21-22 MPG FUEL CONSUMPTION - 451 smart fortwo

I live in NJ and just bought…

2010-06-17T00:49:39.864Z

I live in NJ and just bought my smart 4 weeks ago. I travel mostly highway during my commute (65-70MPH) 130 miles a day. I have been using an iPhone app called Road Trip to keep track of my milage, as I did with my 2004 Prius I traded in for my smart.
Here are my tank milages so far:
37.36MPG (first tank)
38.80
39.93
39.68
41.72
43.36

Same thing I will tell you as I told people about the Prius. I had my 2004 Prius for 6 years and over the life of the car I got 51.2MPG average, most people do not get any thing close to that because you need to drive differently. Most people try and drive a Prius and now a smart like a Mustang, in fact I saw one this morning in the fast lane, I was doing about 68MPH and he flew by me probably doing 80MPH. The smart was not designed for that, it was designed to drive at a normal pace, not like your a pissed off teenager, behind the wheel of a Mustang. Hell, even the new Mustang gets 31MPG, so either your car is really messed up or your driving it into the ground.

So... 2 questions
What was your previous car?
What grade of fuel are you using? Needs to be atleast 91 octane.

Chris; Have an MPG check don…

2010-01-15T20:36:26.240Z

Chris;

Have an MPG check done on your car by the dealer (free if you're inside the warranty). You will sit in the SMART showroom reading a book or magazine while the car is taken to Mercedes for the test. At the same time, they will upgrade the transmission software to shift like a 2009 car if you own a 2008 or 2007 Smart. You will also get a new battery and get the transmission linkage checked and greased.

If Mercedes sees that your car is delivering poor fuel mileage, they will fix whatever is wrong and won't tell you that a repair was done (sly devils!). Mercedes/Smart just want to keep you satisfied. They succeeded with me!

Here's a biggie for you: There's an outfit in Georgia (DPTune) that offers to reprogram BOTH the engine and the transmission for $550 , guaranteeing to turn your little econo-box into a micro sports car. They have a HP/Torque graph that shows 71 HP delivered at the rear wheel! I believe the part about making the transmission shifts much quicker since I already know how well the car shifts in Manual using the paddle shifters! I'll drive up there one fine day and take them up on the re-flash offer, but for now, I've just finished tapping the performance level of the Smart in its present state of tune.

I will eventually install an after-market cold-air intake pipe and a decent exhaust system (when I can find one) because our poor little car has literally been strangulated by its OEM equipment. Eventually, A turbo might enter the picture as well. Garrett (USA) makes the turbo used on the 450 model (700cc), and probably also supplies the turbo used on the 84 hp Euro 451. My exchange with DPTune on this site about these matters is encouraging; it seems that 120 HP is possible even without the turbo! Well, why not? A one-liter Suzuki GXSR motorcycle makes 160 HP! Basically, the bike engine just breathes a lot better. I see a lot of fun on the horizon.

Herb

TnPD; Please see my reply to…

2010-01-15T20:08:30.039Z

TnPD;

Please see my reply to Syna. What temperature is your A/C set to? Originally, I never paid attention to the Temperature setting, and just used the black A/C switch to turn the A/C ON/OFF (it has a little red light when ON). One hot Tampa day, I'm stuck in SR54 traffic when I noticed it was definitely cold in the cabin. That's when I noticed that the A/C temperature control lever was set to 60F! (dealer personnel probably set it there).

I reset the temp lever to 75F (this lever controls a THERMOSTAT) and the A/C promptly turned itself OFF automatically. For the rest of the summer, the A/C would cycle ON/OFF in a manner that's normal for other automotive units. Sure, the cabin got a tad warmer, but was never uncomfortable since the A/C managed to keep the humidity low at the 75 deg. setting. Gas mileage improved by 3-4 MPG. Not bad!

Herb

Syna, Then we're both suffer…

2010-01-15T19:53:46.680Z

Syna,

Then we're both suffering from an over-active imagination (hehe). My Smart is a 2008 Passion and has the same mileage as your car. I can also swear that it has more pep now than when I bought it. I agree with all your MPG figures, and have managed 47 MPG on one all-highway trip with sustained speeds of 75-80 MPH (A/C was OFF). The A/C knocks about 5 MPG off the fuel economy. I tried setting the temperature lever to 75 degrees F. because will cause the unit to cycle on and off with hardly any effect on the comfort level in the car. However, it greatly reduces the MPG hit from running the temp setting at 60 degrees. I leave it set to 75 degrees and I live in Tampa, where summers are brutally hot.

Herb

I agree with you, Herb. At fi…

2010-01-15T02:43:14.710Z

I agree with you, Herb. At first I was gentle on my smartie and my mpg was mid-30's. After I got used to driving it, I started having fun and was hard on the gas pedal doing 70-80 mph, quick starts getting on to the freeway, and flooring it to downshift. Then my mpg started climbing. I do all hiway miles and I get around 43 mpg. If I keep it down to 65 mph, I can get 44-45 mpg. I did some city driving once and got 39 mpg. But I drive smartie hard and love it. And I might be imagining it, but I think that smartie has more pep now than in the beginning and I'm very happy with the mileage.

2008 Cabriolet 18000 miles Southern California

L. R., See my comment to Walt…

2010-01-15T00:00:51.359Z

L. R., See my comment to Walter. Also, start pushing the car a lot harder. Your engine needs to be worked hard to loosen up and give you better mileage. Never mind the "soft-pedal" approach in "D". Go for the gusto in Manual mode. Works great in the get-away department, and believe it or not, you'll still get 37 mpg in town and have a lot more fun in the process.

Herb (Only a Suzuki Bandit 1255 is more fun).

Walter, take the car back to…

2010-01-14T23:55:09.260Z

Walter, take the car back to the dealer and request that they perform an MPG check for you. There's no charge for cars still in warranty.

Herb

I bought my 2008 SMART used w…

2010-01-14T23:48:15.554Z

I bought my 2008 SMART used with 14,000 miles on the clock. At first, I got about 25 mpg, so I took it to Mercedes for a check-up. The results came back as 36.9 mpg! I have no idea if they did anything to the car or not, but I too suddenly got city mileage in the upper 30's. Hm-mmm! Since then I've gotten as much as 47 mpg on pure Interstate runs. In addition, I drive the car hard and have noticed a gradual increase in acceleration off the line. It doesn't hurt to use the paddle shifters in the manual mode to overcome the transmission upshift lag problem. Just floor the gas and hold it down when the light goes green and upshift manually right off the line to get into second. You will literally be amazed and stupefied at your little car's performance.

I've installed an Autel MaxiTrip TP100 Auto Computer on my dash to verify these figures. It's a bit hard to set up, but the price is right. It also provides all the OBD-II test set readings you might want on engine condition, etc. It also gives you a tachometer, but it's hard to over-rev this engine since it has an electronic rev-limiter. Did I say that there are dual trip-meters too?

Herb

Above 65 mph mpg goes down, w…

2010-01-14T23:18:07.419Z

Above 65 mph mpg goes down, wind and it goes down, allowing your foot to get heavy, goes down. I drive in semi urban and get 38-40 all the time. But in the city stop and go, I accelerate very slowly and as the clutch disengages , I lift slightly so as to have a silky smooth shift. On the highway at 62 mph I get about 42-44 unless the wind is blowing. There is nothing so satisfying as to accelerate slowly, have the jerk behind you blow by with his BMW puffing soot out the tail, then pull up behind him at the next stoplight. Happens all the time.

I average 40 mpg for over 230…

2010-01-14T22:39:37.172Z

I average 40 mpg for over 23000 miles. I get 38mpg when I go 75 to 85mph or do a lot of city driving(errands and stuff) under 50. If I drive 55 to 60 I average 44 to 47mpg