Here's how the Smart stacks up against the top cars on my 100% city ecodriving route. These are all warm weather numbers, all engines up to full operating temp to start:
- 75 mpg US - my 1998 Firefly/Metro 1.0, 5-spd (lots of EOC)
- 70 mpg US - 2013 Lexus 200h hybrid (lots of EOC, of course)
- 69 mpg US - 2004 Toyota Prius (lots of EOC, of course)
- 67 mpg US - 2004 Smart Fortwo (basic ecodriving, no EOC)
- 56 mpg US - 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage 1.2L 5-spd (basic ecodriving, no EOC)
- 51 mpg US - 2015 Nissan Micra 1.6L 5-spd (some EOC)
It's a ~7.5 km sub/urban route that includes lots of stops, turns & traffic lights and takes about 15 minutes from start to finish (ending up at the starting point).
I actually hit more red lights than typical in the Smart's lap. If I'd shut the engine down at red lights & hit a couple more greens, I'm sure it would have been in the low 70's.