Leaderboard

Well, if it wasn't official before, it is now. I am a smart-aholic. I headed out to Concord this morning and picked up a second smart. A cabrio. A 450 cabrio. A Scratch Black 450 Cabrio. I own the set It's Diesel Dave's old smart, a 2006 Passion. Overall it seems to be in very good condition, but I want to add paddles and cruise. It seems to still have the Technine Stage 2 remap that Dave had on it before, which is quite peppy. I'd say it drives better than my coupe, as well as being a lot quieter. Yay!

The 100km/hr thing is not the most efficient speed. The curve of consumption versus speed is not linear. The difference between 80 and 100 is much greater than the difference between 60 and 80. Basically the slower you go the further you go. After 80 your range is dropping off rapidly. I did the three year lease to hedge my bets on emerging technology and falling prices. Sure there will be an new volt/Prius/ford... just down the road. There always will be. But you can miss out on a lot of fun waiting for the next big thing. At the prices mb are offering it is pretty hard to wait. One long range and one short range car works very well. So far no contention between my wife and myself. Except for the arm wrestling to see who gets the smart when we both have short range days.

Officially yesterday. I finally put some masculine-looking wheels and tires on my smart, thanks to smart142's (Glenn's) great deal and Leadwing's (Ron's) gracious offer to to transport them from London to Trenton, where he also helped me install them near midnight Saturday. The wheel exchange was a tiny bit of an adventure! When we finally got to Ron's motel in Bayside it was around 10:30. I loosened my bolts and proceeded to use the Honda scissor jack as the bugs began biting and I began sweating in the lakeside humidity. Ron brought out the Michalak 16" wheels with 194/40 Yokohamas and when I went for the bolts I noticed the proprietary keyholes. I found the tool quickly enough but when I was getting ready for the trip from Montreal it had never occurred to me that I might need a 17 mm socket! The motel manager was around and offered help but he didn't have anything that fit. I got all the bolts on finger tight and dropped the car off the jack and we went hunting for a tool in what was essentially a ghost town on a Saturday night. After checking a couple of self serve gas stations, the clerk at the last one told us how to get to the local OPP detachment. There, a friendly plainclothed employee went out to his huge pickup and found me a 17 mm combination wrench. He didn't need my license or anything, we went back to the motel and I tightend as much as I could by hand. I thanked Ron again and headed out. After returning the wrench I found a closed gas station around the corner and used their awful $1 air machine to pump up the tires. Heading out onto the 401, I noticed the difference right away. The car hardly leans on tight on ramps, and there is no more buffeting at highway speeds or behind big rigs! It's a fricking go kart now! I fuelled up in Napanee, then found a dark corner and curled up for what turned into a two hour nap. Once at home I checked all the bolts with the torque wrench and a 17 mm socket, and they were all within a sixteenth of a turn from 80 lb-ft. The pressures were only a bit off, but not by much. Sweet! Yes, 40-series tires are a bit harsh on Montreal roads, but considering how rough the car had been as the original suspension wore out and began to fail, I can live with the occasion tooth-filling-loosening jolt in return for the laser-sharp handling and huge grip. I'm mighty chuffed right now. I have to re-dial the suspension heights a smidge, but right now it's the tightest-handling car I've owned, and I've owned or leased quite a few "sporty" cars.