the car. Hope my very early $99 reservation (3/20/07) gets me high on the list of deliveries for our dealer who is only 2 miles from my home and 1/4 mile from my work.
Greetings from a Smart2be!