Tracking The 451s For Canada

[Guest braches]

If you did not see it elsewhere on ClubSmart: No more worry for me, Mike. Smartie is in the garage after having picked it up on Saturday, November 10. The sales person said that they had given it 'Priority' and, so to see, they did. 10 days ship-side to dealer! The only thing missing is the Service / warranty manual ... still to come, I was told.Thanks again for your help, Jorn.

[MikeT 744]

I did read that, congrats!

[MikeT 744]

So there will be 624 new 451s in Canada as of next week. They're ramping it up, which is good to see. I hope sales exceed my predicition of 2000 units in 2008. So far that seems likely...

[Smartster 0]

Mike T, any news on why there are so many smart's being held at the docks here in Halifax, currently there are over 200 smarts here, some have been here for 2 weeks+, while there are even 4 smarts sitting all lonely right beside the loading on train dock, seems like they're pulled of getting put on the train at the very last minute.I have noticed that in the last week, some of the cars have had a little red sticker added to them, while they've not moved the cars around, so impossible that they've done any engine work.I was told by my contact at smart that the engine hasn't been approved by transport Canada and and that's why they are all sitting at the docks, but maybe he's in correct, either way there are a bunch of smarts sitting around doing nothing.As for Canadianizing them off the ship, they don't have any protective tape on the outside and since I saw the smarts just as they got off the ship there doesn't seem to be anything done to them other then gathering dust...Also since you have a running total, right now there are at least 226 smarts at the dock that I could see/count means there are 167 floating around, Halifax has 5, braches has 1, but wonder if the other 161 are parked out back at the dock or are sitting at some new smart dealer that nobody found yet?

[MikeT 744]

My guess is that they're waiting until they have a critical mass of cars to fill up the smart showrooms. The red stickers are usually "RUSH" , "D/P", or some such thing, indicating shipment priority (customer car, or dealer stock, dealer pickup)....I seriously doubt that someone screwed up badly enough to not ensure that the engines were certified for Canada in time for the soft launch, which is starting about now.

[Guest braches]

"My Dealer" had two 2008 cabrios on display and one coupe standing outside (yellow / silver), besides one 'old' German Euro version. Some smarts must have been coming through, besides mine ...Only comment todate on my 2008: The automatic shift points are very low @ about 1800 / 2600, creating some rumble when slowly accellerating.Jorn.

[Tom P. 0]

Only comment todate on my 2008: The automatic shift points are very low @ about 1800 / 2600, creating some rumble when slowly accellerating.Jorn.

Jorn,The shift points your are talking about are with the tranny in "D", right? Have you tried putting the shifter into manual mode (+ / -) and let it still shift by itself. The shift points should be at a much higher rpm or am I out to lunch on this one?Tom

[Smartster 0]

Tom P is correct, if you put it into the manual mode it will rev a lot higher up, but then you might blush a few times as it sounds really loud at high RPMs and well, I love the smart, but its a smart and most people don't equate high RPMs racing into people who drive smarts.The other option is to take maters into your own hands (fingers actually) and dot eh shifting yourself via the paddles, that's what I did, made if fun and while the RPMs still climbed into a little more noise area it was a perfect point where shift point and noise was acceptable.I am sure that there will be an computer upgrade within the next couple months to help with the shift points, as the guys in Europe are working off the Brabus smart which they claim to shave over 3 seconds off the 0-60's now yes a good part of that is the turbo but doing any updates to the shifting times/points will also make an good improvement.

[MikeT 744]

Congratulations to Wheel Man!!!88 more cars:073018073512073550073640074304074494074582074599074700074729074817074860075030075135075154075171075184075251075280075300075347075425075438077685077786077834077845077866077888077910077958078011078286078301078355078369078376078673078988079009079055079083079106079117079229079277079348079377079391079439079477079482079514079546079554079564079615079688079697079715079732079848079861079870080004080018080072080098080129080154080184080199080210080225080245080250080281080292080301080315080357080364080468080472080479080666080679080684

[Guest braches]

Only comment todate on my 2008: The automatic shift points are very low @ about 1800 / 2600, creating some rumble when slowly accelerating.Jorn.

Jorn,The shift points your are talking about are with the tranny in "D", right? Have you tried putting the shifter into manual mode (+ / -) and let it still shift by itself. The shift points should be at a much higher rpm or am I out to lunch on this one?Tom

It doesn't appear to work that way, Tom. I revved-up to over 4000 and it did not want to shift up in manual mode. In manual mode, it does shift down automatically, however. When accelerating more briskly in auto mode, it shifts better - at higher RPMs - than when accelerating slowly.Sorry, but we're very busy preparing for going South for the winter and therefore no chance to do some further test runs, at this time - don't like to do the further testing with my other half in the car.Jorn.

[Smartster 0]

braches: you want to take it into the 6,000+ range of the RPMs then it will shift, the video i did of the shift from 1st to 2nd was using the 451 in the manual mode and letting the car handle the shift, its a lot louder then 4,000 rpms, so that rumble might be better then the high rpm rev sound.

[Guest braches]

Agreed, Smartster! To make the best of it, I prefer 'using my paddles'. In town, with many 90 degree turns manual is not so handy, because the paddles move with the steering wheel, however. Still have to get used to it / build up some experience. I have not yet had this brand new engine much over 4000 rpm ... rather wait a while before revving it so high. Thanks for your comments.I 'grew-up' on standard transmissions in various cars and also on motorbikes, so, 'no problem!'.Jorn.

[ValgardForkbeard 2]

braches: you want to take it into the 6,000+ range of the RPMs then it will shift, the video i did of the shift from 1st to 2nd was using the 451 in the manual mode and letting the car handle the shift, its a lot louder then 4,000 rpms, so that rumble might be better then the high rpm rev sound.

Might also want to break in the engine properly first. What's the red line on the new engine?MG

[Guest braches]

The red-line, according to the tachometer is 6000, MG. I definitely am taking it rather easy / break-in on the new engine, especially in this frosty weather, for some 2000 clicks or so.Jorn.

[MikeT 744]

Four more on the ship arriving Dec 3. There are 716 in total in Canada. When will they be allowed to sell them????066469077357074650074872

[Smartster 0]

Its funny at the dock there is a sea of smart's they've almost taken up an entire lot, its easily the largest number of single type of vehicles at the docks and there is no hope of delivery anytime soon.Last word from MB Canada was they'll be meeting the first week of December to further discuss this, so we might be lucky and get them before Christmas, otherwise we might have to wait till the January launch in the US.

[MikeT 744]

What a fiasco.

[MikeT 744]

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[Calgary Guy 0]

New member here..and with good news. After reading all the bad news about delivery delays, I called my dealer in Calgary to see what he knew about this.He just informed me that my new 08 Passion (07302) is definitely on the train (he has a rail car number) and will be in Calgary for the announced Canadian release on December 15. In addition to his demos, he has three retail cars on the lot but can't release them until the 15th. It's yellow with silver Tridion, black leather with clock and tach. KM

[MikeT 744]

07302? Missing a digit somewhere....

[Calgary Guy 0]

Sorry, I did miss a digit...079302

[MikeT 744]

Thanks, I am trying to keep track of where they're ending up....

[Smartster 0]

Calgary Guy: your dealer must have done something special as I swung by "smartville" Canada (aka the docks) and all the smart's are still sitting in the lot, oh they opened up a 3rd area now to hold them and they've not appeared to have moved.I've heard the Dec 15th target date also, but I am surprised to know that your dealer has had a smart put on the train, I'll swing back out to the dock this afternoon and see if the 6 smart's that where left alone beside the on ramp to the train loading station are gone, if they're gone then maybe that included yours as there was a yellow/silver one there. I'll also try and grab some photos of the sea of smart's.

[herbie 0]

That sea of smart cars sitting on the dock of Halifax Bay is the equivalent of about a day and a half of production for the Hambach plant in France. Not bad, not bad at all...It should would be nice to see in a couple of pictures...hint hint...;-)

[Calgary Guy 0]

Smartster, Thanks for that, I appreciate your help. Pictures would be great.KM