smartzuuk: West Coast Canadian with a diesel smart car

[smartzuuk]

It's time to officially post a thread in here...

My own website is www.100mpg.ca

This was set-up initially to record and promote my drive across Canada in 2005. The advertising space on my car had been donated to The City of Abbotsford, BC to promote a federal government climate change awareness program called the One-Tonne Challenge. I was on the road for 33 days visiting all 10 Canadian provinces and Labrador.

www.100mpg.ca is kept going with climate change, peak oil, fuel economy, biodiesel and smart car news. The site is due for an upgrade to a newer wordpress template.

MetroMPG invited me here last June just as I was setting off to attempt beating my previous best tank of 113 mpg imperial. Unofficially, it was beat; the car netted 126 mpg imperial (105 mpg US) on a trip between Yorkton and Wadena SK.

Since June, I've read up on quite a few topics here, and learned a few new things...

During the last few months, my interest in the smart car had been waning. I had contemplated buying a used Insight should the car sell, but the car has not sold, which is okay too.

My interest in FE has surged since acquiring a used Scanguage I from philmcneal. I've got it calibrated at last, and it's probably bang on, likely within 2/10 of 1%...

So now, the excitment is seeing LIVE FE numbers - something that was always missing. This I hope, will lead to some better day to day numbers. It has been a challenge to get under 3.8 overall - all of my driving in 2005 averaged out to 3.8, and 2006 was 3.8 up until I switched to a larger tire size... (since then it has risen to 3.95)

I hope to pull off a whole string 3.5 L/100km or better in day to day driving, even despite winter conditions. There are a few mods that can be done, but namely, wheels and tires will be the first items.

I am a moderator over at www.clubsmartcar.ca, and have been very active in the smart car community, having organized events and helping get the new forums up and running. People call me a Logistics Analyst in the daytime, my work is for a large trucking company - our website is www.cpx.ca

Thanks Matt for this site, and for adding the red star beside my name, as I officially began supporting this site today.

[MetroMPG]

Officially: welcome!

EDIT: I don't suppose you happen to know anyone in Eastern Ontario (Brockville) who might be interested in showing me their smart? I've yet to have a really close look, much less a ride or drive in one.

I could bring my SG1 (with your calibration figures) for the owner to try out.

[MetroMPG]

Another Q: did your mileage drop due to the tires' added width (aero & r.r. penalty)? Or were they also a larger diameter that threw off the odometer calibration, making it only seem like you were going a shorter distance for a given amount of fuel?

[smartzuuk]

Same circumference - but wider - so aero and RR penalty to be sure - according to smart in Europe, it's a .2 L/100 km penalty right off the top (3 mpg US). Better handling, yada yada, but definately worse economy... probably more like 6 mpg when you factor in I also don't inflate them as much, and probably more like 10 mpg because I drive differently altogether...

I got a 3.6 L/100 km (65 mpg US) today without too much effort - just eyeballing Scanguage... I think I can pull that up to 70-75 within a week, at least on a few trips...