When can we expect a cruise control for the Smart? Also, could an engineer/designer or someone tell me why we have such a crappy transmission in the Smart. I have let 4 persons I know drive my car because they were excited by the Smart Car and really thought they wanted one. 3 of the 4 lost their excitement due to the transmission. One said he could put up with it because he still liked the car enough to overlook the shifting. The other three said they would not buy one solely because of the transmission and thought it a shame because they like the car otherwise. Was it because of SIZE, EXPENSE, etc? This car needed a smooth shifting transmission just like any other small car with an automatic. You are going to loose a lot of sales because of this one factor.
Regards;
Regards;
Replies to This Discussion
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I don't think it was a cost thing at all, I think the transmission was designed for the best gas mileage possable. It's not an automatic transmission. If it was the gas mileage would suffer, and thats what this car is all about. The best gas mileage a three cylinder car can get.
There is already an aftermarket cruise control out there for the smart that works great. Check out the area451parts.com web site to purchase one.
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the probelm with the transmission is the drivers who think it is a dsg or similar
ffs the car cost 15K you cant even get the flappy paddle option on a ferrari for 15k!!
it shifts slow because its cheap and also designed to last, it can be made to shift fast but it wouldnt last 50,000k without needing repairs, other then the clutch needing to be replaced the box should easily last the life of the vechicle
once your used to it it's not that bad and the shifts are very smooth for a manual, and aside from the slow shifts much better than a true auto, there is no problem with hunting for gears and such which you get in a small car with an auto
also in the Gutless version you get in the states if it had a true auto you would easily add a couple of seconds to you 0-60mph time and use more fuel in the process.... small gutless cars + auto = i'd almost rather walk!
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Please keep this in perspective...
The USA Auto shfit and programming is US specific. It differs to the rest of the world. The rest of the world drives manual by default... the "softouch" Auto is an expensive add on option that generally is not well liked.
So: grumping about the auto shift on the US smarts is an American affliction. Most Americans have never driven a stick shift, so smart USA took a compromise. A pure manual shift may have been too radical to sell.
I have a turbo pulse with the optional auto program. I don't use the auto often. It is slow and clunky compared to the manual shift in city conditions. Manual shifting with the paddles is as fast and smooth as anything I have ever had in a conventional transmission. I have had 40 years of driving conventional stick shifts but still it has taken me a couple of months to get really fast and slick with the smart. It is different and takes some learning.
Don't blame the car... learn how to drive it. It's a European car with a French twist akin to Renaults, Citroens and Peugeots... all of which withdrew from the US market but are hugely popular and state of the art elsewhere.
Cruise Controls... I've had them on cars for the last 20 years and they have rarely been used. They are useless in city driving and become sleep inducing on long highway drives. They can never predict the hill ahead; neither can auto transmissions. If you want performance and fuel economy in a small car: don't use auto shift and cruise control... as "Not so smart" says.
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I also have the New turbo pulse with the optional auto program, and as far as i undestood the Smart has a manual transmission and the paddles are only an extension of the gear leaver by cable, when changing gear with the paddels or the shift leaver the time is the same, also in auto mode the time to change gear is the same its just when to change gear that is decided by the car and not you!. Its like the first push button telephones unless you were connected to a digital telephone exchange it did'nt matter how fast you pushed the buttons you call still would take the same time to go through as the rotary dial...............................................
Roger Italy
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Hi Roger,
Not quite... the paddles are electrical switches and are not mechanically connected to the centre shift stick. They both send a shift request signal to the control unit; they are not mechanical cable pulls.
The smart transmission is like a conventional manual transmission but with a computer controlled servo operated clutch to which it may have an optional auto shift program added.
The auto programming needs to match the engine speed to the transmission speed to minimise friction on the mechanical clutch that is shifted by servo. Hold the accelerator down hard in auto and the transmission programming needs to lose some engine speed before it can change up to the next gear. This will cause a lurch and dead spot in the shift that many folks complain about.
With a tradtional manual transmission you ease off the accelerator and slurr the clutch a bit to smoothen the upshift under load. This comes with experience. A leaner driver usually drops the clutch and has a neck snapping gear change. Expert drivers can change gears in some cars and trucks without using the clutch. It's all a case of matching speeds and loads between engine and gearbox.
Shifting the smart manually is similar to driving a traditional manual clutch... the difference is the electronics do the shifting and if the revolving speed between engine drive shaft and gear box is too great, the electonics will pause the shift... that causes the perceived lag as engine speed is shed (or gained if downshifting).
A simple example of fast and smooth manual shifts: cruise on a flat road at a bit over 60 kph. Use the paddles to shift up and down between 3,4 and 5 gears. Shifts should be quick and smooth. It is when under hard acceleration from a standing start that some skill is needed. When I'm going for speed, I hit the mid red on the tacho in first gear, ease off the accelerator and then tip the upshift paddle. That is much smoother and quicker than the auto program can shift on my smart. When driving for economy quick manual shifts at low engine speeds are simple to do. There are programming differences between the USA and the rest of the world. Between Australia and Italy... I dunno.
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Hi Ian I also have the New turbo pulse with the optional auto program, and as far as i undestood the Smart has a manual transmission and the paddles are only an "extension of the gear leaver by cable."
I should have written electrical cable.
On my old Smart Pulse there was a problem with the paddles, Smart changed the steering wheel twice because when changing up a gear the horn also sounded. At the back of the steering wheel there are 3 or 4 contacts which when the steering wheel is fitted push against 3 or 4 copper circlular contacts on the steering column which are connected in turn to the gear shifting mec. I would think that its the same on the 451.
Hope this explains it a bit better for you.
Regards Roger
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Permalink Reply by Carlos -
It has al to do with costs, the 451 5 speed gearbox shifts much smoother then the 450 6 speed gearbox. That a big plus.
Of course it can be better buth for example a dual clutch gearbox is to expensive.
Other thing: the softouch(automode) mode is slower then softip (manual).
A german and a dutch automobile magazine did a test 0-140 with the 451 brabus in manual and auto mode.
In auto it is 3 seconds slower, really surprising.
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3 sec's in my M3 is around 80kph, 100 comes inat 4.5sec's.
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2008 One Lap of America
