Smart car as toad

[RDHoyum]

Any members have or are interested in the new Smart car coming to US in 2008?

I've got a reservation on one and awaiting the order confirmation process. Happy to discuss.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Welcome to the group Sharon and Randy. Merry Christmas to you as well and Happy Holidays to all POGers.

Here's a link to some posts on what I think your talking about. Scroll down until you get to the photo.

http://forum.prevostownersgroup.com/...9107#post19107

[Petervs]

I see no reason you would want to TOW a Smart car. If you tow you can not back up, and you have to drive trailer towing speeds which in some states is lower than for just a single vehicle, and in some states you can not drive in the left lane with a trailer.

I think this is the better answer.
And yes, I know the Smart lift is not quite finished, it still needs paint, lights, and a few other small things, bit you get the idea from the picture.

As a secondary feature, I can still access the regular trailer hitch with this lift in case I want to tow a second car in the regular way, although I see no need for that. It would just require a hitch extension. Other features incorporated into this lift are that the whole thing only weighs about 300 pounds plus the Smart at 1600 pounds; no bus axle weights are exceeded.

With the lift in the down position, you can open the bus engine doors normally for service access. The whole lift can be removed in about a half hour making the bus stock again, and the platform folds up when the car is not on it so it does not stick out when empty. No welding on the bus was required, and the entire rear bumper can still be removed in the event engine removal is ever necessary.

[Jim_Scoggins]

Randy:
I fooled around with the smart car in Nova Scotia. The one that really interested me was the Diesel--significantly higher MPG than the gasser.
Smart car is mum on if and when the diesel will be brought to the US. I will get one if they do: If it is towable four down with an auto tranny. I saw your recent post where Smart says four down towing is OK

The owner of the camp ground I was staying in had one--thought it was electric at first. His documentation showed 72 MPG in all uses but one can presume it was mostly surburbia use.

[Petervs]

My Smart is a diesel. It is a 2002 model.

I drove most of one entire tank of fuel ( 5.5 gallons!) on the freeway at 75 mph one day and got 59.5 mpg. Around town is less, but on the hwy at 55 to 60 mpg would be more I think.

I have been considering putting a label of some kind on the back of my lift frame, something between the soon to be installed taillights. I am open to suggestions.

One I have considered is: These vehicles average 35 MPG

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Go with that it's perfect

[BrianE]

And just when can we buy one Peter? Or more to the point, when can you deliver one?

[Joe Cannarozzi]

I know a golf cart would get up there no problem. Or a couple of quads or jet skies or a bike or whatever. And then a small toad in tow 4 down would make a great solution for many folks with this scenario.

What you have done is already out there accept none have the same mount transferring the load better as yours is and no one has done one that large. Although you have a significant amount of load on it with that car up there if it were used for almost anything else the load would be significantly reduced from capacity compared to current bike lifts that would be at their limits doing the same thing.

I'll betcha you have a pretty nice set of drawings for it layin around.

Peter anyone out there (with a prevo considering your design) that has been, or currently, considering a BIKE LIFT should be beating a path to your door.
Your design has eliminated all of the issues with everything currently on the market plus it's way more capacity. One could use that platform for anything, within weight limitations, and still pull a smaller toad with no more stress on the bus than pulling a full-size 4WD P-U.

The more I look at your handy work the more I like it. What a conversation piece. What a cool tool. Why is it taking so long for the paint and lights? Waiting on a patten?

How long is that little car, 100 inches even?

[Petervs]

Hi Joe,
Thanks for the kind words.

The Smart is 102 inches long. The weight is almost perfectly evenly distributed over the four wheels, but the rear wheels sit closer to the rearmost part of the car than the fronts to the front, so the weight is biased toward the rear a little.

Why is it taking so long?...well, life gets in the way. We have been traveling on our boat, I am building an airplane, and family matters seem to butt in there from time to time as well. Plus, it is no fun working on it in the rain outside my shop. The bus is too tall to fit in there. And if I go to the hangar where I store the bus, well, then all the tools and such are not there. So I am procrastinating until the weather is a bit nicer. A poor excuse but I am sticking to it.

The other thing I kinda like about it, is you can only do this on a Prevost. Because of the internal structure of the bus you can carry the loads easily. It seems like a cool way to set the bus folks apart from the Winnebagos.

[Petervs]

Correction, The bus is 102 inches wide. The Smart is 98 inches long. Sorry about added confusion.