Finally!

[Coast Steve 1]

Do the local drag strips still do bracket racing? The smart can be very consistent (and slow doesn't really matter)MG

Well up here on the Coast there is a little 1/8 mile strip up at the airport, that does it.Never done an 1/8 though seems kind of short

[booneylander 37]

so clutch and shifter or not ain't going to make it something it isn't.

It would make it sporting to drive. Which, is something, that it currently, isn't. "It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow", unfortunately with the smart car you're resigned to having to drive a slow car slow. Weren't minis the cat's meow back before I was born, and weren't they desperately under-powered (at least the first ones - in stock trim etc).IMHO FWIW

[Speedie 4]

Well the clutch actuator and shifter motor are all external - so with enough brackets and thingies you could make it work - shifter would be the toughy unless you could put up with the lack of feel that a hydraulic system would give you. Cable shifter might work but getting everything in place would be a challenge. VW used to use a hunk of pipe in bushings - sort of like they do on some of the kit planes for the joy stick - that approach might work.Then again building a formula ford or something might be less work.Cheers,Cameron

[Coast Steve 1]

Well unless you drop a bike motor in a smart, your not really going to ever impress at the drag strip are you

[booneylander 37]

If I had my choice, I'd just install a pedal on a potentiometer (like the gas pedal) and link that to the electronic clutch, so it just matches the pedal movement. Wouldn't give you much feel but it would be good enough. You could use the stock shifter to actuate gear selection the same way.Trying to seperate those functions from the stock ECU would be a nightmare I'd never want to even come close to. I've often wondered if it would be worth pulling the stock ECU and running the engine off of a Motec or something like that, to be able to seperate the other functions off.Then again I could just walk out to the garage and hop into my Supra when I feel like going for a fun drive.

[Roger 0]

Well the clutch actuator and shifter motor are all external - so with enough brackets and thingies you could make it work - shifter would be the toughy unless you could put up with the lack of feel that a hydraulic system would give you. Cable shifter might work but getting everything in place would be a challenge. VW used to use a hunk of pipe in bushings - sort of like they do on some of the kit planes for the joy stick - that approach might work.Then again building a formula ford or something might be less work.Cheers,Cameron

Had a hydraulic clutch actuator in my Datsun truck , it worked as good or better then any other clutch actuator I have ever used (extreme heat 105F Okanagan,extreme cold -50C Yukon, ice,snow,mud,empty,full load). I checked the fluid every time I checked the brake fluid, changed it 2 or 3 times in 20 years it always worked beautifully as did the truck as well.

[Speedie 4]

Not talking about the hydraulic clutch actuator - they are pretty good as it is a strictly linear function - If ya's read the whole sentence I was talking about the shifter linkage being a challenge for hydraulics to provide any feed back.In any case you would have to invest a lot of cost and effort to get a result that would be probably not that fufilling.Cheers,Cameron

[briand 0]

Coast Steve, saw your car in the latest Smart Times magazine and in the forums. Looks great! Totally jealous of the Brabus wheels. Are those the 17" wheels?

[Coast Steve 1]

Oh, thanks, Yes, 17's on the rear, 16's on the front.BTW, I have not seen the article yet and don't know where to get a copy of the mag here without getting a full subscription. They have not yet answered my e-mails and haven't send me a copy yet either.

[MikeT 744]

I hope they do, otherwise I would call them cheap swines!

[Silver Blue 0]

Sprint Booster? Yes? No? SILVER BLUE

[Coast Steve 1]

?

[bilgladstone 13]

Sprint Booster? Yes? No? SILVER BLUE

I think I want one...

[Kofångar-Lasse 2]

Sprint Booster? Yes? No?

SILVER BLUE

50% of Snake Oil + 50% of ACME Birdseed + 50% of Dr. Sloans Liniment and a few % Pain Killer,

well stirred - NOT shaken, will do Your trick MUCH better.

Referring to Evil Kane:

Sprint Booster

Yours CcL

[bilgladstone 13]

I have to say I am skeptical too. However, the vendor apparently has sold hundreds and had virtually no returns. If it were vapourware, especially costing $300, wouldn't you think there would be a whole lot of folks clamouring loudly for their money back and decrying the product as bogus?

All the counter arguments that I have read - every one of them - has come from persons who have not tried it.

As they say, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating!" It sounds fishy, but I'd like to try one. Just for the hallibut

[Kofångar-Lasse 2]

... All the counter arguments that I have read - every one of them - has come from persons who have not tried it. ...

Obviously, - You haven't read them all

... OR, - You love to pull my Swedish leg

Anyhow, here's some more reading - Only for You !

SprintBooster.pdf

Yours, as always truly

CcL (The almost totally and near incredible ...)

[Coast Steve 1]

Never herd of it, and no I don't have it either.

[lebikerboy 96]

Human beings are very gullible...look at the Q-Ray bracelet!

[booneylander 37]

The worst is that people make things "work". They get some kind of "extreme fuel economy extremeness booster". And they install it. Then they unconsciously drive around trying really hard to get good gas mileage, because now they're thinking about their gas mileage instead of thinking about what's on TV tonight. Then they read the pump and go "holy carp it worked". And they tell everyone "I saved .2L/100km". Content with how they beat all the odds and all the naysayers, they now start thinking about what's on TV again. And their mileage returns to normal. They either don't notice it, or they don't care anymore. And that part never makes it to the interweb.

Edited July 31, 2009 by booneylander

[Coast Steve 1]

Human beings are very gullible...look at the Q-Ray bracelet!

Hey are you makin fun of my bracelet?

[briand 0]

Oh, thanks, Yes, 17's on the rear, 16's on the front.BTW, I have not seen the article yet and don't know where to get a copy of the mag here without getting a full subscription. They have not yet answered my e-mails and haven't send me a copy yet either.

Once I get my scanner working (i'm on Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Apple seems to have dropped support for my all-in-one ) I'll scan it in and send it to you. There is a site that sells them w/out a subscription, though I am certain it is not cost effective for you. Its US$5.95 an issue but shipping to Canada, as best I can tell, is at least US$10. Edited August 4, 2009 by briand

[briand 0]

Wow. I really dropped the ball on this. I'm making a note to find the article and scan it in this weekend. Sorry for the almost 1 year(!!) delay. I'm an idiot.

[briand 0]

Aha!! Smart Times posts their back issues online!!

I've attached the pages from the Spring 2009 issue that featured CoastSteve's car. The full issue can be downloaded at http://www.smartimesmagazine.com/smart-car...ne-spring-2009/

smartimesspring2009CS.pdf

[Francesco 71]

Nice of them to do that. Meanwhile those of us who have paid for a subscription haven't seen a single issue, nor heard a peep from them after numerous emails attempting to contact them. Nada zip zilch nil.

[Bubski 1]

Nice of them to do that. Meanwhile those of us who have paid for a subscription haven't seen a single issue, nor heard a peep from them after numerous emails attempting to contact them. Nada zip zilch nil.

Smartimes changed owners.. I not sure when this took place tho I was good friends with the original owner