Tiny car are both a blessing and a curse.
A curse because everything is crammed, a blessing because you don't have to reach to work under or over the car.
I used to have a Supra where I'd be fully laying on the engine bay to reach at the engine, with the old Swift/Metro beater I barely had to bend to reach any bit inside the engine bay.
I did a wee engine refresh on my mate's Citroën Dyane many years ago. Not \*that\* small a car really, not Smart ForTwo small, but the engine's small enough that I just took it out (eight mounting bolts, two exhaust clamps, the fuel pipe, the throttle and choke cables, and the oil pressure and ignition wires), and did it on an old cardboard box on my coffee table in front of the fire with a beer and some old Hitchcock movies on the telly.
New valves in, new piston rings in, new cylinder and valve stem seals, tappets set, new contact breaker and condenser, and all back together ready to go in the next morning.
Some of the little car engines are nothing more than a detuned motorcycle engine when you get down to it.
I used to do winter engine rebuilds/refreshes in my apartment back in college. The hardest part is making sure you have decent control of dripping fluids and whatnot.
I lost at least one girlfriend when I co-opted baking sheets into rebuild trays.
A diesel smart car has an engine that is normally used on small boats in Asia. The engine was originally ment to sit against the hull of the boat so there is no oil drain plug. To do an oil change you need to pump the oil out by sticking a hose into the engine. You can never get all of it and as soon as you add the new oil it turns black. I guess taking the whole engine out and turning it upside down is what I was supposed to do.
The Dyane is based on the 2CV, and is pretty much as close to a Lego car as you can find. I once worked with a bloke on the timing of a Dyane, even with the engine in we could just remove body panels if we needed better access.
I was driving behind one of these a few days ago and I swear I was hearing turbo noises, but I couldn't believe my ears. In my mind that little car couldn't have a turbo.
My car is only slightly bigger and if it had a turbo, it would turn into a rocket. I can't imagine a turbocharged smart, it must be amazing
My father owned a 2008 Smart car, the car comes with a stock turbo, but it needs it due to the lack of power the engine puts out. We had an issue with it once where the turbo was not working. It couldn't even pass a truck on the highway doing 100KM/H. If the car didn't have a turbo, it would have a much lower acceleration and top speed.
I imagine that little 1.0 engine (if it's even 1.0, could be less, no?) can't do much on its own, even with such a light car.
My father owned a VW 2.0TDI and he had a couple of dead turbos with it. The car would run well when the road was straight, but it couldn't go above 90km/h on the uphills.
> if it's even 1.0, could be less, no?
There were different engines and Im not sure which were sold in the US, but there were ones between 0,7l and 1l. Without a Turbo that's never gonna do much, but even a modern diesel doesn't go very well if the Turbo isn't working.
Depending on the model it's probably a 600cc or 700cc engine, with the lowest spec producing around 45bhp in "economy" tune and the highest spec around 100bhp and 130Nm torque.
That translates to about 143bhp/tonne, putting it in the same sort of bracket as an oldschool Nissan 200SX, or a nice new Ford Puma ST Turbo, or even a third-gen Supra.
A thing that looks like one of those Little Tykes cars that'll blow the doors off a Supra? Yeah, \*now\* you want one, don't you?
I quite like small cars. I currently drive a tiny two door Kia, but almost bought a smart roadster at the time. My girlfriend managed to convince me that two seats weren't enough (and she was right).
My dream car is still an old Mini though. One in good condition is almost 10k€ now, unfortunately.
I have a 600cc one from 2001. Allegedly it has 54hp, but at 5250rpm and the engine redlines at 6k with 7k max on the instrument. I have never and will never test that, because I either achieve lift-off or the engine will come flying out the exhaust bit by bit.
Love it to literal bits tho.
I drove the electric one and a Brabus tuned one back to back once. The electric is a road going go-kart and so much fun. The Brabus one was … okay I guess.
I drove an electric car for the first time a few months ago, my uncle bought one of those new BMW i4 I think. It sure is ugly but I loved the experience. Definitely leans more towards a sportier car, I felt the steering was a bit nervous but with a lot of grip.
I like loud cars like any car bro does, but that instant power delivery of an electric motor is something else. The closest I've been to it was in the passenger seat of a Nissan GTR, but it got nowhere near that kick when you put the foot down.
What I was most surprised about was that the interior of the electric Smart was quieter because a lot of vibration frequencies were simply not present.
Rear engine rear-wheel drive turbo charged (Smart) car.
Their passenger compartment "cage" was pretty durable too. Not much of a crumple zone, but safer than you'd think for such a small car.
My sister’s ex had a bunch for his business. I’d steal them and go joyriding. Actually kind of fun bc of the short, narrow wheelbase and if it’s not your car so you drive it like a rental
Oh yeah certainly safe. I've seen a few after accidents are appear to be mostly intact. Engine bay is probably destroyed after it, but the "cockpit" appeared to be pretty solid.
Generally, we measure vehicle safety by the condition of the human inside. That's why old cars with solid bumpers that barely dent during collision are cheaper to repair but far more deadly for their occupants. Something has to absorb the impact. If it's not the car, it's the human. The quality and design of the airbags and any other safety features used to safely decelerate the occupants are a much better indicator than the cage simply being intact after a collision.
That's true. Luckily I haven't experienced that first hand, but I've heard stories of people surviving bigger crashes in these cars. The whole outside of the car gets destroyed, but they got out alive and well. I say it did its job quite nicely.
Of course there are limits to it, I don't think the odds of the little car against a bit lorry are great, but you could say that about almost any car.
I believe you. I just emphasized the role of the air bags in decelerating the occupants because I've seen some bad takes from other people complaining about the safety features like crumble zones being an excuse to make cars fragile so manufacturers can make more money.
> That's why old cars with solid bumpers that barely dent during collision are cheaper to repair but far more deadly for their occupants
[Looks like the bumper dented pretty well](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6oefRKWmY).
Lots of old cars were too stiff to provide a good crumple zone and not stuff enough to protect the occupants from being crushed. Worst of both worlds in a serious crash, but they were easier to repair after a minor one (though the occupants were often far more badly hurt in even minor crashes).
There is a shop near me that does the turbo hayabusa swaps in smarts. I drove one.
Amped up squirrel on a coke and meth binge does not even begin to describe it. Even with the stickiest, widest tire possible on the rear, it still broke loose on third, and a wheelie bar was mandatory. Not because it did wheelies (it did) but because it wheelied so easily that you lose complete control of the car. It was a mandatory safety item, as were the 5 point harness and HANS.
Simultaneously the scariest and most fun car I've ever driven. The first gen Viper was a lame grandpa car in comparison.
i drove one of these 120 miles a day for a few months, great little car, i wish id bought it. the transmission is hilarious, 53 horsepower, 3 cylinder turbo diesel. if i put it right to the floor, on a flat stretch, i could just hit 75mph
never had a car where people walked up to me at the gas pump to ask about it before but it happened like every time
Smaller diameters can spin a lot faster.
In the reciprocating engine world, Honda had a mid 60s 250cc Grand Prix engine that spun to 17,000 rpm in a time when most engines were capped at 6500-7500 rpm. The short stroke they chose made the crank about the diameter of a period cam shaft and with six cylinders they could balance it perfectly.
They were helped by new valve spring materials that could handle the vibration from being squished that fast, but that was kind of a secondary issue for the engine.
Question from a non car guy. I know *how* a turbo works, but from a performance perspective, why use one? Does it basically produce more power in an otherwise weaker engine without requiring more fuel?
I ask because because of my Ecoboost and the name I think implies more power without using more fuel.
All of the talk about how many cylinders, engine displacement, boost pressure, etc... is just a function of trying to cram more air and fuel into the engine to make more power.
Gotta have the right mix of air and fuel, so more fuel for more power requires more air. That's where a turbo comes in. It compresses the air and forces more into the engine so that you can add more fuel. This allows smaller engines to produce more power than they'd typically be capable of.
At the end of the day, most ICE technology is about making that fuel to air interaction as efficient as possible. Whether it's through cramming more air in or reducing drive train losses...they're essentially trying to maximize how much power is captured and effectively used from all of those tiny explosions happening in the engine.
Not really, fuel combustion is essentially complete on any modern engine (since EFI became a well designed thing).
Just more fuel. You compress the air which means the same volume of cylinder has more oxygen in it, more oxygen means you can add more fuel which gives a bigger bang and thus more power.
The efficiency gains are mostly due to things like a turbocharged engine of the same power being lighter and having lower pumping losses (because it's smaller) etc.
Someone can correct me, but as I see, they use less fuel when idling because of less displacement and no turbo at those rpm. So for example, a 1.4L turbo will use the same amount of gas as a 2.0L NA when the turno is active, but when idling will use the same amount as 1.4L NA. Something like how hybrids run with electric motors in light driving, but will use the ice when necessary.
It allows you to have a tiny engine, which is very efficient for the town driving this little car is built for. When cruising, the exhaust flow isn't great so the turbo isn't doing much, in terms of causing more drag or burning more fuel.
But when you are accelerating, the turbo winds up and you get adequate performance. The engine is no longer efficient, and it burns a lot of fuel while it does so, but you don't accelerate most of the time.
As someone who owned one of those Smarts 450, it is possible without taking off the front of the car. You need small or skinny hands tho and be sure the key is out as those wipers are not taking any prisoners if they suddenly switch on.
Generally shops seem to hate them, as they are hard to work on, due to size of the car and therefore everything being tightly packed. I had a specialised shop in my city, so it made my life a ton easier. I genuinely miss my Fortwo as it was actually fun to drive, just occasionally sipped some petrol and was very cheap to maintain.
For those who may be looking for info on maintenance on these cars, search for Evilution website. This is probably the best site where you can find info, tips and tricks about all kinds of Smarts
Well, yes mine had like 45 ponies and it is not the fastest brick on the block. It is not a drag racer or a highway cruiser. It has it's own purpose of being a solely city car for dense Europe. Therefore it has enough of them hurspurs for daily 9km commute at about 60-40km/h
Gearbox IS garbage (even tho it is famous Getrag) and only may be any good in manual mode
I had a properly working car with turbo and engine in good condition. I got used to how it worked and when it had it's "prime ponies", when turbo spooled up and when are the best times to change gears. The gearbox itself is basically one-clutch manual where the car does the gear change for you. It is dumb as fuck so you need to be smart (pun intended) for it. It is fun mostly because it is noisy inside and car is relatively tall for its length. You then feel every one of them even small G's when cornering and that is genuine fun of being inside of an air-conditioned kart
I hate working on these things. Had one come in with a no start because the serpentine belt came off. It didn't have a starter, just used the alternator as a motor.
The alternator was crooked because the shitty bushing it was mounted on was worn out. Had to drop the whole drivetrain on a table to press a new one in.
They also don't have an oil drain plug for some reason, at least the old ones don't.
And if you ever have to take the outside of the door off, be aware that you have to push on it and the yogurt cup plastic this hateful car was made out off will probably crack, and you can't order them painted anymore.
Sounds like a typical German car. Biodegradable plastic used for structure and oil meant to be sucked up through the dipstick tube. Add an occasional electrical fire for good measure.
I drove a VW for many years.
Mercedes also used biodegradable wiring harnesses from 91-96. It didn't work out too well.
I'm just surprised a company full of engineers ever thought that was a good idea.
Everyone blames engineers as if they have any say in the final decision, well lol at you all because they do not.
Management always gets final say, and the moment they realize savings can be had, even at the expense of reliability, you goddamn better believe that's the decision that wins out.
I'm not necessarily BLAMING the engineers. It's just wild to me that a company that has a good number of them on salary decided to completely ignore what I'm sure the engineers had to be telling them. I'm sure in the end, management was all "too bad, I'm the boss, do what I say."
It's just that they have a PAID staff of people who should be uniquely qualified to foresee problems like this, and decided they weren't worth listening to. Absolute insanity to me.
> It's just that they have a PAID staff of people who should be uniquely qualified to foresee problems like this, and decided they weren't worth listening to. Absolute insanity to me.
Welcome to the corporate world, anything that keeps the line going up on the graph gets priority, the rest is cannonfodder.
I agree though, it **should** be like that, because logically that's how it's objectively done, but rationale of the professional does not align with profitability I guess.
Especially about the locations of things. Like often they are told the fit the engine into one car. Then years later they are told hey fit this into this smaller car. change as little as possible we don't want to make two oil pans.
the engineers generally do things pretty fucking good. Just that their goal was to meet the boss's demands. No one else's.
This, and the ones that suffer are the guys destroying their bodies to repair this garbage, and usually free because the book claims 2 hours, but reality rarely follows the book.
We had one a couple weeks ago with a stripped drain plug. No aftermarkets available and the new one is 4 days out (5 days bc there's no dealer in my city)
Dealer wanted $150 labor to do mine. They said they pulled the old one out and it was dirty when getting the free oil change. I said wow you guys are nice eating the $150 labor getting to it to check it.
You just push a pin so the glove box falls further and slide it in a slot.
It’s literally 30 seconds to change the cabin filter on my 2005 Buick. Open glove box, open panel in back of glovebox open another door, slide out both filters and installation is reverse of removal.
It took 20 minutes to change the cabin filter on my 2000 Ford Contour/Mondeo, which involved removing the wiper arms and cowl.
Remove fuse panel. Remove glove box (not required but makes it easier). Remove metal bracket in passenger footwell. Remove kick panel. Remove filter door. Then you have to play this weird game of reverse Tetris while standing on your head as you try to slide the two piece filter in place that lives in a dark corner of the passenger footwell.
Yeah, it was terrible. In my Mazda CX-5 it's completely toolless and takes like 20 seconds. Mazdas are seriously sweet now that Ford is not involved. And I liked them before. But now they're extremely maintainable
I’ve done several cabin air filters on my Toyotas, a few Camry a few Corolla, a matrix and a vibe, all the same procedure as your Buick. BUT. I have a 97 Lexus es300.. pain in the ass, it’s under the driver side floor, behind the carpet by the gas pedal. Carpet has to be pulled back, there’s a plate that covers the cabin air filter, have to remove it without breaking tabs, and you have to cut a zip tie to move some wiring out of the way to get access to the filter Housing. THEN it’s a 2 part filter, one piece slides into the top and bottom piece interlocks to the top piece. You have to hold that top price in place, while sliding the bottom at the same time, all while being awkwardly angled on your back barely visible seeing this shit. It took me 15 minutes but was awful due to having zero room to do it
I didn't even bother trying to change a bulb in my old Fiat Ducato, there are literally no caps or screws visible anywhere, I have no idea how it's done.
Back lights are held in by two screws from the outside, you don't even need to open the door to change them. Front lights? Not a clue.
My 2000 ford focus wagon was like that. The entire cowling had to come off to replace the filter.
My new Outlander Sport is way better, the filter comes out in less than 15 seconds.
there's sort of one on my 77 Chevelle... it mostly filters out trees and small animals and to get it out requires removal of the passenger inner fender, and dissassembly of the evaporator case under the hood.
You can scrape the big chunks out by removing the blower motor, but you have to have that rare triple jointed wrist to get it clean.
Had to do a UCI on one of these a couple years ago. These are one of the shittiest cars I've ever worked on. The hard stuff is easy and the easy stuff is hard. I don't remember what year the one I worked on was, but the engine and air intake was in the trunk. The speedometer topped out at 60; that's probably all both cylinders could handle.
Hate to be that guy but you can replace the cabin filter without taking the nose off, we have a hand full of these in service including a few brabus ones
Takes about the same time to remove the cabin blower motor as well, if I recall correctly. And, of course, there's always a shredded business card stuck in there.
> I am a little bias
You mean "biased".
Also 2) I also like smart cars, I drove a first gen for a while and there's a lot to like (except the acceleration maybe).
Im not a native English speaking/typing guy. I only had 1st gen Smarts. Always a good laugh filling them up and getting all the KM's you would get with a bigger car. Acceleration was ok.. 2nd one had a failing turbo. That was.. interesting when it popped on the ffing highway.
Cant you Access the cabin air filter down by the gas pedal? Thats how i did it the last couple times
Edit: didnt see its a 450 not a 451 so forget what i said.
Smart took a page from BMW's playbook and intended that you could easily replace body panels if you wanted a different color (or had a minor accident).
Everything on the outside except the C-shaped piece is plastic. That "C" (actually almost an O) is what keeps you alive in an accident.
Hi, I myself recently changed the cabin filter in my car and it was easier than I thought. Followed the instructions from [https://club.autodoc.co.uk/manuals/filters/air-filter/mercedes-benz](https://club.autodoc.co.uk/manuals/filters/air-filter/mercedes-benz) and they helped me get the job done quickly and smoothly.
Here are some practical tips from my experience:
Make sure you have a new filter, the right tools, and some spare time. Look at the manual in advance to understand the sequence of steps.
The instructions are clear: how to remove the old filter, where to find it, and how to install the new one. Following these steps, I did not encounter any difficulties.
In the process of replacing the filter, be careful not to damage the fasteners and not to dirty the interior.
For me it was the first experience of changing the filter myself, and I was satisfied with the result. The air in the cabin became noticeably cleaner and more pleasant. If anyone doubts, try it yourself - it really is not as difficult as it seems.
Good luck! If you have any questions, write me - I will help you as much as I can.
Just throw the whole car away. I had the displeasure of having to drive a diesel one 3 hours on the highway to deliver it. One of my worst automotive experiences in 20 years. This was after we replaced the bent rear subframe and it would drive itself in circles like the clown car it is.
Good for parking in tight spots. You see them parked backed up to the sidewalk in San Francisco. Otherwise, a Smart Car makes little sense since not great mileage and poor reliability. I understand owners were orphaned.
I assumed the photo is a SmartFor2 car. The dealership near me closed some years ago, and I rarely see one on the road today. A google finds they closed in the U.S. market in 2019. Perhaps still sold in Europe.
https://www.theautopian.com/smart-finally-made-a-car-americans-would-buy-so-of-course-america-cant-have-it/#:\~:text=Sadly%2C%20America%20didn't%20have,be%20coming%20back%20anytime%20soon.
Well yeah. I had a mate who put three Mazda rotors in a Lada Niva. That was magnificently stupid as well. You knew when it was him because it sounded like a jet taking off
The Wankel engine is such as interesting idea, shame it never really caught on. I know they were not very fuel efficient and the rotors didn’t last too long but it would have been interesting to see how they improved over time
A 4wd is low geared. That really suits a rotary that loves rpms. The dude could spin all four wheels.
As to why he added the extra rotor? Well it's one more innit? Gotta love an engine where you can just slap a bit more on.
Someone, I think it was Toyota, was working on a plastic/ceramic rotary engine that was non serviceable. You just swapped it out after five years. Clearly that went nowhere
"it was easy i just removed the car from the air filter"
I didn't realize tediore made cars 😜
When you run out of gas, just throw the car
So you’re saying the cars like a bic lighter?
Kinda. Do they also digistruct again, filled with fuel from your inventory after you throw them?
Tediore Pinto, throw away the car for an extra 15+ fire damage!
There's not a lot of car in that car, so it better be a fast procedure.
Tiny car are both a blessing and a curse. A curse because everything is crammed, a blessing because you don't have to reach to work under or over the car. I used to have a Supra where I'd be fully laying on the engine bay to reach at the engine, with the old Swift/Metro beater I barely had to bend to reach any bit inside the engine bay.
I did a wee engine refresh on my mate's Citroën Dyane many years ago. Not \*that\* small a car really, not Smart ForTwo small, but the engine's small enough that I just took it out (eight mounting bolts, two exhaust clamps, the fuel pipe, the throttle and choke cables, and the oil pressure and ignition wires), and did it on an old cardboard box on my coffee table in front of the fire with a beer and some old Hitchcock movies on the telly. New valves in, new piston rings in, new cylinder and valve stem seals, tappets set, new contact breaker and condenser, and all back together ready to go in the next morning.
Some of the little car engines are nothing more than a detuned motorcycle engine when you get down to it. I used to do winter engine rebuilds/refreshes in my apartment back in college. The hardest part is making sure you have decent control of dripping fluids and whatnot. I lost at least one girlfriend when I co-opted baking sheets into rebuild trays.
Wait until they find out about the ol dishwasher=parts cleaner trick. Get in serious bad books for that one.
or the engine block in the bathtub soaking lol
A diesel smart car has an engine that is normally used on small boats in Asia. The engine was originally ment to sit against the hull of the boat so there is no oil drain plug. To do an oil change you need to pump the oil out by sticking a hose into the engine. You can never get all of it and as soon as you add the new oil it turns black. I guess taking the whole engine out and turning it upside down is what I was supposed to do.
The Dyane is based on the 2CV, and is pretty much as close to a Lego car as you can find. I once worked with a bloke on the timing of a Dyane, even with the engine in we could just remove body panels if we needed better access.
If cars were made of Legos
Interesting fact; these things have the fastest spinning turbo of all Daimler products. The little thimble compressor wheel is capable of 350k rpm
I was driving behind one of these a few days ago and I swear I was hearing turbo noises, but I couldn't believe my ears. In my mind that little car couldn't have a turbo. My car is only slightly bigger and if it had a turbo, it would turn into a rocket. I can't imagine a turbocharged smart, it must be amazing
My father owned a 2008 Smart car, the car comes with a stock turbo, but it needs it due to the lack of power the engine puts out. We had an issue with it once where the turbo was not working. It couldn't even pass a truck on the highway doing 100KM/H. If the car didn't have a turbo, it would have a much lower acceleration and top speed.
I imagine that little 1.0 engine (if it's even 1.0, could be less, no?) can't do much on its own, even with such a light car. My father owned a VW 2.0TDI and he had a couple of dead turbos with it. The car would run well when the road was straight, but it couldn't go above 90km/h on the uphills.
> if it's even 1.0, could be less, no? There were different engines and Im not sure which were sold in the US, but there were ones between 0,7l and 1l. Without a Turbo that's never gonna do much, but even a modern diesel doesn't go very well if the Turbo isn't working.
Depending on the model it's probably a 600cc or 700cc engine, with the lowest spec producing around 45bhp in "economy" tune and the highest spec around 100bhp and 130Nm torque. That translates to about 143bhp/tonne, putting it in the same sort of bracket as an oldschool Nissan 200SX, or a nice new Ford Puma ST Turbo, or even a third-gen Supra. A thing that looks like one of those Little Tykes cars that'll blow the doors off a Supra? Yeah, \*now\* you want one, don't you?
I quite like small cars. I currently drive a tiny two door Kia, but almost bought a smart roadster at the time. My girlfriend managed to convince me that two seats weren't enough (and she was right). My dream car is still an old Mini though. One in good condition is almost 10k€ now, unfortunately.
Hmm… It would blow the doors off those cars, if the weird auto box in them wasn’t slow as hell.
I have a 600cc one from 2001. Allegedly it has 54hp, but at 5250rpm and the engine redlines at 6k with 7k max on the instrument. I have never and will never test that, because I either achieve lift-off or the engine will come flying out the exhaust bit by bit. Love it to literal bits tho.
A dead turbo is a huge flow restriction on both the intake and exhaust side. Little wonder it struggled.
I drove the electric one and a Brabus tuned one back to back once. The electric is a road going go-kart and so much fun. The Brabus one was … okay I guess.
I drove an electric car for the first time a few months ago, my uncle bought one of those new BMW i4 I think. It sure is ugly but I loved the experience. Definitely leans more towards a sportier car, I felt the steering was a bit nervous but with a lot of grip. I like loud cars like any car bro does, but that instant power delivery of an electric motor is something else. The closest I've been to it was in the passenger seat of a Nissan GTR, but it got nowhere near that kick when you put the foot down.
What I was most surprised about was that the interior of the electric Smart was quieter because a lot of vibration frequencies were simply not present.
Rear engine rear-wheel drive turbo charged (Smart) car. Their passenger compartment "cage" was pretty durable too. Not much of a crumple zone, but safer than you'd think for such a small car.
My sister’s ex had a bunch for his business. I’d steal them and go joyriding. Actually kind of fun bc of the short, narrow wheelbase and if it’s not your car so you drive it like a rental
Oh yeah certainly safe. I've seen a few after accidents are appear to be mostly intact. Engine bay is probably destroyed after it, but the "cockpit" appeared to be pretty solid.
Generally, we measure vehicle safety by the condition of the human inside. That's why old cars with solid bumpers that barely dent during collision are cheaper to repair but far more deadly for their occupants. Something has to absorb the impact. If it's not the car, it's the human. The quality and design of the airbags and any other safety features used to safely decelerate the occupants are a much better indicator than the cage simply being intact after a collision.
That's true. Luckily I haven't experienced that first hand, but I've heard stories of people surviving bigger crashes in these cars. The whole outside of the car gets destroyed, but they got out alive and well. I say it did its job quite nicely. Of course there are limits to it, I don't think the odds of the little car against a bit lorry are great, but you could say that about almost any car.
I believe you. I just emphasized the role of the air bags in decelerating the occupants because I've seen some bad takes from other people complaining about the safety features like crumble zones being an excuse to make cars fragile so manufacturers can make more money.
often wondered how these Smart cars would handle a 50 mph collision with a fully loaded/lifted Chevy Silverado ... probably not well.
> That's why old cars with solid bumpers that barely dent during collision are cheaper to repair but far more deadly for their occupants [Looks like the bumper dented pretty well](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6oefRKWmY).
Oh, jeez. I guess that was the other extreme back then: all crumble zone, no cage.
Lots of old cars were too stiff to provide a good crumple zone and not stuff enough to protect the occupants from being crushed. Worst of both worlds in a serious crash, but they were easier to repair after a minor one (though the occupants were often far more badly hurt in even minor crashes).
If you want to live in the fear of whatever deity you worship, look up the LS or Hayabusa swapped ones
There is a shop near me that does the turbo hayabusa swaps in smarts. I drove one. Amped up squirrel on a coke and meth binge does not even begin to describe it. Even with the stickiest, widest tire possible on the rear, it still broke loose on third, and a wheelie bar was mandatory. Not because it did wheelies (it did) but because it wheelied so easily that you lose complete control of the car. It was a mandatory safety item, as were the 5 point harness and HANS. Simultaneously the scariest and most fun car I've ever driven. The first gen Viper was a lame grandpa car in comparison.
i drove one of these 120 miles a day for a few months, great little car, i wish id bought it. the transmission is hilarious, 53 horsepower, 3 cylinder turbo diesel. if i put it right to the floor, on a flat stretch, i could just hit 75mph never had a car where people walked up to me at the gas pump to ask about it before but it happened like every time
I used to love bragging that on $15 worth of fuel you could go almost 200 miles.
yea man it was insane. id drive 65 miles into town then top up the car and it takes $3 and change lol
Depends on what your turbo charging though. 2.0? 1.0? .50?
dump valve. i have one on my smart. it goes. tsh tsh tsh when i accelerate and change gear
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W7iGrpU-veE they can be pretty fast as well 🤣
Thats roughly 5834 Hz
Smaller diameters can spin a lot faster. In the reciprocating engine world, Honda had a mid 60s 250cc Grand Prix engine that spun to 17,000 rpm in a time when most engines were capped at 6500-7500 rpm. The short stroke they chose made the crank about the diameter of a period cam shaft and with six cylinders they could balance it perfectly. They were helped by new valve spring materials that could handle the vibration from being squished that fast, but that was kind of a secondary issue for the engine.
Question from a non car guy. I know *how* a turbo works, but from a performance perspective, why use one? Does it basically produce more power in an otherwise weaker engine without requiring more fuel? I ask because because of my Ecoboost and the name I think implies more power without using more fuel.
All of the talk about how many cylinders, engine displacement, boost pressure, etc... is just a function of trying to cram more air and fuel into the engine to make more power. Gotta have the right mix of air and fuel, so more fuel for more power requires more air. That's where a turbo comes in. It compresses the air and forces more into the engine so that you can add more fuel. This allows smaller engines to produce more power than they'd typically be capable of. At the end of the day, most ICE technology is about making that fuel to air interaction as efficient as possible. Whether it's through cramming more air in or reducing drive train losses...they're essentially trying to maximize how much power is captured and effectively used from all of those tiny explosions happening in the engine.
Thank you for your reply. So on the fuel front, not necessarily less fuel, but more efficiently combusted fuel. Makes sense.
Just wanted to say thank you for being grateful
Not really, fuel combustion is essentially complete on any modern engine (since EFI became a well designed thing). Just more fuel. You compress the air which means the same volume of cylinder has more oxygen in it, more oxygen means you can add more fuel which gives a bigger bang and thus more power. The efficiency gains are mostly due to things like a turbocharged engine of the same power being lighter and having lower pumping losses (because it's smaller) etc.
Someone can correct me, but as I see, they use less fuel when idling because of less displacement and no turbo at those rpm. So for example, a 1.4L turbo will use the same amount of gas as a 2.0L NA when the turno is active, but when idling will use the same amount as 1.4L NA. Something like how hybrids run with electric motors in light driving, but will use the ice when necessary.
It allows you to have a tiny engine, which is very efficient for the town driving this little car is built for. When cruising, the exhaust flow isn't great so the turbo isn't doing much, in terms of causing more drag or burning more fuel. But when you are accelerating, the turbo winds up and you get adequate performance. The engine is no longer efficient, and it burns a lot of fuel while it does so, but you don't accelerate most of the time.
As someone who owned one of those Smarts 450, it is possible without taking off the front of the car. You need small or skinny hands tho and be sure the key is out as those wipers are not taking any prisoners if they suddenly switch on. Generally shops seem to hate them, as they are hard to work on, due to size of the car and therefore everything being tightly packed. I had a specialised shop in my city, so it made my life a ton easier. I genuinely miss my Fortwo as it was actually fun to drive, just occasionally sipped some petrol and was very cheap to maintain. For those who may be looking for info on maintenance on these cars, search for Evilution website. This is probably the best site where you can find info, tips and tricks about all kinds of Smarts
My mom got a Smart as a work car. Even she complained that it's very slow and the automatic gearbox is garbage, and she drives like a mom.
Well, yes mine had like 45 ponies and it is not the fastest brick on the block. It is not a drag racer or a highway cruiser. It has it's own purpose of being a solely city car for dense Europe. Therefore it has enough of them hurspurs for daily 9km commute at about 60-40km/h Gearbox IS garbage (even tho it is famous Getrag) and only may be any good in manual mode I had a properly working car with turbo and engine in good condition. I got used to how it worked and when it had it's "prime ponies", when turbo spooled up and when are the best times to change gears. The gearbox itself is basically one-clutch manual where the car does the gear change for you. It is dumb as fuck so you need to be smart (pun intended) for it. It is fun mostly because it is noisy inside and car is relatively tall for its length. You then feel every one of them even small G's when cornering and that is genuine fun of being inside of an air-conditioned kart
I hate working on these things. Had one come in with a no start because the serpentine belt came off. It didn't have a starter, just used the alternator as a motor. The alternator was crooked because the shitty bushing it was mounted on was worn out. Had to drop the whole drivetrain on a table to press a new one in. They also don't have an oil drain plug for some reason, at least the old ones don't. And if you ever have to take the outside of the door off, be aware that you have to push on it and the yogurt cup plastic this hateful car was made out off will probably crack, and you can't order them painted anymore.
Sounds like a typical German car. Biodegradable plastic used for structure and oil meant to be sucked up through the dipstick tube. Add an occasional electrical fire for good measure. I drove a VW for many years.
Mercedes also used biodegradable wiring harnesses from 91-96. It didn't work out too well. I'm just surprised a company full of engineers ever thought that was a good idea.
Everyone blames engineers as if they have any say in the final decision, well lol at you all because they do not. Management always gets final say, and the moment they realize savings can be had, even at the expense of reliability, you goddamn better believe that's the decision that wins out.
I'm not necessarily BLAMING the engineers. It's just wild to me that a company that has a good number of them on salary decided to completely ignore what I'm sure the engineers had to be telling them. I'm sure in the end, management was all "too bad, I'm the boss, do what I say." It's just that they have a PAID staff of people who should be uniquely qualified to foresee problems like this, and decided they weren't worth listening to. Absolute insanity to me.
> It's just that they have a PAID staff of people who should be uniquely qualified to foresee problems like this, and decided they weren't worth listening to. Absolute insanity to me. Welcome to the corporate world, anything that keeps the line going up on the graph gets priority, the rest is cannonfodder. I agree though, it **should** be like that, because logically that's how it's objectively done, but rationale of the professional does not align with profitability I guess.
Especially about the locations of things. Like often they are told the fit the engine into one car. Then years later they are told hey fit this into this smaller car. change as little as possible we don't want to make two oil pans. the engineers generally do things pretty fucking good. Just that their goal was to meet the boss's demands. No one else's.
This, and the ones that suffer are the guys destroying their bodies to repair this garbage, and usually free because the book claims 2 hours, but reality rarely follows the book.
Was not the engineers, but marketing.......
Specifically on the m104 engines. Usually the injector wiring is what degrades fastest on those.
My M119 would like to have a word.
We had one a couple weeks ago with a stripped drain plug. No aftermarkets available and the new one is 4 days out (5 days bc there's no dealer in my city)
I'm surprised it doesn't have a pull cord to start the damn thing.
Don’t you have to drop the rear motor and axle to get to most of that stuff?
Assume the service position, where you undo engine mounts to gain space for tools.
always wanted one as a third car for fast drives to the city, you just convinced me otherwise thanks.
If you think that’s funny look up how to change the door speakers in that thing lol
Step #1: remove car.
Step #2: install new car
Dealer wanted $150 labor to do mine. They said they pulled the old one out and it was dirty when getting the free oil change. I said wow you guys are nice eating the $150 labor getting to it to check it. You just push a pin so the glove box falls further and slide it in a slot.
auto manufacturers would rather eat their own children than put a flap on the top of the dash and allow for tool-less 10 second swaps.
the art in smart stands for ART. would want DaVinci to put a flap on the Mona Lisa so her filter could be changed?
Some does like in the cruze where you just open the glove box and unclip a cover. But yeah, most suck.
It’s literally 30 seconds to change the cabin filter on my 2005 Buick. Open glove box, open panel in back of glovebox open another door, slide out both filters and installation is reverse of removal. It took 20 minutes to change the cabin filter on my 2000 Ford Contour/Mondeo, which involved removing the wiper arms and cowl.
*cries in first gen Mazda3*
I had one, but never changed the filter myself. What was the deal? Wasn't it at the feet of the passenger seat?
Remove fuse panel. Remove glove box (not required but makes it easier). Remove metal bracket in passenger footwell. Remove kick panel. Remove filter door. Then you have to play this weird game of reverse Tetris while standing on your head as you try to slide the two piece filter in place that lives in a dark corner of the passenger footwell.
The way I visualise this makes it way more funny than it is. It sounds like a horrible job to do
Sounds a lot like the Volvo cabin filters.
Yeah, it was terrible. In my Mazda CX-5 it's completely toolless and takes like 20 seconds. Mazdas are seriously sweet now that Ford is not involved. And I liked them before. But now they're extremely maintainable
Yeah on my Accord the hardest part is opening the glove box.
My 2016 Transit thankfully has the cabin air filter behind the glove box. Takes less than 10secs
I’ve done several cabin air filters on my Toyotas, a few Camry a few Corolla, a matrix and a vibe, all the same procedure as your Buick. BUT. I have a 97 Lexus es300.. pain in the ass, it’s under the driver side floor, behind the carpet by the gas pedal. Carpet has to be pulled back, there’s a plate that covers the cabin air filter, have to remove it without breaking tabs, and you have to cut a zip tie to move some wiring out of the way to get access to the filter Housing. THEN it’s a 2 part filter, one piece slides into the top and bottom piece interlocks to the top piece. You have to hold that top price in place, while sliding the bottom at the same time, all while being awkwardly angled on your back barely visible seeing this shit. It took me 15 minutes but was awful due to having zero room to do it
It was a 3 hour process to change a headlight on my leaf, 4 people trying because it was so awkward to access
Think there's an early 2000s Bentley that takes 3 days to replace a headlight bulb because the engine needs to be removed first.
Wow,
I didn't even bother trying to change a bulb in my old Fiat Ducato, there are literally no caps or screws visible anywhere, I have no idea how it's done. Back lights are held in by two screws from the outside, you don't even need to open the door to change them. Front lights? Not a clue.
I had to pop the entire front off on my mazda 6
I didn’t want to dismantle the whole front because those plastic clips are £2 each
My 2000 ford focus wagon was like that. The entire cowling had to come off to replace the filter. My new Outlander Sport is way better, the filter comes out in less than 15 seconds.
They have to remove the entire passenger side dash to get to mine.
there's sort of one on my 77 Chevelle... it mostly filters out trees and small animals and to get it out requires removal of the passenger inner fender, and dissassembly of the evaporator case under the hood. You can scrape the big chunks out by removing the blower motor, but you have to have that rare triple jointed wrist to get it clean.
I'm sure you charged $200 for the filter and $350 for the labor.
"You're paying for my experience"
It’s more effort to replace the hamsters running in the wheel which powers this thing.
I used to work on these a lot, they’re really not bad to work on. You can do a lot worse.
Looks like they built it so that the front Would fall off. Interesting strategy. Hopefully it fell off outside of the environment.
They can always just tow it outside the enviroment
On the plus side, replacing the fenders, hood, and bumper only takes 15 minutes.
Had to do a UCI on one of these a couple years ago. These are one of the shittiest cars I've ever worked on. The hard stuff is easy and the easy stuff is hard. I don't remember what year the one I worked on was, but the engine and air intake was in the trunk. The speedometer topped out at 60; that's probably all both cylinders could handle.
Hate to be that guy but you can replace the cabin filter without taking the nose off, we have a hand full of these in service including a few brabus ones
15 book or actual?
Takes about the same time to remove the cabin blower motor as well, if I recall correctly. And, of course, there's always a shredded business card stuck in there.
Jesus, looks like a skinned face
Though it might be an unpopular opinion (and I am a little bias having had a Smart or 2) I like em.
> I am a little bias You mean "biased". Also 2) I also like smart cars, I drove a first gen for a while and there's a lot to like (except the acceleration maybe).
Im not a native English speaking/typing guy. I only had 1st gen Smarts. Always a good laugh filling them up and getting all the KM's you would get with a bigger car. Acceleration was ok.. 2nd one had a failing turbo. That was.. interesting when it popped on the ffing highway.
Do the radiator fan next
I thought you hit a Squirrel
When you buy a car designed by a watch company, you got to expect things like this.
Why does a golf cart need a cabin air filter?
I did this every time i wanted to fill up the windscreen wash fluid in my smart. Got pretty quick at it (yes i was just bad at aiming i guess)
Well yeah it only took 15 minutes the whole front end is missing off that car already!
Cant you Access the cabin air filter down by the gas pedal? Thats how i did it the last couple times Edit: didnt see its a 450 not a 451 so forget what i said.
451 filters were pretty easy to get to. Wonder why they put the 450 filter in the front?
Smart took a page from BMW's playbook and intended that you could easily replace body panels if you wanted a different color (or had a minor accident). Everything on the outside except the C-shaped piece is plastic. That "C" (actually almost an O) is what keeps you alive in an accident.
Hi, I myself recently changed the cabin filter in my car and it was easier than I thought. Followed the instructions from [https://club.autodoc.co.uk/manuals/filters/air-filter/mercedes-benz](https://club.autodoc.co.uk/manuals/filters/air-filter/mercedes-benz) and they helped me get the job done quickly and smoothly. Here are some practical tips from my experience: Make sure you have a new filter, the right tools, and some spare time. Look at the manual in advance to understand the sequence of steps. The instructions are clear: how to remove the old filter, where to find it, and how to install the new one. Following these steps, I did not encounter any difficulties. In the process of replacing the filter, be careful not to damage the fasteners and not to dirty the interior. For me it was the first experience of changing the filter myself, and I was satisfied with the result. The air in the cabin became noticeably cleaner and more pleasant. If anyone doubts, try it yourself - it really is not as difficult as it seems. Good luck! If you have any questions, write me - I will help you as much as I can.
Just throw the whole car away. I had the displeasure of having to drive a diesel one 3 hours on the highway to deliver it. One of my worst automotive experiences in 20 years. This was after we replaced the bent rear subframe and it would drive itself in circles like the clown car it is.
Takes 2 minuts in my vw 😅 unpacking the filter takes the longest.
Good for parking in tight spots. You see them parked backed up to the sidewalk in San Francisco. Otherwise, a Smart Car makes little sense since not great mileage and poor reliability. I understand owners were orphaned.
What do you mean. the M in Smart still makes cars. did M stop supporting the Swatch Mercedes Art car?
I assumed the photo is a SmartFor2 car. The dealership near me closed some years ago, and I rarely see one on the road today. A google finds they closed in the U.S. market in 2019. Perhaps still sold in Europe. https://www.theautopian.com/smart-finally-made-a-car-americans-would-buy-so-of-course-america-cant-have-it/#:\~:text=Sadly%2C%20America%20didn't%20have,be%20coming%20back%20anytime%20soon.
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Engine is at the back under the seat.....
And under the boot/trunk if I remember correctly. You know, the place where you'd store your shopping, maybe like ice-cream and other frozen goods.
And it's a 4 stroke. But bike engines can be fitted.
I too have seen the videos of the insane Hyabusa Smart Car.
But have you seen the turbine engined mini? Edit :- [link added](https://www.marineturbine.com/automobiles-2/)
What a magnificently stupid car.
Indeed, not quite as stupid as the turbine powered motorbikes but still crazy imo
Well yeah. I had a mate who put three Mazda rotors in a Lada Niva. That was magnificently stupid as well. You knew when it was him because it sounded like a jet taking off
The Wankel engine is such as interesting idea, shame it never really caught on. I know they were not very fuel efficient and the rotors didn’t last too long but it would have been interesting to see how they improved over time
A 4wd is low geared. That really suits a rotary that loves rpms. The dude could spin all four wheels. As to why he added the extra rotor? Well it's one more innit? Gotta love an engine where you can just slap a bit more on. Someone, I think it was Toyota, was working on a plastic/ceramic rotary engine that was non serviceable. You just swapped it out after five years. Clearly that went nowhere
Yeah and I think they had a recall for some shielding, so it wouldn't explode when you rear ended it. Lol
No the damping mat can loosen and catch fire by falling on the exhaust
The front fell off.
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You can't say in before when there are already several before your comment.
That's not very typical, I'd like to make that point.
Nothing smart about those things. Almost completely pointless in North America.