Update on 2nd Smarf4Two in California

[Ptero]

Bought the second, I was told, Smart4Two in California in Jan 2008. Drained the oil and replaced it with Mobil 1. Put a trailer hitch on it and drove to Chicago. Brought back a Wildfire and some other junk. About half a ton. Other trips from California were to Laramie, WY; Kansas City, MO; all of the west coast Hy 1; and another half ton haul out of Houston, TX. 75,000 miles now. Wore out one set of tires. No issues ever.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that I had a Dodge truck with a utility bed that got 12 mpg when I bought the Smart. My lifetime average in the Smart is 52 mpg, a 40 mpg difference.
75k miles / 52 mpg = 1442 gallons
1442 gallons x $3.32 average price per gallon = $4,788 in gas expense

But if I hadn't bought the smart and kept the truck and driven the same miles...
75k miles / 12 mpg = 6,250 gallons
6250 gallons x $3.32 = $20, 750

Fuel savings from 2008 to present
$20,750 (truck) - $4,788 (Smart) = $15,962
That's about exactly what I paid for the Smart.
Don't that beat all?!!
I got a free car.
Na na na na na

[elhigh]

That's very good, considering the fortwo is only rated at 41 highway. And I never imagined towing with it. I wouldn't hesitate to do modest towing with anything I own, but the notion of doing it with a smart never even crossed my mind. Did it behave okay under load? I understand the slow-shifting transmission is less than desireable for spirited motoring of any kind; was it a complication for load-centric issues like climbing mountains?

Too bad it requires premium. Your dollar savings could have been even higher. But hey, 50mpg is saving money no matter how you slice it. Nice results.

[Stubby79]

Love it. Keep it up.

[oil pan 4]

What's it rated to tow?

[Ptero]

That's very good, considering the fortwo is only rated at 41 highway.

Not by hypermilers. It's a hypermiler's dream with a transmission you can coast with whenever you want. I can break 60mpg with a tailwind.

And I never imagined towing with it. I wouldn't hesitate to do modest towing with anything I own, but the notion of doing it with a smart never even crossed my mind.

You aren't the only one.

Did it behave okay under load?

Wonderful.

I understand the slow-shifting transmission is less than desireable for spirited motoring of any kind; was it a complication for load-centric issues like climbing mountains?

No. It was a lot like the 2,000,000 miles I drove on heavy trucks. I'm very gentle with the throttle. I baby the car, all the time. The transmission is marvelous for heavy loads or hypermiling. For spirited driving I have a V12 BMW and a V8 Jaguar. But you can't have more fun on Hy 80 than with a Smart Car pulling a Wildfire on a trailer.

Everybody drives up along side you, waves and takes pictures.
Smart Car with Trailer: CA to IL | CleanMPG
BTW, a Smart is pretty frisky when you manual shift with high revs.

Too bad it requires premium. Your dollar savings could have been even higher.

I'm still not convinced of that. The strong Mitsubishi 3B21 long-stroke engine was designed for premium. Although it will run fine on regular unleaded, the power stroke is longer and more even using premium, which burns slower in the combustion chamber, resulting in more torque.

But hey, 50mpg is saving money no matter how you slice it. Nice results.

-----------

What's it rated to tow?

It's not. Zero. You can't even tell a canoe or the alumionmum Featherlite trailer is back there. But with the heavy loads I haul, most people would probably break something when they got impatient. I don't get impatient (but the people behind me do!)

Installing the great Curt hitch on a Smart Car:
https://youtu.be/G07EteeOfwA

BTW, I'm in California where you pay an arm and a leg to register a pickup truck. I can move anything I ever hauled in my pickup bed and I don't have to lift it up nearly as high to load it in. There's no trailer fees in California for a little trailer like this, so I save a hellova lot more money! Every time a pickup truck driver shakes his head or gives me the finger or his buddy hangs his ass out the passenger window (I've seen it all), I just cackle like a fool with a big secret.


Let's see you do this with your pickup! Loading an 800-pound boulder onto the trailer at the Smart Quarry. They told me to hitch a cat to it but I only had a dog...

[Phantom]

That is impressive. It makes me want to add a hitch to my golf once I replace the timing belt and shocks, I would never thought about towing with a smart car.

[Ptero]

The ability of a vehicle to pull a load is not a function of horsepower, like you see on TV ads, iit's a function of torque to gross weight. The older trucks I pulled triples and supertrains with had about 1250 ft/lbs of torque pulling 120,000 pounds of crude or refined products. That works out to 96 pounds of load per unit of torque. Modern heavy big rigs gross 80,000 pounds and run about 50 to 60 pounds per unit of torque.

The W451 Smart FourTwo, pulling a half ton, tips the scales at 3000 lbs. With 68 ft/lb of torque, that's 44 pounds of load per unit of torque - and why I can run in the truck lane on highway grades fully loaded with no problem, and even pass 'em if I want. But like I said, I baby my Smart. If I'm in a hurry, I leave earlier. That's all.

[LittleBlackDuck]

Originally Posted by Ptero

Let's see you do this with your pickup! Loading an 800-pound boulder onto the trailer at the Smart Quarry. They told me to hitch a cat to it but I only had a dog...

I am not stupid enough to do this with any vehicle!

Look at the physics for a second - the CG of the trailer is behind the axle line, making it dynamically unstable when disturbed. Also, the weight of the rock is lifting up the rear of the Smart, again reducing stability. Did you even think about why the Smart does not have a tow hitch as an option? The Smart has extremely marginal stability due to its short wheelbase, and it relies critically on the electronic stability augmentation systems to remain pointed in the correct direction.

Just because it is physically possible does not make it sensible.

Go forth and chlorinate the gene pool, but please don't take anybody else with you.

Simon

[Ptero]

What you mean is that you are not smart enough to do it with a Smart Car. I don't know if most people would do it right. I know that I have pulled similar loads from Chicago and Houston to California in the Smart with no problems. Lots of local loads just as heavy over the past 8 years. That makes me the guy who knows how to do it safely, not you.

In the photo, the rock is being slowly hand-winched forward to a position just a hair forward of the trailer axle to give 75 pounds on the tongue. Yes, weight is coming off the drive axles but the back of the trailer is resting on the ground. I had no problem pulling the trailer out of the ditch with the rock in it, on dirt.

You probably don't realize how stable the Smart is with 900 lbs on the front axle, 1200 on the rear, and 1000 on the trailer. The entire combination, with the load, weighs less than an empty pickup truck and it rides better than an empty Smart. With the rock, the center of gravity of the whole tamale is about 24-inches. About the same as a Corvette. Think about that before you panic, Polyanna.

Did I even think about why the Smart does not have a tow hitch as an option? Yeah. The same reason my BMW V12 doesn't have a tow hitch as an option.
Also, the Smart relies on me to keep it going in the right direction, not some gizmo.

Having a trailer and a car, any car, is a lot more eco-friendly than a guy with a pickup truck and a forklift. BTW, have you noticed the name of this website? And what people are trying to accomplish here?

[LittleBlackDuck]

Originally Posted by Ptero

What you mean is that you are not smart enough to do it with a Smart Car. I don't know if most people would do it right. I know that I have pulled similar loads from Chicago and Houston to California in the Smart with no problems. Lots of local loads just as heavy over the past 8 years. That makes me the guy who knows how to do it safely, not you.
<snip>
Having a trailer and a car, any car, is a lot more eco-friendly than a guy with a pickup truck and a forklift. BTW, have you noticed the name of this website? And what people are trying to accomplish here?

Yeah, I know the site name, but it is also not called howtokillyourself.com. All I am doing is highlighting the risks inherent in what you have done and obviously will continue to do.

Was it possible - yep, you proved that. Was it sensible - nope. Was it safe - again nope. You might have done it a number of times but that does not make it safe nor sensible. Lucky - definitely.

Lots of people drive when affected by substances but does that make it right, safe or sensible? The answer to that should be self evident.

Simon