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Michelle21

Comparing L/100km With Other Similar Models?!

49 posts in this topic

Hi, I am a newer smart car owner. I've had my car since April this year. I honestly don't know a whole lot about cars, although some of my family are quite good with them. I've been looking around here on this site and also on Feully.com to see what the average L/100km is for the 2011 smart car (so that I can compare with mine). From what I've found so far my car is about 8L/100km. Does this seem high to you guys? I do a lot of city driving and shorter trips. I just want to know if this is normal. Or if it would be a good idea to get my car checked?? There is a good 3000km before my next service is due, but I believe the first one was done at the hyundi dealership where I bought it from.If there are certain things I can check I can get my dad or brother to look into it. My dad checked my oil a month ago and said it was fine. Maybe I should check the tires? I believe the tires were checked at the last service as well.Please let me know what you think,Thanks.

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How do you drive? How long is your typical trip?My Mercedes B 200 has averaged 7.3 L/100 km over nearly 130,000 km so I would think that 8 L/100 is extremely high fuel consumption for a 451.

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Are you tracking your fuel-ups on Fuelly?The worst mileage I have had in my 2011 is 6.3 lhk, running 75-80 mph on I75. My average is 5.4 lhk. 8 lhk seems really high. Do you leave the car in auto mode or shift gears yourself? What rpm are you changing gears?When you Father checked the oil in your car had it been warmed up or was the engine cold?

Edited by Huronlad

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8 LHK is too high. We rented a turbo 451 in France, drove it "like a rental" on major highways way too fast for optimal mileage, over some ferocious mountain passes, all kinds of poor mileage conditions and we still couldn't get it over 6.5.

Maybe exclusive congested city driving could be as high as 8?

Premium gas, right? Regular won't hurt the engine, but will badly hurt power and economy.

If you shift gears yourself, too high or too low gear selection hurts economy. The auto mode is fairly good for gear selection, a good driver can squeeze maybe 5-10% more out, but not more.

Take it to Eddie at Flying Tiger, if there is a problem he will find it. He does far superior work than Mercedes, and more reasonable. Not "cheap", but reasonable and excellent work.

Be warned, though, he will have some nice accessories you won't be able to resist, and you'll buy them! :D

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Thank you for your responses,I just started ecording with feully, so that was technically the first correct measure. But every time it is about the same distance I get out of a tank.I use regular gas, does premium give you better Mileage at all? Again I'm not a car expert, so if it is better maybe I'l look into premium. I use it in automatic, so no gear switching here. RPM is always at 2, unless going up a steep/semi-steep hill. My typical trip is to work 6 minutes away, maybe 3 lights in between. Sometimes I drive out to Langley, Burnaby, so 30 minute trips. oh and the oil when checked was warmed up. I would consider myself a good driver, but I haven't necessarily tried lowering my fuel consumption with all their tips. Alex can I ask an approximate for a service/checkup? Otherwise I suppose I can contact Eddie too.

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Your doing fine if your only driving 5 minutes to work, it is not getting warmed up enough to provide optimal fuel economy. On longer trips it will be much better!

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Since your car is never really warming up I would stick with the regular gasoline. If you plan on going on a longer drive at highway speed, I would fuel up with premium.One thing you might want to try for a couple of tanks of fuel is to shift gears yourself, up shifting at around 3000 rpm and downshift if you drop below 2000 rpm. This should help to load down the engine less.

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Don't use regular gas! The engine is designed and tuned for premium, an old-school engine like that would detonate itself into junk in short order on regular. Newer engines are smart enough to detect the detonation and adjust enough to compensate and not harm the engine, but at the cost of a significant drop in power and economy. Premium doesn't increase mileage in a car designed for regular, it's just that in your case, to save the engine from severe damage the computer has to go a long way from ideal economy parameters. A very short trip like you described will give poor mileage, as well as being hard on the engine. I would service early under those conditions. Engines like to warm up and work.Contact Eddie, I have a 450 so different cost schedule than the 451. Again, he is somewhat more reasonable than Mercedes, but not cheap. The big difference is quality and knowledge, he is a very good mechanic who knows the smart inside out, unlike the junior carwasher who gets to practice on your car at MB.

Edited by Alex

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Get a bicycle. That short drive is really hard on the car - high fuel consumption is no surprise. It will be worse this winter. :)

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I did not think of it previously but running regular gasoline, you are most likely only able to purchase ethanol treated gasoline. The ethanol will negatively effect your mileage and I have a feeling some of the fuel system components were not designed with ethanol fuel in mind. Switching to an ethanol free premium fuel may be in your best interest. The flip side is the ethanol treated fuel burns hotter IIRC, which benefits your short drive.The short drive is far and away more of an issue then what grade of fuel you are using.My Father has an even shorter drive to and from work, he always buys beater cars and drives then until they rust away.

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Haha, quite a large variety of responses there. Its good to know that there is a good reason for the fact that I have higher mileage most likely because of short distance trips. I never would have thought that having a job closer to home would cause higher milage. I guess thats my non-car-smart thinking. I may look into the Manual gear shifting, but for right now I'll stick to automatic. Maybe I'll test it out now and then and see how it goes ;) I will look into Premium. and if you guys recommend it I will see to get my car serviced early as well.I would definitely look into biking to work. Yes it would be more economical. But working late evenings and overnights as I do does not give me much option for that ;) . I have in the past though.Thanks for all of your responses. You have all been very helpful!

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For the nicer weather months, have you considered an e-bike? ... Most have signals, brake lights, high and low beam head light, small storage box for rain gear and some, like mine, even have a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) to partially recharge the battery on the fly. I have one and it costs pennys a month to operate and saves wear and tear on your car with those motor-killing short trips.

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Just to confirm in the past 5 months, even with your short drive to and from work you still have put around 12,000km on your smart?If this is the case you must make many longer trips?They will certainly offset the short work trips. If you can live with the fuel consumption getting yourself to and from work, I would not worry too much about the rest.

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I got my car previously owned already at 12000km. It now has about 3000km more on it. I do other trips as well now and then. Like I said I do a few 30 minute trips, but its more driving to work then anything.

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That consumption is normal in the extreme circumstances. What did your last cars achieve on the same drive?

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I have a 2011 Passion which I bought in April of 2012 in Vancouver with 6000km I drove it up the Coquihalla to Kelowna I filled up in Hope and calculated my Fuel consumption once I arrived in Kelowna.

I contributed the 39MPG to the 2 Passes and icy Roads but kept an Eye on my consumption from here on. My Smart just turned 7000Km

I drive it exclusively in town and have been getting very poor Gas mileage, 8l/100km - 6.8l/100km - 10.79l/100km

I am very dissatisfied but being still under Warranty I took it to M.B. here in Kelowna which updated the shifting Map which improved the shifting but they could not find any reason for the poor Mileage. The lowest they heard off was a local Lady that got in the upper 30 MPG.

There seems to be something seriously wrong with its the Design.

Considering its weight and Displacement It should get as advertised by M.B. 50 to 55 MPG.(Have you ever heard anyone getting those Readings?)

In the Sprint Forum perhaps but my worst 10l/100 is as good as my friends Porsche.

I owned 1 Metro,a Swift and another Turbo Sprint which all had a 3 Cyl. Engine although being much heavier with a greater ccm my Fuel consumption never went below 45MPG and I drove the Turbo very hard.

My Wife's 1988 Honda Civic with 1500 ccm averaged 45MPG.

I have no explanation why a light Convertible Car like the Smart is that Fuel hungry. Anyone want to buy it it's going up for sale.

I think I go back to Suzuki or Honda.

Further you can not get any Service Manuals from M.B. and the Thread on the Tow Hook is not metric or SAE but some concoction OEM thread so that you must buy them from M.B. which had none in their Parts list. I finally got some at great expense from Smart Madness out of California.

This was to fasten a Bumper to the rear of the car to discourage these idiots here from bumping the car and damaging the skirt.

My bad Experience frightened me,saying what if ...... the only recourse is Mercedes and they can and will charge an arm and a Leg, no one else gets the Service info.or Parts nor does anyone else work or wants to work on the Smart.

Well this here is ,the way it is , and so it will be , unless you can proof me wrong. :o

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It's best to sell the car if you don't like it.We have a member here who has got 4 L/100 km in a fuel economy test in his gas powered 2009 smart, so if they're driven carefully they can get good fuel consumption. Many members have lifetime averages with their gasoline post-2007 models in the 5.5 L/100 km range. Check out fuelly.com or spritmonitor.deYou also don't say whether you are using the premium fuel that is recommended for this car.

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It's a rare day indeed when ANY car gets the manufacturer's advertised fuel mileage. I mean PULEEEZE! 45 mpg from an SUV? (as advertised on an American TV station) Good luck with that one. I don't know of any car makers who advertise real life figures. Certainly, 4.5L/100k is obtainable, but it means that you can't be driving like an F-1 racer. Most companies who do their own testing, do so in a test facility where there is no wind and very little rolling resistance.

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Sorry I forgot to say that I am using 91 Octane fuel.I fill it up to the top where I can see the Fuel without exceptionI know that the European Cars get better fuel Milage because they use less or different anti-polution Devices according to M.B. Don't get me wrong I love the Car otherwise I would not have bought it in the first Place. However everyone seem to have missed my Point.I was comparing a heavier 3 Cyl Car with higher ccm Engine to the Lower ccm Engine and Weight of the Smart.I am 70 Years of age and I am not racing the Car. I however do drive swiftly to stay with flow of the Traffic.The Fuel Economy Quotation is based on 91 Octane Gasoline bought in Canada. So lets compare Apples with Apples and not to confuse a Smart build to European Standards using their Gasoline (there is no Regular at least not in Germany)with the Smart sold in Canada. Come on Guys 8l/ 10l/100 is unacceptable even if I raced the Car. I realize as all of you do that the Manufacturers over state the Fuel Economy of their Vehicles but 26 MPG vs the stated 50/55 MPG, is a world apartI know those of you that just love your car would never admit that your Car has a serious flaw.I am different ,I admit if I'd bought a Lemon and swallow my pride. I yet have to find enough true Data of Peoples Gas Charts here in Canada to really know whether there is something wrong with my Car or it is what it is.I just bought a ScangaugeII that should arrive soon ,just to confirm the high consumption so that I can not be faulted of having misread my results. But yes at a last resort I will be selling the Smart.Just look at the top of the Post Michelle gets 8l/100 maybe she is as truthful as myself? Good for you Michelle ! 8l/100 is 35.31 MPG, most midsize Cars today get more than that. http://www.calculateme.com/cGasMileage/Lit...PG-imperial.htm

It's best to sell the car if you don't like it.We have a member here who has got 4 L/100 km in a fuel economy test in his gas powered 2009 smart, so if they're driven carefully they can get good fuel consumption. Many members have lifetime averages with their gasoline post-2007 models in the 5.5 L/100 km range. Check out fuelly.com or spritmonitor.deYou also don't say whether you are using the premium fuel that is recommended for this car.

Edited by ve7joe

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I drive it exclusively in town and have been getting very poor Gas mileage, 8l/100km - 6.8l/100km - 10.79l/100km

How many km do you drive at a time? How often do you drive the car?

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I drive it about between 4 Km in the morning and about 10 in the afternoon and early evening another 4 km on a regular Basis,once a week I might take a 25 km trip.That is the reason I opted out trading my Smart for a Diesel. I know what you are getting at, so I will say that I had the similar habit driving the other 3Cyl Cars that got me more miles for my buck burning Regular Gas. At 7000km on the odometer it has passed its Break in Period.Yesterday, that is after Mercedes had the Car in for a Remap update on the Tranny I took a longer Trip to Salmon Arm,Weather about 18 degrees.Today I refilled the Car,so whether its the Highway Miles versus the City ones ,I burned 18.986l in 294.6 Km.,which translates to 6.444/100or 43.836 MPG.This is getting close to my 1500ccm 1988 Honda with 190.000 Km on it and regular Gas, which I drove hard as I was a bit younger then. Thank you all for your replies I really like to see a comparison Chart from everyone that has a Canadian Smart 451 (not Diesel).If 100 Persons give the same story and everyone gets 4.5 l as someone claimed ,I believe it ,otherwise I consider it to fiction or simply gossip.If I drove a Honda lets say the way someone suggested driving the Smart of course likewise the Fuel consumption will go down.Be realistic and compare Apples to Apples please. As I said there is at least one Lady that gets also 8l/100 on this Forum.

How many km do you drive at a time? How often do you drive the car?

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Hi Mike,I checked out Fuelly .com as suggested. You realize that all figures are in U.S. Gallons, so for instance a Honda 1998 Civic and I quoted amine which was a 1988 so close enough his best mileage was 41.2 MPG the Us Gallon is 3.785l while the Canadian Imperial Gallon is 4.546 liters.So now apply your Mathematics to the new Formula 1 liter gets 10.885miles now 4.546 liters give you 49.843 MPG so there you have it, even a bit more than what I quoted getting from my 1988 Honda Civic. This double check should confirm my previous statement. Now at 190000 km on the Engine one should really be surprised in getting that Mileage.So what is wrong with the Smart Mitsubishi Engine?

It's best to sell the car if you don't like it.We have a member here who has got 4 L/100 km in a fuel economy test in his gas powered 2009 smart, so if they're driven carefully they can get good fuel consumption. Many members have lifetime averages with their gasoline post-2007 models in the 5.5 L/100 km range. Check out fuelly.com or spritmonitor.deYou also don't say whether you are using the premium fuel that is recommended for this car.

Edited by ve7joe

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You can select what type of units for Fuelly to display, I have mine set for LHK. I took a quick look and there are a few cars in Canada and the US only averaging around 8LHK but the range is anything from low 5LHK to 8LHK. I am willing to bet that the previous car you had went on longer trips and is the main reason for the greater fuel economy, lesser emissions equipment will also be a factor. The mileage you are getting in the smart is not great but falls within what others get from very short trips. If you need/ want better you will need to look into a diesel, hybrid or EV.

On a 4km or 10km drive the car does not warm up enough to work optimally. This is not the case in just the smart but all new cars, they all run rich until they are up to operating temperature. As stated above this will only be worse come winter.

My average listed in my signature is 5.4LHK in my 2011 451. When it is driven it goes at least 110km, round trip to and from work. My best tank was driving at 60 mph on I-75 in August of this year when I averaged 4.5LHK, I travelled from Seaforth Ontario to Dayton Ohio, 589 km on 26.55L of fuel.

Here is the Transport Canada webpage on how fuel ratings are determined. As you will see only your 10km + trips come close to the city conditions.

Edited by Huronlad

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It's a rare day indeed when ANY car gets the manufacturer's advertised fuel mileage. I mean PULEEEZE! 45 mpg from an SUV? (as advertised on an American TV station) Good luck with that one. I don't know of any car makers who advertise real life figures. Certainly, 4.5L/100k is obtainable, but it means that you can't be driving like an F-1 racer. Most companies who do their own testing, do so in a test facility where there is no wind and very little rolling resistance.

On Fuelly the gas 451 is averaging right around the US 38 mpg highway rating.

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So: That 38 US MPG is 45.6 Imperial MPG average for the US and Canadian gasoline smarts, amongst a large population of cars.The diesels worldwide have a 68.5 Imperial MPG average, on Spritmonitor, as a comparison.

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