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The Final Smart Journey!
Well I have had my 2005 Smart since July 2005 and it has been very good to me, a fun, cheap mostly enjoyable experience, and it has gone through a few phases of looks too.
16" Wheels and lowered
17" Wheels, lowered, exhaust
However the time has come to move on and so back in November I went ahead and ordered a 2010 GTI. I have been trying to sell the Smart now since the beginning of the year, but used cars are taking a pounding at the moment and the Smart market is flooded here so not much interest at all, and I was looking to be stuck with a very low trade in. Then a moderator from a Smart forum decided he was interested for a good price with two conditions; first had to come with the 16" wheels, second I needed to bring the car to him, 900kms away to Abbotsford BC.
Up to this point I have only used my car for city driving with a couple small road trips maybe about an hour away. This trip would be a full day of driving, through mountains in the winter, but I could not pass up the deal so, booked a return plane ticket home, watched the forecast and headed out dark and early Saturday morning.
Car loaded up, need to drive on snows and pack the 16s with me so no co-pilot on this trip!
The first couple hours were dark with lots of ski/snowbaord traffic as I was heading to the big local resorts. When the sun started to come up I was just getting into the first ranges of the Rocky mountains.
First pit stop, was pretty cold here, about -20C I would say
Back on the road in the Lake Louise area, roads a bit slippery
Came into Golden BC, for my first fuel top off and the conditions were not the greatest here in the valley.
Back on the roads heading into the Rogers Pass area and they get some snow up there!
Coming out of the pass I stopped for a second breakfast in Revelstoke which was the last of the snow for a while.
Getting into the interior of BC the Shuswap area is a big summer resort and not too bad in the winter either.
Next I arrived into Kamloops for a lunch, coffee and fuel stop, not much to see here but was no snow on the ground and fairly warm.
After leaving Kamloops you quickly head back up into the mountains which the Smart would not be the quickest at climbing hills, but I was still able to pass the semi's going up hill.
After descending out of the mountains for the last time you arrive into the lower mainland of BC, a great place and home of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics although you would not think it be looking around.
Finally I arrived after 10.5 hours on the road and 916kms logged at the cars new home.
I did not fill up on arrival but I can estimate how much fuel would have been needed and I would put a total of 43.495L for my 916 kms so I would put my fuel economy at 49.54 mpgs for the trip. Not bad for a lot of hills and hitting some good speeds at some points along with a pretty full car. I arrived back to snow and -12c after having dinner on the patio Saturday night and now I wait for my new GTI which should be ready for delivery later this week.
Thanks for checking out the thread!
16" Wheels and lowered
17" Wheels, lowered, exhaust
However the time has come to move on and so back in November I went ahead and ordered a 2010 GTI. I have been trying to sell the Smart now since the beginning of the year, but used cars are taking a pounding at the moment and the Smart market is flooded here so not much interest at all, and I was looking to be stuck with a very low trade in. Then a moderator from a Smart forum decided he was interested for a good price with two conditions; first had to come with the 16" wheels, second I needed to bring the car to him, 900kms away to Abbotsford BC.
Up to this point I have only used my car for city driving with a couple small road trips maybe about an hour away. This trip would be a full day of driving, through mountains in the winter, but I could not pass up the deal so, booked a return plane ticket home, watched the forecast and headed out dark and early Saturday morning.
Car loaded up, need to drive on snows and pack the 16s with me so no co-pilot on this trip!
The first couple hours were dark with lots of ski/snowbaord traffic as I was heading to the big local resorts. When the sun started to come up I was just getting into the first ranges of the Rocky mountains.
First pit stop, was pretty cold here, about -20C I would say
Back on the road in the Lake Louise area, roads a bit slippery
Came into Golden BC, for my first fuel top off and the conditions were not the greatest here in the valley.
Back on the roads heading into the Rogers Pass area and they get some snow up there!
Coming out of the pass I stopped for a second breakfast in Revelstoke which was the last of the snow for a while.
Getting into the interior of BC the Shuswap area is a big summer resort and not too bad in the winter either.
Next I arrived into Kamloops for a lunch, coffee and fuel stop, not much to see here but was no snow on the ground and fairly warm.
After leaving Kamloops you quickly head back up into the mountains which the Smart would not be the quickest at climbing hills, but I was still able to pass the semi's going up hill.
After descending out of the mountains for the last time you arrive into the lower mainland of BC, a great place and home of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics although you would not think it be looking around.
Finally I arrived after 10.5 hours on the road and 916kms logged at the cars new home.
I did not fill up on arrival but I can estimate how much fuel would have been needed and I would put a total of 43.495L for my 916 kms so I would put my fuel economy at 49.54 mpgs for the trip. Not bad for a lot of hills and hitting some good speeds at some points along with a pretty full car. I arrived back to snow and -12c after having dinner on the patio Saturday night and now I wait for my new GTI which should be ready for delivery later this week.
Thanks for checking out the thread!
If it's smoken it ain't broken
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