Whoever drove the Smart on Monday evening was kind enough to leave the next driver with an 1/8 of a tank of gas. Or rather, somewhere between an 1/8 of a tank or empty since the Smart features an annoying gas gauge that features only 8 digital bars rather than the more nuanced swinging dial or even the 13-bar digital gauge found in the Nissan Rogue Pumpkin Edition I drove this weekend.
Unfortunately, I didn't discover the Smart was drained until a split second after I had passed our nearby gas station. I could either get out of the line for the freeway and turn around somewhere, or I could risk it. I knew there was about 7 miles until the next gas station, so I gambled seeing as no gas light came on (that's if the Smart even had one. You'd think it should, but you never know with this thing).
I made it home with no gas light and the 1/8 bar was still in tact. Fine, I'll gamble again the next morning. Half-way in this morning, the gas pump logo started blinking and the trip meter was replaced by a gallon countdown. The latter is actually pretty useful. I made it to the gas station and pumped 7.875 gallons into the 8.7-gallon tank. When I looked into the fuel log, it turns out this was the second-most someone had gambled. Magrath put 7.953 gallons into her.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 9,793 miles
Fuel Mileage Update After the Jump
MPG to date: 33.3 mpg
Best: 43.4 (323.4 miles with 7.449 gallons by Phil "It Up Rarely" Reed)
Worst: 25.7 (200.3 miles with 7.8 gallons by John O'Dell)
EPA is 33 mpg city, 41 mpg highway and 36 mpg combined. Given how much any Smart is bound to stay in the city, I think the combined number isn't as applicable to it. Most of our fill-ups are several days apart, which generally indicates we've been driving it mostly in the city.
brn says:
11:32 AM, 10/ 1/08
I've got an analog gauge. It's no better.
dougtheeng says:
11:34 AM, 10/ 1/08
I base my fill ups on a combination of the fuel level indicator and the trip odometer that I set each time I fill up. Its the only way to be sure, if you insist on waiting till 1/8th to fill up.
canadaphant says:
11:34 AM, 10/ 1/08
It looks like Reed is the front runner on the Smart Marathon, unless someone else is willing to take the poor thing on a road trip. Bring along a full jerry can, I want to see a 350+ tank!
canadaphant says:
11:48 AM, 10/ 1/08
As for the parking challenge, my front runners are Erin Riches, for parking it neatly in front of a driveway (proving little cars can get in the way), Kurt Niebuhr (The dutchman boldly drove off tarmac onto a dirt road!), and Josh Sadlier, who snapped a photo of the Smart in a fire lane. C'mon folks, you can do better! Also, can we give a 'sprint' trophy for the worst tank in the Smart? The car must not be idled for this one, but stopped in traffic still counts. John O'Dell would be winning this one.
stingray454 says:
12:52 PM, 10/ 1/08
Even the gauges on this car look like they belong on a child's toy.
zoomzoom22 says:
02:00 PM, 10/ 1/08
The Smart has a very ironic name. Such a stupid car.
stovt001 says:
03:28 PM, 10/ 1/08
Wow, I'm almost hitting that kind of mileage with my Cobalt, and it has such luxuries as a back seat, one extra cylinder, and brakes.
autoboy16 says:
03:58 PM, 10/ 1/08
Stov forgot to mention ~50hp more and tons more torque!
actualsize says:
06:32 AM, 10/ 2/08
Ha! That looks just like a parking meter. How many minutes for a quarter? Do I have to pay on weekends?
stshepard says:
04:52 PM, 10/ 9/08
I've owned my smart Cabrio for about 2 months now, and i've got to say the inside line editors don't "get" the smart because it just isn't meant for the type of drivers they are. Didn't ANYONE in the office care to read the owners manual? It seems they don't know ANYTHING about this car, they didn't do ANY reasarch before they bought it. They don't seem to know ANYTHING about the brand. I'll admit that the way the transmission works is odd and some times un-refined (especially when creeping along at low speeds in parking lots!) But come on, you guys over exagerate every little thing. like the person who said the have to floor it to keep up with traffic when taking off from stop lights? The truth is, most people don't take off all the fast from stop lights and if you floored it when taking off from most stop lights you'd end up running into the car in front of you. Or the one who complained about the size of the audio head unit, although your car doesn't have it, a 6 disk in-dash changer is available and that size is probably to accommodate the changer? They even complained about the way the head unit works, eventhough it couldn't be easier to operate. I'm not going to say it's fast or powerful, because it isn't, but it's got plenty of power for most situations, it will easily do 90mph, (electronically limited) and after driving it for a while you learn how to manipulate the throttle to force downshifts without using the kickdown function (when the accelorator is floored, if you push a little harder you feel a click which forces a transmission downshift). Also, just like driving a manual transmission car, (the smarts transmission is an automated manual with a Getrag 5 speed and an automatic clutch, not a true automatic) you learn how to play the accelorator to smooth shifts,(this isn't necessary, but it can dramatically smooth the transitions between gears). I've put over 7000 miles on mine and I actually like it, so much so that I'm selling my 2004 SE-4 Spec V. Knowing all I know, I'd buy it again (probably a different color). It has quirks, yes, but most are on purpose. I think that most automotive journalists are PERFORMANCE car enthusiasts, not simply car enthusiasts there is a difference. I think the inside line journalists have decided they love to hate this car, and since that's the case they should just sell it and be done with it.
P.S. although the mileage isn't 50 MPG or more, keep in mind this car weighs like 1950 lbs and is being pushed around by 71hp and 43 foot/pounds of torque. to get into the 50 MPG range in a non-hybrid car, you'd have to drive something like a Vespa. Truth is, if Daimler were only shooting for MPG and not safety and MPG, this car would have been lighter, lower, and much more aerodynamic. Some of the safety concerns helped shape the car and that's why it sits so much higher than most small cars, and weighs more than it could have.
Peace.
stshepard says:
05:08 PM, 10/ 9/08
I didn't want to totally dis' inside line's writers, in a way journalists are disadvantaged because they have access to and drive so many different cars that they don't really get to know any of the cars they drive.
This is why their subjective feeling can be invalid in the real world. Owners adapt to the cars they own, manufacturers know this, and so do journalists. If this weren't the case all cars would look act and feel the same, but they don't
So in the case of the smart car, many of the pure facts you read are true, but the ownership experience (for this or any other car) can be MUCH better (or worse) than what is written here.
I won't make excuses for the smart car, it is a polarizing concept, but for the right people (most of you know who you are) it's perfect.
Peace