Anybody towing an Electric Smart car as a toad yet.
Just curious. Its very possibly our next vehicle in 2015/16 and wondering if any motorhomers are towing an ED Smart on a trailer and how its working out for them. Thanks in advance.
Forum Discussion
jauguston wrote:
The Smart Cabrolet is less than 100# lighter than my 1987 Suzuki Samurai FWD that weights right at 2200#. Just a piece of OT information for what its worth (-: The Smart would be a MUCH bigger seller if the diesel engine was available "legally" in the US. All the research I have done says it is NOT legal to register one in the US. If it was I would probably own one.
Jim
Totally agree with above. However the addiction to horsepower is a little stronger in the US than Europe so its hard to tell how the public would accept a vehicle considered under powered by US standards. Those of us who drive them are used to the lag time in acceleration from 0 to 20 but it takes a little getting used to.
There are currently about 75 CDI diesels registered in the US but wether they are legal or not is debateable.
Smart is not really worried about popularity in the US as it is a very small market for microcars but I think it would have helped to bring in one of their more economical engines in the little beast. The smart has four engine choices only one of which is available in the US. They chose the thirstiest version for the US market probably because fuel is cheap. Having said that most smart car owners with over 10,000 miles on the clock seem to consistently get low to mid 40's in US MPG. No where near the 70 mpg of the diesel but not horrible. Another thing that was a tough sell on this side of the pond is the automated manual. People expect it to act like an automatic transmission just because there is no clutch pedal. Not something we are used to over here. Its actually a pretty smooth transmission when comparing it to other standards. Driving it with the paddle shifters in manual mode is way fun...even if it is a little gutless. :)
