The continuing adventures...

So far so very good on this spring break adventure. I am absolutely loving my smart car -- have traveled over 400 miles so far and have been achieving excellent mileage. I'm saving the gas receipts and keeping track of the miles so I can give out a final total at trip's end. I will say that driving route 6 through the parks, mountains and charming old towns and villages got me the best mileage yet. At a top speed of 55, going through high winds and some snow flurries, then on into brighter and warmer weather, the smart was shifting for the best mileage and certainly got it. For that stretch of the highway, we managed 334.9 miles on 6.557 gallons of premium (93). That's 51.07 mpg! Wow!

Of course, the true smart enthusiasts will caution that mpgs must be measured over time for a true average. I think the new gps system helped with the mileage. It made me constantly aware of the posted speed limits as I drove into and out of towns and along the way, all the while informing me of my actual speed. I found that I was always working to achieve the posted limit and not go past it. Oddly enough, the only other smart car I have seen along this journey suddenly appeared in my rearview mirror on old route 6.

The car did great through the Endless Mountains (sounds like a place in Middle Earth) and on up to Albany and Troy, where I stopped to stay with my good friend Ron, an actor with New York State Theatre Institute. Then yesterday afternoon, I drove down a beautiful highway on the eastern side of the Hudson to NYC and on to Brooklyn. From totally rural to the most intense urban streets in this country!

Tonight I'm off to see the Dred Scott Trio at the Blue Note. Two shows, one at 8 and one at 10:30 PM. I've been a fan of Dred's music since the good old days of Third Plane at the Bauhaus in Akron. Have been looking forward to this night for weeks now! More later -- gotta go have some great jazz!

Let's go Dri - i - i - i - iving!

It's been a week since I brought Grippy home to Kenmore, which is where I've done most of my driving this week. We are in the "breaking in" mode which means that I've got about another 900 miles to go.

I did drive down to Green township this morning and then over to Barberton, to shop at the Price is Right Fabric store on Tuscarawas Blvd. The folks in the fabric shop were full of questions about the smart car.

How many gallons per mile?

From smart USA: The smart fortwo is designed to achieve 33 city/41 highway mpg according to 2008 EPA standards, which involves measuring mpg while taking into account real-life driving conditions such as start/stop city traffic, air-conditioning, heating etc. According to information obtained on fueleconomy.gov, the smart fortwo is the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid gasoline-powered vehicle in the USA today. The gas tank of the smart fortwo is 8.7 gallons.

*Fuel economy estimates were derived in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) vehicle testing procedures for model year 2008 as specified in 40 C.F.R. pts. 86 and 600 (2007). These estimates are intended for comparison between other vehicles within the same class. Individual drivers’ actual mileage will vary depending on how they drive and maintain their vehicles.

How can you fit all your groceries in that car?

The smart holds a lot more than people think it can. There are plenty of pictures online of how much stuff people can fit in a smart car. The back hatch holds up to 12 cubic feet should you fill it to the roof line, and when the passenger seat is folded down, one can have room for anything from a tuba to a bag of golf clubs or two Labrador retrievers. It can certainly hold more than a week's worth of groceries for one person and one cat.

How fast can that thing go?

After lumbering around town in a Ford Ranger truck for years, this smart car feels very zippy to me. I had it up to 70 before I knew it, first time on the freeway. Then I remembered to always observe the speed limit, especially during the car's break in period.

What's it like to drive?

In a word: FUN!

smart car football (soccer)

Forgive the lack of content around here this past week. Things are very busy and other projects have taken precedence. However, I am going to do my duty and stimulate the economy by purchasing a new car -- after Obama signs the stimulus package on Tuesday. Because then I can write off the tax on this purchase. There is some discussion on the smart Car of America forums as to whether the new car tax write off is retroactive to Nov 08.

While I tend to other matters, please enjoy this smart car football match, with England versus Germany. This was filmed for BBC's Top Gear program. Further details here: