451 smart fortwo

Driver of Smart Car survives impalement

2010-10-27T17:36:21.284Z

Without the safety shell, the roof of an average car might have collapsed a bit more (if not completely) and killed the driver! The photos on the Weather Channel showed a yellow ForTwo Passion with a huge tree on top of it. The Tridon safety shell and the front crossmember, which was supporting the tree trunk, did not seem deformed.

In the video report, the husband held the broken branch, a stub about two feet long, showing the tip that had come through the windshield and penetrated his wife's side. It was obvious that a tiny bit more penetration might have killed her -- but the roof held up this huge tree and prevented this from happening. This is a Smart Car success story, although the gruesome nature of the story may keep Smart Inc from mentioning it. By the way, the woman is recovering quickly and is reported playing with her children.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-illinoisstorms-im,0,6136517.story

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. —

The suburban Chicago woman impaled by a tree limb during the storm that's slammed Illinois is getting quite a souvenir.

Her husband says she asked him to retrieve the limb that crashed through her car windshield Tuesday, so that she can use it for an art project.

Todd Miller says his wife, Helen Miller, is an art teacher and "a bit of a free spirit."

The Lake Villa woman is recovering from surgery at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports that the branch pierced her side but didn't strike any vital organs.

Todd Miller says she asked for the tree limb, so he passed that request on to paramedics. They retrieved it, and it'll be waiting for her when she's released from the hospital.

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Information from: Daily Herald, http://www.dailyherald.com

I locked my keys in my Smart Car!!!

2009-12-20T02:00:51.740Z

I left the ignition on to tow my Smart Car a short way on a car dolly. Do not do this with the windows up. The doors automatically lock!

It took me two hours to figure out how to get in without damaging the car. I will not publish the method here but established members of 451s.com can PM me for the technique.

Pinning the Tail on the Kite and Flyng It

2009-08-23T21:46:36.165Z

PART 1 - Pulling an empty trailer to Chicago from California

The Featherlite 1645 is the optimum choice of flatbed trailer to pull behind a Smart Car. It is sized perfectly for a GEM Car or any Golf Cart or motorcycle. I stripped off the loading ramp and landing gear. It can be modified to accept a Smart Car (best towed behind something larger - the trailer is rated at 2000 lbs). To park in the city with the trailer empty, you just dive into a space about as long as a giant SUV, hop out, lift the rear of the trailer and swing it perfectly to the curb. I can do this with one hand. This all-aluminum trailer is LIGHT!

The first step was to order a receiver hitch from http://www.redtrailers.com . For $165, they had Curt Manufacturing ship me one of their beautifully-welded, tough custom units. This Class 1 hitch is rated 100 lbs tongue weight and 1000 lbs load capacity. I made sure to torque the frame bolts to spec and I soldered in the wiring harness to make it bulletproof. (Red Trailers is a 10 out of 10 outfit.)

My hypermiling philosophy encompasses all aspects of travel at the extreme. How could a person sleep in the Smart Car comfortably and save tons of motel cash on a long cross country trip? It looks a little small for a 6-foot guy like me - but is it really too small?

I laid out three of those interconnecting foam squares that Sears sells for garage floors over the folded-down passenger seat and back to the rear hatch. These can be trimmed to just the right width. Add a foam pad or air mattress, sheets, blanket and pillow and you have a very comfortable and civilized bed that lays out or folds up in a couple minutes.

I added a Hamilton vertical card compass to the console to show me which way I was headed when I leapt off the interstate to travel the increadibly pleasent secondary roads that criss-cross the Midwest. I love the Hamilton because it doesn't dance around. Some dope picked it up and dropped it years ago. It started hanging up in aircraft but it works fine in cars. Unfortunately, Hamilton went out of business and they are now a collector's item.

Installing a full-size electric oven in a Smart Car

2009-01-22T04:37:18.055Z

Many of us, from time to time, have had an insatiable yearning for fresh pizza when we have been driving our little cars on errands far from civilization. It will delight you to learn that a full-size 24-inch electric oven can be installed in a Smart Car and that it is a perfect fit! The oven does not drain the battery because you simply plug a heavy-duty power cord into a handy outlet along the way. It may even be possible to fit a small 210v Honda generator in the forward section of the passenger compartment for cooking at highway speeds but this may mess up the ULEV emission rating, so I haven't tried it yet. I did try to make the oven fit with the door forward, so that I could check the pizza with the oven light on through the rearview mirror, but I couldn't open the door without jumping out of the car, and there may be an issue of driver inattention involved, so it really works best facing the rear. The oven heat and aroma vents out the openings above the door. While the aroma is good, you don't want that that heat inside! Or maybe you do if you live in Chicago. It's like a regional thing, I suppose. The 24-inch oven is just the right size to provide the proper space for insulation along the sides and top, and even a modern 30-inch oven can probably be made to fit with slight modifications with a hacksaw, a heat gun and a ballpeen hammer. A bit of careful woodworking to seal the rear gaps will result in a pleasing appearence and a toasty, draft-free interior. I recommend the use of a 14-inch pizza stone for quality crust. You will have to remove the seat backs but you will be plenty warm - even with the windows down! Let's talk pizza recipies.
-ps: I don't know if this violates the warranty. I can't find any reference to electric ovens in the manual so we're probably okay. There is a minor problem with engine access that I'm still working on.
-pps: Oh yeah, don't make pizza on the freeway at night. Everybody will blink their highbeams at you. I don't know why. Maybe they're jealous and want a slice of hot pizza!

Dual CD/iPod/AM/FM/MPG radio install

2009-01-06T04:56:06.808Z

Now you see it...

Now you don't!

See my album for install instructions.

"There are plenty of cars out there that get 40 mpg now."

2008-12-23T01:58:58.119Z

From MSNBC commentator on video clip "Are Hybrids Dead? at finance.yahoo.com
She was referring to non-hybrid cars.
Would someone list these cars for me please?

Perfect, cheap tire compressor made for the Smart!

2008-12-15T03:32:47.945Z

I am a hypermiling junkie so I keep my tires perfectly inflated at max sidewall pressure (or more).

I just found the greatest tire compressor at Auto Zone. Roger Penske should brand these things and ship one with every Smart! It was ridiculously cheap. It's tiny. It hardly weighs anything. It plugs into the console 12v tap. It reaches all the tires. It takes 10 minutes to inflate a tire. But the absolutely greatest thing about it is it fits perfectly into the passenger side hatch by the tail light. That's right. A perfect fit. You close the hatch and forget about it. It's there when you need it.

Everyone who has a Smart should get one of these before they're discontinued.

(I had to futz around a bit to make it fit. If you get one, fold out the insulation pad, drop the hose and power cords into the hole first, followed by the rectangular compressor unit sideways into the recess. With the proper angle, it slips right in. The hatch closes perfectly. It's so amazing that I giggled.)

https://secure.slime.com/images/uploads/COMP-04.pdf