Smart Fortwo CDI diesel engine swap? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Lincoln · 02-08-2010, 06:53 PM

I have been searching for information, but haven’t found any.
Has anyone swapped a Smart CDI drive train into something like a Honda N600 or Classic Mini?

MetroMPG · 02-09-2010, 01:35 PM

Good question!

Or a 1st gen Insight? That would kick butt.

For those who don't know, the 1st generation Smart Fortwo diesel had these specs:

Quote:

engine: 799 cc common rail diesel
power: 30 Kw / 40 hp
transmission: optional 6-speed electronically shifted
weight: 730 kg / 1609 lbs
fuel economy: average 4.2 L / 100km (67 mpg Imp. / 56 mpg US)

The only CDI drivetrain swap I know of went into the aero/tandem Jetcar:

MetroMPG miscellany - MetroMPG.com

I wonder if you posted at clubsmartcar.com whether they'd have any more examples. Though my limited time spent there suggests they're not very excited about efficiency mods.

NeilBlanchard · 02-09-2010, 04:19 PM

I'm pretty sure that the Avion uses a Smart diesel:

Lincoln · 02-10-2010, 10:39 AM

There is a guy in town that imported a Smart, before the US Smarts were available. He has a CDI drive train that be bought from Canada sitting in his garage. It made me start wondering how difficult it would be to wire up the engine and trans to get them to run in another vehicle.

MetroMPG · 02-10-2010, 02:34 PM

Neil - good memory. Basjoos figured in this thread that it's the Smart engine in the diesel: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...html#post67415

Lincoln - I have no idea how feasable it is. But a hard core ecomodder (with no other projects on the go

) would jump at the chance.

Arragonis · 02-13-2010, 05:33 PM

Can't help thinking that a 2000-2002 VW Polo TDi would be this exact car. To illustrate:

Weight - the 2001 was based on the early 90s Polo so no super heavy/safety carp.

Engine - 3cyl TDI (PD) engine, 1.4 litre and about 70hp.

The combination I think is a sweet-spot in Diesel small hatchback design. Kind of matched but not beat in any way by the Bluemotion.

Full disclosure - I had a Polo TDi a few years ago and it was excellent for FE. But I wanted more power so I went Peugeot 206 (2.0 HDi) and then my current Fabia.

EDIT : Some people have put a full VTEC Honda into an original Mini (not MINI) so I suspect a Diesel would be OK.

mikeross · 05-01-2010, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lincoln

There is a guy in town that imported a Smart, before the US Smarts were available. He has a CDI drive train that be bought from Canada sitting in his garage. It made me start wondering how difficult it would be to wire up the engine and trans to get them to run in another vehicle.

Could be difficult to do though..

GreenHornet · 09-12-2013, 05:41 PM

The Avion does utilize the Mercedes Smart fortwo .8L CDI with its 5 speed transmission. The engine was chip tuned to produce 68HP. It replaced the older VW rabbit diesel engine.

The results were reported as 80 MPG at 70 mph (110 km/h) and 114 MPG at 55 mph (89 km/h)!

I think he would have done better fuel economy wise if he would have stuck with the original 6 speed or pre 2006 transmission. The pre 2006 transmission had taller gear ratios in gears 3,4,5, and 6. The 6 gear ratio for the post 2006 was 2.908 vs 2.381 for the pre 2006 model transmission.

You can use these for mid engined applications but you would need to swap the entire drivetrain as the ECU controls the transmission as well. So basically you are stuck with the Smart transmission which is not the worst thing in the world but there are far better options IMO.

GreenHornet · 09-12-2013, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Can't help thinking that a 2000-2002 VW Polo TDi would be this exact car. To illustrate:

Weight - the 2001 was based on the early 90s Polo so no super heavy/safety carp.

Engine - 3cyl TDI (PD) engine, 1.4 litre and about 70hp.

The combination I think is a sweet-spot in Diesel small hatchback design. Kind of matched but not beat in any way by the Bluemotion.

Full disclosure - I had a Polo TDi a few years ago and it was excellent for FE. But I wanted more power so I went Peugeot 206 (2.0 HDi) and then my current Fabia.

EDIT : Some people have put a full VTEC Honda into an original Mini (not MINI) so I suspect a Diesel would be OK.

I think this would most likely be my choice as well. I think the 1.4L TDI is just about perfect for power and economy out of the door without any chip tunes or upgrades. Its basically our US model 1.9L TDI with 1 less cylinder. If chip tuned you can achieve quite easily 115hp and upwards of 180 lb-ft of torque out of this 3 cylinder TDI which would make for an interesting swap into a smaller car. You can also use them in a longitudinal format similar to what the Jeep guys do with the 1.9L 4 cylinders. The 1.2L 3L engines are hard to get since they were discontinued but the 1.4L are still plentiful and can be purchased used with low miles off Ebay and shipped to the states as parts and then reassembled! Or you could get a surplus 1.4L crate engine brand new not cheap but if you are keeping the car for a long time I would say its worth it. These crate engines can be found in the US BTW

Greenhornet

justy999cc · 06-06-2016, 05:02 PM

think this could work in a stripped down metro sized car, (sorry for the late arrival) I only need to get up to 80-90Kph on my island (The 0.8L CDi not the 1.4L TDI)