Here is an excel spreadsheet showing the fuel economy of my car for November 2006. Note that my best tank was over 93 mpg US on a round trip.

2005 smart fortwo coupe cdi (.8 litre 3-cylinder diesel)

3731 kms total
121.7 litres
3.26 L/100 km
(86.6 mpg imperial)

2319 miles
32.15 US gallons
72.1 mpg US

My goal is to get my day to day driving down to about 3.0 L/100 km, which is 78 mpg US or 94 mpg imperial. With some minor aerodynamic modifications to the car, I should be able get 100 mpg US or better on some highway trips.

The smart car mileage reported by various sources has varied, but please remember mine is a diesel, while the cars in the US currently are gasoline.

This story originally appeared at the clubsmartcar.com Cross-Canada Relay website.

Contact Keith by e-mail.

When smart first appeared on the streets of Europe in 1998, it was known as the ‘city-coupe’. And although many people will immediately remark that the smart ‘makes a great city car’, Canadian owners have shown that the car is more than dependable on long road trips.

Take for example, Rich Helms, a seasoned software developer with over 30 years of experience including Research and Development (R&D), sales and marketing, who also writes occasionally for the Toronto Sun Autonet Drive section.

Rich has his own blog, where you can read about his many travels into the USA, which at last count, include visits to 17 different states. (more…)

Contact Keith by e-mail.

As some of you recall, I had been considering selling my smart diesel and getting a used Honda Insight. It was feeling like the limits of the car as far as fuel economy was concerned had been reached. I had already surpassed 100 mpg several times, getting as much as 126 mpg imperial in June 2006. I felt that the Honda Insight would offer the ‘next challenge’ - delivering better fuel economy numbers in day to day driving.

But used smarts are becoming cheaper in Canada, and my car was not quick to sell, despite it’s flawless condition. All this to say… I needed a new motivation to seek better day to day fuel economy.

And I did find it, at gassavers.org. A few weeks back, I acquired a second hand fuel economy computer that plugs into the OBDII port of the smart. After calibrating the unit with a GPS and verifying fillup data, my day to day numbers have improved by 15% - close to 10 mpg, or .5 L/100km.

Having instant feedback on fuel consumption is a great motivator - and also enables you to make some driving style adjustments that result in lower consumption. On some trips to/from work I can get close to 100 mpg. My best thus far was 2.9 L/100 km / 97 mpg.

A few modifcations are planned for the car, including getting a set narrower front wheels from a European dealer. (The narrower front wheels were once standard on the smart diesel in Germany.) My goal is to try and get 3.0 L/100 km in day to day driving overall during the warmer months of the year.

More to follow shortly!

This article details the incredible pricing that the United States will see when the new smart car is launched in the spring of 2008.

Penske started out by explaining to us the general lay of the land for this deal. Whereas the rest of Smart’s established non-North American markets get the full new fortwo coupe lineup in April 2007, followed by the cabriolet versions six months later, North America gets three versions starting in the first quarter of 2008. These are: the basic fortwo coupe “pure” edition with steel wheels starting at around $11,000; the top-of-the-line fortwo coupe “passion” edition starting at around $13,000; and the fortwo cabriolet passion edition starting at around $15,000.

Speaking further with reporters in Stuttgart, Penske spoke about the plans for the initial launch in the USA:

The North American Smart fortwos may be delivering only in March or April of 2008, but Penske and DaimlerChrysler are organizing an advance 21-week road show to bring the fortwos into the hottest-prospect markets in the US starting as soon as February 2007. Four squads with a tractor trailer each will scour the right markets in the US during 21 weeks with three test cars in tow, as well as a display of the fortwo’s sturdy Tridion body structure. The aim is to get 66,000 prospects on advance Smart test drives. Citing Canada’s 2005 sales volume of current Smart fortwos of 4,000 units, Penske told us, “If you take that number, the US is ten times that by proportion. We’re not planning on 40,000 cars sold each year, but we’re figuring between 15,000 to 20,000 annual sales.”

Here is the Press Release concerning the next generation smart car.

The new smart will roll into North America as a 2008 model in both USA and Canada. It will be available initially with only the gasoline engine.

Future production will include a starter-generator system which will increase fuel economy by 13% in the city. The new model also incorporates a fuel economy indicator on the dash.

Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

Ecology:

Even lower fuel consumption

Production
The smart fortwo is produced at “smartville” in Hambach, France. System partners on site deliver the prefabricated modules directly to the production line. The production process has been optimised to such an extent that the entire final assembly process, which previously only took 4.5 hours, now takes just 3.5 hours. Environmental protection is a high priority in Hambach. For example, for the smart’s three basic colours – black, white and yellow – only water-soluble paints are used. Painting of the tridion safety cell takes the form of a powder-coating process. This removes the need for solvents. The bodypanels, with moulded-in colour, are fully recyclable. Parts of the underbody and the inner wheelhouses are produced entirely from recyclates. The instrument panel is made partly from the renewable raw material flax.

Parking spaces/multi-storey car parks
Though the new smart fortwo is 19.5 centimetres longer than its predecessor, it is still unbeatable in terms of the amount of parking space it requires. Where any other small car would have to pass on by, the smart fits in. No other car in its class takes up less space on the road. It’s even still possible to park perpendicular to the flow of traffic. No more than 2.50 metres of the car will ever project into the road, provided that the wheels are right up against the kerb so that part of the vehicle’s body (either at the front or back) extends over it. The lower levels of air pollution that the smart produces in town are also worth a mention. While drivers of other cars need to drive around at length, producing unnecessary emissions, until they find a suitable parking space, the driver of a smart fortwo can generally find a parking space straight away. Car park operators often offer special smart parking spaces, which would be too small for other cars, at a reduced price.

smart fortwo cdi with “three-litre” status
The smart fortwo is one of the most economical cars on the road today. The petrol version engines consume less than five litres per 100 kilometres. The diesel version, with its common-rail direct injection, remains unbeatable. Despite its slightly increased weight compared to that of its predecessor, the engine engineers have succeeded in reducing yet further the fuel consumption of this three-cylinder diesel engine. Its carbon dioxide (CO2) emission amounts to just 90 grams per kilometre, which corresponds to a fuel consumption of less than 3.5 litres. The petrol engines and the diesel engine all comply with exhaust gas standard Euro 4. Furthermore, a diesel particle filter (open system) is available for the smart fortwo cdi, which stops some 40 percent of soot emissions. As of 2008, the smart fortwo cdi will be available with a closed system. From the end of 2007, a version of the 52 kW petrol engine with a starter generator will be available. This allows fuel consumption in city traffic to be reduced by up to 13 percent.