Canada 1 update

[MikeT 737]

Nice! That'll be Chemainus Road, we were on our way to dinner (or coming back from dinner) at the Indian restaurant. A photo from Chemainus yesterday.

 

[MikeT 737]

We do remember passing an all black 450 cdi missing its grille near Saltair, so I assume that was you?

[DTA 9]

On 3/27/2022 at 8:32 PM, MikeT said:

We do remember passing an all black 450 cdi missing its grille near Saltair, so I assume that was you?

Yes, that was me! I was driving my nightrun! The grille isn't missing however  

[MikeT 737]

I'll be on track with the car this Monday....

[MikeT 737]

Man that was awesome!

 

https://islandmotorsportcircuit.com/

 

2.3 km track, a total of two hours of hot lapping in the smart! I think I did a total of 56 laps, so 128.8 km. Fuel consumption for the tank was 6.3 average and a bit more than half was at an average of 4.0 L/100 km on the road, so I think the car was burning between 8 and 9 L/100 km on the track. Not bad, as I was flat out about half of each lap. The top speed I got to was 110 km/h and the roadholding was fabulous, with ESP cutting in on only a few laps to settle the car.

 

Obviously I was the slowest car on the track - there were three BMW M3s on the track including a GTR, a Boxster S, a Camaro, a 'Vette, BMW M5, and a Mazda Miata.

 

My best time was just under 1 minute 51 seconds. My typical lap was 1:52 and a few that I blew and the 10 or so that were in the rain were worse.

 

I didn't get a time on the Miata because it was in my group but I'd guess it was about 1 minute 45 seconds. The M5 was typically at about 1 minute 35 seconds, and the Porsche was the fastest, in the mid 1:20s.

 

The car celebrated its 100,000th mile on the track as the odometer was just a tad over 161,100 km when we left. The peak temperature of coolant was 92. The BRABUS suspension is not worn out really, and the car was very comfortable on this smooth tarmac. I"m still going to change the suspension back to stock soon though, keeping the sports suspension in reserve.

[MikeT 737]

Part of the wet session

[MikeT 737]

On the pit straight.

[Nigel 283]

Might have been the slowest car but also the rarest.  Looks like fun.

 

Nigel

[MikeT 737]

I bumped into a colleague at the office today who formerly had a 2017 Camaro with a bunch of modifications and I know had run on the same track many times. So I told him about the smart and the Vmax being 110 on the circuit, thinking he'd say his top end was about 160. Turns out it was 140. So actually I think the little Canada 1 acquitted itself rather well!

[MikeT 737]

A few better shots from that day....

 

[MikeT 737]

Another one...

[MikeT 737]

and one more

[MikeT 737]

It's evident now that the car's A/C has given up after 12 years since the last refit, so it's another item to be reviewed when a batch of work happens later this year or early in 2023 (more likely). Still it's not been super hot here and it's not a massive handicap with the convertible top either, which is very often open most of the summer.

[MikeT 737]

 

Nice summer evening drive.

[MikeT 737]

Long overdue to change the pollen filter...

 

Looks as though the old one was rucked up a bit.

 

Doing the work through the letterslot sized port is difficult, but possible.

 

[smartzuuk 165]

You'll need some good filters to keep the reality show behind you from affecting your peace and quiet.....!

 

[Willys 741]

Just curious.....why do you try and filter the cabin air with a filter when the top comes off or opens up...?  I could see it maybe if you owned a tin roof with non opening windows etc.....are we this sensitive now a days?   And yes I suffered bigtime with hay fever all through my younger adult life.....imho, just another useless addition to our vehicles making them more and more expensive to own and maintain.  
I'll gladly go back to the 70's vehicle standards and options and get back to affordable vehicles that don't cost in the range of $50K and above.

 

But then again, I'm capable of operating that third foot pedal and that funny stick sticking out of the floor boards....lol.   Nor do I need the 28" TV screen in the dash or the electronic directional tools to get from point A to point B...lol.

Oh the good old days....lol.

I'm sure I'll get roasted for this opinion also...lol.

 

[Mjolinor 85]

Let's rush back to the decoke before a 40 mile journey and an engine rebuild before a hundred mile, with heaters that never worked, wipers that only worked when it wasn't raining. Need I go on.

 

I keep looking for a car that could offer anywehre near the reliability of a Smart that was over 40 years old and they do not exist.

 

All my bikes are over 40 years old, no MOT and £0 road tax ( UK ). I need a car that offers motoring as cheap but until I find owt then I shall stick with Smarty.

 

Edited January 11 by Mjolinor

[Willys 741]

reliability is simple to find if you keep on your maintenance schedule.....cheap is the only sticking point for fuel economy imho I will admit.   BUT, I would trade it for a single wire run vehicle. I was perfectly happy with my Datsun 510  almost indestructable, fun, and simple to work on almost anywhere.  Almost as simple as a Lada.....lol or many other eastern block machines.   We seem to demand complexity and the need to be forced to own specialized tooling to even service our vehicles now a days, bring back the baling wire and a hammer type on the road repairs......not a chance of repairing anything now a days if it were to breakdown away from civilization.  
To each their own, but keep it simple stupid will always win when it comes down to repairs away from the dealerships or fully equip-ed shops.   I specificly chose a Kawasaki KLR 650 for my adventure bike.....it was of the old school fix anywhere mentality. I have ridden that machine on almost every far off adventure road in Canada and it always got me home.....no computers, a simple carb etc.....fix it anywhere.....same goes for vehicles.  I built Jeeps etc for over 25 years using the same mentality, never had to phone a friend.

Yes far more fuel thirsty than our fuel miser of a smart car but, the fewer headaches were well worth the difference in fuel costs. 

[MikeT 737]

21 hours ago, smartzuuk said:

You'll need some good filters to keep the reality show behind you from affecting your peace and quiet.....!

 

Pam Anderson is actually a good neighbour. I watched the HGTV show being filmed from our deck, when I was working from home, outside.

 

And....since Enquiring Minds want to know......On the filters, well when it's peak Alnus rubra pollen season, the top remains closed and the filter is well used to keep the nose under control. The top comes down a lot by May.