youtube.com/hubnut/avoid_smart_mhd_1_0_test_drive_micro_hybrid_drive¶
4 excerpts.
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youtube.com/hubnut/avoid_smart_mhd_1_0_test_drive_micro_hybrid_drive · p. 1 · Applies to: 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, #1, ebike
in this video we are driving a second generation smart again this is the 451 uh launched in 2007 but this is the one everyone tells you to avoid it's the non-turbo mhd which makes it Mah pure pure hubnut so mhd stands for micro hybrid drive but that's pushing it a bit really it just means basically it's got a stop start it's a belt driven starter stroke generator a bit like my invocar with its Dino start unit once fitted to so many microcars back in the day to start and then charge uh so that's what this uses it's just got a normal battery albeit a higher capacity one it it's pushing it to call it a hybrid so in terms of styling it's very much the same theme as the first generation and that's what makes this test particularly interesting is we can compare with our first generation smart that we now own we have driven in it today we have jumped straight out of that into this one and already the quality feels a definite Notch up I mean this is a bit different cuz this is the um the coupe rather than the um convertible but uh just the way things open and close just feel a bit more quality than the uh uh first generation incidentally even the um Coupe versions get a bit of storage just there now uh on as that's where you store the roof bars but yeah as you shut everything it just feels ever so much better in terms of quality let's see if that carries over to the interior yeah that's definitely better yeah that feels a lot better again another difference is the first generation City Coupe had a glass roof they had a horrible habit of exploding randomly uh there was one at uh our last hubnet social on which that had happened this polycarbonate and if it gets a bit much there's now a proper sunshade on the first generation you just got a thin bar that you had to point in the right place to try and stop the sun absolutely scalping you and it meant that air conditioning was absolutely essential but yeah the fit and finish does feel much improved there's a bit of caror loss with all this but I think there's improved functionality there's clearer heater controls there a glove box yes there is actually a glove box on this one as well as obviously a passenger airbag and this one has the pods I'm quite Keen to add the pods to my smart we also have Flappy paddles for the gear change uh it looks similar in terms of this little control here that puts it into soft touch automatic mode but uh it's now a 5-speed gearbox which is good because way too many gears on the first gen generation and uh because it's the mhd we've got eco mode uh so that's what turns on your stop start uh it's a bit more than just turning the engine off when you're stationary when you slow below 5 miles hour it cuts out very very similar to the uh Fiat Panda uh I drove uh in Italy earlier this year that had a separate lithium ion battery but the idea is the same it charges up the battery as it goes along there's a little bit of um Reg again back through that generator to charge the battery so the fact it stop starting all the time shouldn't be too much of an issue going along we will have a quick look at the engine as much as we can there's now a proper luggage um load cover which must be the smallest little cover in the world that is um absolutely tiny and there's a separate thing down the back here to stop uh your luggage disappearing uh on the first generation you can choose to have that there or on top and I just noticed there's a little luggage net on the back as well uh see what this engine access is like very very similar I think as in not very much uh I'm going to pull this cover out entirely that alternator is higher up isn't it yeah yeah yeah so this is the engine is now a Mitsubishi engine uh smart worked with Mitsubishi for the first generation 44 and uh that led to this development where the second generation they R all Mitsubishi engines this is the 71 brake horsepower non-turbo you get 82 horsepower turbo which we've driven um order was a Brabus version which I think was 102 and uh all three-cylinder engines the turbo slightly smaller in capacity I think this is 999 CC but as Miss hubnut correctly points out we got the alternator right up here now and this big thick drive belt because this alternator is starting the engine that
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youtube.com/hubnut/avoid_smart_mhd_1_0_test_drive_micro_hybrid_drive · p. 2 · Applies to: 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, #1, ebike
is a problem on these if that belt goes and it's under a lot of strain because it's got to start the engine uh you lose charging water cooling everything goes and one issue is the belts don't last as long as they should and also the bracket for the alternator can apparently Bend slightly puts everything out of alignment and chews up belt so the mhds do have a poor reputation uh in the marketplace to the point some people try and hide the fact they MH HDs so do be careful if you're buying one of these second generation smarts uh it was launched in 2008 the mhd initially as an option uh but uh By the time this one was made I think it had become standard on the non- turbo I'm going to put all this back together we go for a drive so I'm wondering if this boot is a little more capacious than ours because I think it's 220 L it feels different doesn't it it does feel a little bit more spacious yeah and definitely a bit better thought out but uh everyone says the smarts have tiny boots but we went shopping yesterday family of four and a smart was that compatible we've made a little short explaining exactly how that went down you might be surprised firing the engine up it should just spin into life yeah and it does very very um smoothly uh I do like having the rev counter and uh you can if if the passenger wants to keep an eye on it you can rotate this the same with the clock uh I quite like that we found this little tray little oddment tray down here that's all good and uh yeah we got this a little bin or ashtray or whatever you want it to be cup holder you could just plunk a big cup in there wine CER who knows but otherwise you yet the stalks exactly the same as the first generation we got a little binnacle ahead which now goes up to 100 cuz I believe these go up to 95 limited top speed previous generation was 85 uh this one's done 62,1 Mi so it's about the same mileage as our smart as well got the Eco Mode is yellow at the moment I believe that's cuz the engine isn't warmed up yet so it won't do any of the stop start stuff until it's warmed up and yet again leftand Drive definitely at somewhat of an advantage look how close the blade gets that side compared to this side it's not quite Ford Galaxy Mark 1 levels but uh that that is a little disappointing I think the um first generation does slightly better to be honest bit of a triangle here but it's all hidden behind the mirror uh for once we have a rear wiper let's play with that and explose the major flaw of such a design of wiper which is but um yeah you get quite a lot of dribbles going on anyway we shall get over that we will knock her into drive um not sure I'm me fluffy paddle I think I have to put her in Auto and then start Flappy paddling but uh let's see how smooth she is compared to the first generation even just pulling away that feels smoother it kind of feels like it's not a clutch more like a torque converter still very stiff in terms of suspension and there we go into second gear High Street okay so we are following some instructions the owner is very um carefully given us or very kindly given us carefully and kindly carefully and [Music] kindly yeah that engine is a lot smoother hasn't quite got the rockus bark of the um first generation smart but yeah the quality feels a lot better the first generation felt like a bit of an insult to Mercedes-Benz you associate Mercedes-Benz with quality although to be fair their relationship with cisler through quality straight out the window but uh this definitely feels just a bit better screwed together and the fact we've got a 5-speed gearbox oh low Sub 900 uh means you're not having to change gear all the time in the first generation yeah you're having to do um a lot of uh gear changing and I haven't got the Flappy paddles so that's a bit of a pain Eco light has gone green now so when we come to a stop or slow below 5 m hour the engine should cut cut out yeah sadly the suspension is ill suited to uh UK town roads so the last one of these I drove was a turbo and I did find that um a little frustrating to drive it um yeah the lag of the gearbox with the lag of the
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youtube.com/hubnut/avoid_smart_mhd_1_0_test_drive_micro_hybrid_drive · p. 3 · Applies to: 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, #1, ebike
turbo this of course doesn't have that and uh as I say it doesn't feel horrendously slow I know we're still driving around town no 60 time is just over 13 seconds incidentally and it's more like about 10 for the uh turbo but uh just that little bit of extra capacity means it does pick up and kick you back in your seats but uh gets along nicely but yeah I do like this with the uh roof panel it's just it feels really light in here and I like that and another big Plus on the um second generation compared to the first I can actually control the passenger window from the driver's door uh which you couldn't do in the first generation each window had its own switch so you had to reach across bit of a pain fourth exit a74 77 thank you sat have lady yeah this it's still not the quickest on gear changes but it is notably better than the first generation and again I think because it's a non-turbo I think that helps as well cuz the by the time the turbo kicked in you're kind of been thrown back a bit and then you change gear and it's all the Boost goes all the power goes and then you're back on it again yeah this feels uh different we have got a creek going on somewhere ahead of me he just looking at the windows there no I was trying to locate the creek [Music] ah yeah road noise is still fairly profound and there is some wind noise as well even though he's got a fixed roof um mirrors are an improvement over the first generation uh just a little a little bit [Music] larger I think you should do a wind noise comparison to hours yeah okay I'll drop some footage in it is bad something else about this car is how the wind noise picks up it's [Music] horrendous now we should get the stop start kicking in cuz I'm not going to trans it in front of that big lorry and there we go engine is off let's turn the fan down a bit to make the most of that to this one though engine's [Music] running yeah it is much smoother on acceleration but it feels much smoother than the um like I said the second generation turbo I drove I mean there were always tinkering with the gearbox so maybe they changed it again I don't know oh good old 20 mph speed [Music] limit National speed limit let's see how she goes yeah smoothly does it 60 M hour dim probs as they say in these parts realizing also there's a little more footwell space as well I find in our first generation my foot is just pushed a little bit too much towards the middle of the carb wheel Arch intrusion I think these cars are about 20 cm longer than the original the original was a full 2 and 1/2 M long I think these are just a bit longer uh which allows it to feel a bit more spacious and for them to still pack lots of safety kit in ooh jimney hi jimney oh wa is is so much smoother on the downshift for whether the mhd is a good idea to buy uh I think this own has had one issue and it went back to the dealer for that and was sorted out free of charge uh they can go wrong there there's an awful lot riding on that one belt but uh look after them and they do seem to uh go on okay stereo is much better in the second gen one minor annoyance with this stops start I've got my foot on the brake at the moment if I put the handbrake on and take my foot off the brake the engine starts up again which kind of defeats the point for me I don't like sitting somewhere with my foot on the brake if you stop for a long time at traffic lights or something it's quite natural to take foot off the brake and put the handbrake on to me anyway I know most Americans are going what don't didn't touch the parking brake but uh I've got yellow Eco at the moment if I got green Eco and I put my foot on the Brak even with a handbrake on oh there we go it does actually turn the engine
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youtube.com/hubnut/avoid_smart_mhd_1_0_test_drive_micro_hybrid_drive · p. 4 · Applies to: 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, #1, ebike
off again I suppose that is at least telling people behind me that um I'm stopped is it actually worth it in terms of the economy savings well they claim something like uh 10% Improvement around town but obviously the sort of Roads we're driving on we're barely coming to a stop it's not going to make the slightest bit of difference but uh mark my words we will see more cars like this because as long as you can coax the word hybrid into it somewhere uh you will be able to continue selling them when the uh petrol and Diesel sales bands come into Force so expect to see some very mild hybrids on the market we're already getting them they already exist the F panda is just but one of them I think the Suzuki ignis you can get as a rather mild hybrid as well and there's definitely some benefits to having cars turning off in city traffic rather than just sitting there idling but uh yeah still feels like a bit of a con really so we're stopped at the moment but the yellow Eco light is on so something either the battery hasn't got enough charge or we've used up too much brake Servo pressure so it won't turn the engine off until it's Happy Everything is a okay so we are sat here idling at the moment so we can do oh there we go it's just clicked into I'm happy so green light's back on it has shut off so n to 60 test from a non running [Music] engine 60 so it's no ball of fire but it feels quicker than the second gen sorry see it feels quicker than the first generation purely because there a fewer gear changes uh in the uh first generation you can use fourth gear by 30 mph so it means if you're doing a hard acceleration like that you just change change change or rather change chain change cuz I haven't got flppy paddles you're doing a lot of gear changing so five definitely suits the car better I think rare case of a modern car I think going from a six-speed to a 5-speed but definitely big benefits what I will say I'm missing is things like this we're doing 2000 revs in um fifth with the little turbo on the first generation the low down torque is actually really impressive and because this is naturally aspirated it hasn't really got anything to help it along other than the capacity I apologize for my yawning camera lady clearly I'm once again um proving riveting company she should be used to even heard me oh okay have you done point oh there we go but there we go that is the second generation micro hybrid Drive smart I don't think necessarily to be as feared as a lot of people would claim so I'm going to go out there and I'm going to say it the best one of these to go for is the non-turbo mhd it's probably not a conclusion anyone else is coming to but I think it's worth living with the downsides of the hybrid system for the fact that this is the smoothest smart I have ever driven so thank you very much for watching uh stay tuned to the channel because the owner owns something very very different from the 1930s and we're driving that next so we'll see you in a future video farewell smart n [Music]