Attempt at 2,2 li/100 km, on a full tank 1000+ km

[MikeT]

So, over 1000 km! congratulations! Also, your average should be down to 3,3 L/100 soon. Great work!

[smartzuuk]

1063.... Eddie - do you want to do a Yorkton run now, finally??? I'll be in EDM in the second week of August.

[Duck]

If you take turns drafting each other, maybe you can go even further -Iain

[smartzuuk]

If we can get 2.2 on a superfill (which 24L is 4L shy of...), then I say E3 and I shoot for 1100+ each.so... serge... what do the guys at gassavers think?

[Serge]

Not on gassavers yet. I think they don't seem to like the smart very much. It is more like a toy than a real car.

[smartzuuk]

They don't seem to appreciate the cars capability prior to even embraking on any modifications.But - post your 1000 km tank under diesels with a few pics... it will get added to... ;-)They should be impressed with 105 mpg US on a 700 mile tank....I have my car back in 3 weeks or so.

[FormerEnthusiast]

Congratulations Serge!!!That is AMAZING!!!You have done what I have been unable to achieve 3 times over...And Keith, the answer is NO! I will still do it Hope to Edmonton, one shot...Eddie

[smartzuuk]

Okay, guess that leaves me to break 1100 kms.

[MikeT]

You can draft my fat a** on the bike. We'll be doing 35 km/h

[Guest MetroMPG]

I have only seen positive comments at GasSavers for Serge's accomplishment! And they are well deserved.I don't think it's a true assessment that the members there don't like smart cars. Several own diesels, several own/ed micro cars. Many wish they could. Most members are annoyed that automakers insist on fattening up their vehicles year after year...The only negative comments I can recall specifically directed at the car are for the coming US version, since it's fatter, gasoline only, and will of course get worse mileage than the diesel. (Of course the typical questions of safety come up, but keep in mind most of the members are in the US and aren't familiar with the vehicle.)Again - felicitations!

[Serge]

You're perfectly right MetroMPG. Before reading your post, I was going to say that I made a mistake in telling at gas savers they seem not to like the smart car ( being more of a toy) , based on the fact I had two private discussions about the not so good smart on gassavers (I was kind of provoker too )... but who am I to make such affirmations, since I myself don't like 95% of the cars on the road. GasSavers has a broad range of all makes of cars from Hummer to mopeds so people expres their like and dislike on a wide spread (!). On a specialized site like here it is different since we are all smart lovers ... so everything is perfect the way it is on GasSavers.org .Continue your good job MetroMPG.

[Serge]

Follow-up on my attempt

In august 2007, in warm weather, my car seemed to be more economical on fuel. So I decided to give a final attempt at my goal of 2.2 li/100km. But the result was not that much better, so I didn't publish the numbers. I even discarded the details just to keep the general results. So here it is.

I kept the same rules as the first attempt, but did it on 2 days in a row instead of 5½. I run the same «route» twice on august 11 and 12, but this time going toward Montréal instead of down the St-Lawrence river. I went from St-Jean-Port-Joli to St-hyacynthe on the hyway and back on rural roads. Wind was almost non-existent one day and light to «moyen» next day. Against my will, the wind helped somewhat by being light going (headwind) end stronger on the way back (tailwind). That's the usual patern of the wind, starting light in the morning and growing stronger as the day goes on. I also did a super filing by jacking the rear of the car. I thought I would run out of fuel close to home with around 45 km on 0.0 li showing on the display, but it didn't bother me, being close to home.

Here are the results:

1184 km, on 25.8 liters for 2.18 li/100km, almost 130 mi/gal.

So I did get 2.2 but with so much pain that I will never do that again in the same conditions. Keeping at or below 60 kmh on the hyway was sometimes dangerous the closer I came to Montréal and denser traffic. I had to go on the side many times so not to be possibly rear ended. And the way back on rural roads going thru villages and small towns on sunday's traffic was a pain. ( Don't try it at home ... lol !)

Warm weather is a real help ( was between 25 and 30, even higher on asphalt ). Wind helped on one day too, even if I respected my own rule of return trip on the same day. These numbers should be very hard to improve, without aerodynamic mod to the car. Driving 1184 km with so much attention to any small detail is a real killer, beware of headaches.

Edited May 7, 2008 by Serge

[Duck]

I have the ultimate respect for you, man. That is so, so awesome!!-Iain

[booneylander]

Agreed! Very impressive! Serge, what have you found to be the *ideal* cruising combination of road speed, engine load, etc, to get maximum efficiency? Is there a sweet spot, or do you keep modulating the throttle all the time and just try to get the lowest consumption on the ScanGauge?

[2seatragtop]

Ca C'est magnifique!Congratulations Serge you must be one steady guy to have such control for so long.I drive moderately and am pleased to get to 4.0 ratrher than my regular 4.4 so I cannot imagine getting down to 2.18.It just shows what can be done. Now if you were to have a Hybrid Smart......

[MikeT]

Wow, that is unreal. Great job!

[Diesel Dave]

Good show Serge. That is an amazing result. I have tried it myself a few times but, I never get numbers like that. I know how difficult it can be dealing with the other cars on the road. I was wondering which model you have. My option loaded passion cabrio never gets the milage that my old non A/C pure coupe did. Now with wider wheels and tires, there's no hope. I would think that an option free pure coupe would be the ultimate hypermiler.

[Serge]

Thank you all for your congrat... I didn't talk about this last summer because it sounded crazy and I felt kind of miserable. Almost a year later, I can look at it calmly now and your comments make me feel a little better.

Well Duck, you're much too kind with your ultimate respect..... I felt more crazy than respectable !!!!! It is ultimate driving though , pushing to that low limit is kind of extreme sport. Anyway at the time, my life fuel average was 3,21 and will go up since last winter I drove around Mike's average of 3,9.

The aim of this attempt was to find how low we could go down on fuel economy with this fine smart car. And I found the bottom ( mine at least).

Booneylander wrote « Serge, what have you found to be the *ideal* cruising combination of road speed, engine load, etc, to get maximum efficiency? Is there a sweet spot, or do you keep modulating the throttle all the time and just try to get the lowest consumption on the ScanGauge? »

With gas engine, there is always a sweet spot like the most efficient RPM for a particular engine in high gear and low speed. Since diesel engine get their rpm from richer mix of fuel/air ratio, the lowest rpm gives the best FE. So the driving technique is quite simple, lowest rpm in 6th gear at lowest speed so not to fight too strong wind. With the smart, this simple equation is difficult to achieve because of the automatic change of gear at too low a speed. In practice one has to keep speed around or below 60, try not to change to 5th gear, anticipate uphills by speeding somewhat or change gear at the best time when necessary. I never let the shift down arrow appear on the display more than a second or two except on downhill when the funny arrow tells to downshift without necessity. The most steady trottle is best... no modulation. That's where my trottle control lever is usefull. 2seatragtop said that Serge must be one steady guy.... yes He must be to achieve that 2,18 but otherwise not that steady guy in life....

In real driving it goes like this : every other second check speed below 60, check mirror to see who is coming at the back and at what speed, 59 kmh ... too fast so put load down from 45 to 42, check rpm on SG, whoops going down to 1230, must up LOD to 44, rpm to 1255 ok. Small incline push lod to 54 right over the slight hill, try to regain what was lost on the up, going down on lod 0 , a stop ehead.... must slow down at the right spot so not to change gear too fast, no car coming in open field so pass stop in 3rd gear, accelerate very slowly but fast in economical 5th gear at 1050 rpm.... and so on.....

Diesel Dave, my car is a basic pure coupe with two wooden bumpers that might interfere with wind ( not that much I suppose). Let me tell you on the last attempt, temperature inside went sometimes pretty high without AC and windows closed for better airstream, but I couldn't resist the use of the cooling fan most of the time, loosing some points in FE.

[smartzuuk]

I noted your 2.18 was posted at gassavers, but never saw the details. Indeed, 60 kmh can yield some crazy numbers. You have the patience and roads to do it.. but alas, what use is it to the average commuter. LOL. I think if we lived in the same province we would have to battle each other til the death. Although I can't see myself making a hand throttle!! Maybe just a big hammer to whack you with.I wish I'd had a Scangauge when I was in SK in 2006... c'est la vie.

[Serge]

Cher Smartzuuk,

Tu as parfaitement raison, ce genre de «performance» n'est d'aucune utilité en usage quotidien de la smart. C'est d'ailleurs pourquoi je me suis désintéressé de ces résultats l'été dernier, et cessé de faire ce genre de folies !!! Ce n'était qu'un exercice poussé à l'extrême pour voir les possibilités de la voiture. Je crois qu'on aime tous cela de temps à autre, pousser nos limites extrêmes. Pour moi, tu as été une inspiration à faire ce genre de folies.

Je crois cependant fermement aux voitures le plus écologiques possibles, mais pour être véritablement écologiques, les voitures doivent être grand public utilisées en usage quotidien normal. C'est pourquoi j'observe attentivement le développement rapide des voitures électriques et je serai sûrement un des premiers propriétaires dans quelques années. ( 2010 annoncent toutes les compagnies, on verra bien).

Si nous vivions dans la même province, jamais je n'oserais affronter le grand Smartzuuk qui a accompli tant de choses. Je m'inclinerais volontiers lui laissant les lauriers et la couronne du vainqueur !!!! Je lui donnerais mon accélérateur manuel avec plaisir et garderais le gros marteau imprimé sur ma tête !!!

Serge

[booneylander]

Duck, we really need to get this electronic "manual throttle" fingured out! FE awaits hahaha!

[Duck]

I agree; but I think it's going to be next to impossible without software or something. Unless we buy that pedal that Glenn has for sale and modify it to have a switchbox to the real pedal (cumbersome) and take out the return springs, pedal, guts - everything except the relationship between the two pots... and put a knob on that.-Iain

[smart65]

I never let the shift down arrow appear on the display more than a second or two except on downhill when the funny arrow tells to downshift without necessity.

I found that under these conditions, shifting down, as advised by the car's computer, dropped consumpion from perhaps .5 LHK to 0 LHK on the Scangauge.

[smartzuuk]

Dear Smartzuuk,You are perfectly right, this type of "performance" is of no daily applied usefulness of the smart. It is besides why I lost interest in these results last summer, and was stopped making this type of madness!!! It was only a financial year taken to extremes to see the possibilities of the car. I think that they like all it every so often, to push our extreme borders. For me, you were an inspiration to make this type of madness. I believe however firmly in cars the most environmental possible, but to be really environmental, cars have to be general public used applied daily normal. That's why I notice attentively the quick development of the electrical cars and I shall be surely one of the first owners over the years. (2010 announce all companies, they will see definitely). If we lived in the same province, never I would dare to confront big Smartzuuk which fulfilled so many things. I would bow readily leaving him laurels and crown of the victor!!!! I would give him my manual accelerator with pleasure and keep the big hammer printed on my head!!!Serge

Well, you hold the record Serge, fair and square. http://100mpg.ca/?p=162 I should update it and show the one you have now recounted.For me, it is sufficient enough to get under 4.0 - but as the price rises, and my 40 km commute now costs over $2.00, I am starting to envision more and more folks trading in their trucks/SUVs/MiniVans/SportsCars... and buying LOTS of Scangauges... LOL :DWhen I am in Quebec, I owe you a beer and a t-shirt

[smart65]

I looked up my post re. down shift arrow. It was dated Jan. 25, 2007. For details, Click http://clubsmartcar.com/index.php?showtopic=7518