jwight

April Fools III itinerary and Berlin map for download: http://www.box.net/shared/4tpdirr45x http://www.box.net/shared/m9dd44i646

After a suitable wait for input we're going with the 2 meat choice at an inclusive price of $16.00 (US) per person.

Pretty far north so I'll plan on catching up with you all Friday evening.

Huronlad found the Rodeway Inn, Wooster, Ohio - rooms are under $70/night. The ones in Berlin are either full or over $100/night. I'll be at the Rodeway Inn Friday night as well. PS - I have the three of you plus 42pilot on the list; if that's not right please let me know.

I think we at least have a choice of beverage but I'll verify with the Farmstead. :)Reply from the Farmstead: "choose from our Pepsi products ( Pepsi, diet Pepsi, root beer, Dr. pepper, Mt. dew, Sierra mist, rasp ice tea, and lemonade), iced tea, coffee, and hot tea."

When you have your travel plans made, let me know if you'll be anywhere near Dayton on the Friday; I can join the convoy if that's the case.

Just got this info today: For each banquet no show, a charge of $5.00 per person, will be added to your final banquet cost. So, it's important that if anyone has to cancel they let me know NLT 10 a.m. on Friday, April 1st. Thanks!

Right now 14 cars, 21 people. Still waiting on a few holdouts to sign up.

OK, current plans show 3 cars from Canada? I've booked at the Rodeway Inn @ Wooster also - see you there Friday evening. Thanks again for joining us. :)PS - if anyone has room for a can of Tim Hortons coffee I'd appreciate it.

FYI, diesel prices here are at $3.95/gallon today. I'll check them around the Berlin area as we get closer to April.

Head count Less than a month to go, need to firm up numbers for the restaurant. If you will definitely attend, please confirm the number of people either here or by PM. Thanks!

More hotel info Link to hotels in the Berlin, OH area: http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&r...ved=0CBsQtgMwAg There's a Comfort Suites fairly close to the restaurant.

How many M-B Canada dealers are there? The AutoWeek article says M-B USA has 353 dealers: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110214/CARNEWS/110219925 smart USA had projected 2011 sales at less than 6K cars; with 353 dealers, the math really doesn't support a large number of cars sold by each dealership - ~17 smart cars annually per dealer(?) For that they're going to have a boutique showroom, smart trained techs and carry a full line of smart parts and accessories? Something isn't adding up here. It will be interesting to see how M-B USA sorts this out.

Great - don't worry about the weather, this will be rain or shine.

Looks like we'll have to add some time to the route so the diesels can keep up. If you're on smartusainsider, how about adding an RSVP at: http://www.smartusainsider.com/events/apri...ii-back-to-ohio Thanks and hope to see you all in April.

I may drive over on Friday night so let me know when you find a place to stay.

Steven from SmartieParts, the company that sells the area451 cruise control, has offered to fly to Ohio for this event and do cruise control installs. Will probably need at least 20 cars to make it worth his time and effort so if you'd like one installed by THE pro, chime in now. For info on the area451 CC: http://www.smartieparts.com/shop/index.php...dex&cPath=1 UPDATE: Steven will not be attending as there was minimal interest in cruise control installs.

It's official...

So would you buy another Smart car? Yes! On our second 451 at this point; 9K+ miles on the first one, 13K+ on this one, both with zero issues. US sales are dismal but that, IMHO, is not a reflection on the quality of the car, more on the USA's struggle to accept any small car.

That would be great - the more Canadians the better!

What route are you taking? There are usually a few smart owners hidden away who could help out in a pinch. If you post on SCOA (and/or smartusainsider.com) you'll probably get some contact info.

That sums it up; same discussions ongoing on SCOA and smartusainsider.com but the calls for various upgrades/improvements for the current 451 have been overcome by events. Other than the 2011 "refresh" the 451 is at the end of its product cycle. The next generation smart from Daimler/Renault may address some of the issues mentioned by this and other threads - new transmission, better suspension and perhaps a North American diesel. No details yet but the 2013/14 model year introduction is not that far off.

For the 450: http://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php?id=562 There's also something called a Trust plug: http://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php?id=682Here's how on the 451: OR you can pull fuse 11.

Question from south of the border: M-B USA offers winter tire/wheel packages and it appears M-B Canada does also. Does smart Canada offer a winter package for the smart?

CTEK makes a less expensive version also: CTEK US 800 12V Battery Charger. About $33 US on Amazon.com