A U T O K N
T Y P E C A S T I N G
M
By JOE KNYCHA
F O R W H E E L B A S E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
any people
snickered
when they
heard about
the “smart winter expedition.”
Some even laughed.
“You’re going to do what?”
Drive a cluster of Smart
Fortwos to the high Arctic in the
middle of winter, all the way to
the end of the most northerly
permanent, year-round (almost)
road in North America.
Evidently, this isn’t everyone’s
idea of a rollicking good time.
But they’d be wrong. The far
North is at its most beautiful in
winter, with awesome vistas and
abundant wildlife; and with the
sun out of sight for all but a few
hours a day this time of year, one
can look to the distance and not
see a single artificial light from
horizon to horizon.
“Yes, but what about the car?
It’s so . . . small.”
Mercedes-Benz’s citycar for
two — hence the name, right — is
widely regarded as a high-densi-
ty, low-speed urban vehicle that
couldn’t (or shouldn’t) be driven
out on the open road or in fast-
moving traffic. How better to pro-
mote the car’s true capabilities
than by taking it out of its per-
ceived comfort zone; like to the
far north in winter’s darkest, and
potentially most fierce days.
It wasn’t hard to convince
Wheelbase Communications and
yours truly to sign on for the 12-
day 4,500-mile drive that would
take seven Smart Fortwos over
three legs: Vancouver, British
Columbia (home of the 2010
Winter Olympics), to Whitehorse,
Yukon; Whitehorse to Inuvik,
Northwest Territories — at the
end of the Dempster Highway,
125 miles into the Arctic Circle —
and back to Whitehorse; and fi-
nally, Whitehorse to Vancouver.
“Won’t it be cramped and
what about luggage space? It’s so
. . . small.”
In fact, using only the most
basic of mathematic formula-
tions, the Fortwo has sufficient
space behind the seats to hold
enough luggage for two people on
O W
Since the Fortwo is just for
two, you only need luggage
space for two.
Despite all the signs, you prob-
ably wonʼt find out where
youʼre going here.
You wonʼt see a Fortwo with
this much crud on it cruising
around downtown Los
Angeles. Photos like this will
hopefully dispel the notion that
thatʼs all itʼs good for.
a six-day journey. And in most
cases, there was enough back
window space left open for at
least a peek through the rearview
mirror.
Inside, the cabin was toasty
warm and plenty comfortable for
two grown adults, with good leg,
hip and shoulder room, excep-
tional headroom and virtually
unobstructed visibility up, ahead
and to the sides, so much the bet-
ter for taking in the views and
pondering the vastness of it all.
A perfectly decent-sounding
audio system complete with
satellite radio and USB port for
Apple iPods and such helped aug-
One of the biggest myths of all time — well, at least when it comes to Smart — is that the
Fortwo is useless in the winter. Aside from the fact the car was on sale in Canada before
The Smart
J O E K N Y C H A / W H E E L B A S E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
Fortwo
ventures
outside its
cushy urban
habitat to
prove that
being really
small is really
no big deal.
ment the drive on some of the
longer stretches, and often served
up dramatic soundtracks to the
grand vistas that appeared, turn
after turn.
“Well, perhaps, but what
about that engine. It’s so . . .
small.”
It has big heart, at least. The
rear-mounted 1.0-liter three-
cylinder gasoline engine sends 70
horsepower to the rear wheels
that, when combined with the
rapid-shifting five-speed auto-
matic transmission with steering
wheel-mounted gear-change pad-
dles, can actually feel quite pep-
py, though it will never be mis-
taken for a sports car. The little
engine runs more smoothly than
a three-cylinder has a right to
and with the paddle shifters is
easy to keep revving in the sweet
spot of its powerband for climb-
ing mountains. And out here,
there are plenty of mountains.
Much of the drive was con-
ducted at or near legal speeds —
60-80 mph — and there was al-
ways more in reserve, though
speeds were often slower, espe-
it arrived in the United States, thereʼs this picture.
J O E K N Y C H A / W H E E L B A S E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
cially where the roads were cov-
ered in snow and ice. The engine
never lacked enthusiasm.
The cars were as stock as they
come, with their only modifica-
tions being engine oil good for -56
F and Continental winter tires.
The only mechanical incident
suffered on the entire journey —
aside from pitted and cracked
windshields on every vehicle —
was a single flat tire, inflicted by
the sharp shale rock of the
Dempster Highway.
“Hmmm, but isn’t the weather
kind of dangerous up there?
Aren’t the temperatures kind of .
. . low?”
When the day starts out at -40
F, before the wind even enters the
picture, things get interesting.
For one thing. exposed flesh can
freeze in less than a minute.
Once perfectly well working me-
chanical components snap like
twigs, tires develop nearly per-
manent flat spots when left sit-
ting for a few moments and once-
flexible clothing becomes like
wearing tinfoil thermals, only
colder.
However, during the Smart
winter expedition, severe cold
never actually happened; the
coldest the tour encountered on
the entire 4,500 miles was -12 F.
Chilly, but hardly life-threatening
to the Fortwo, which sailed
through with flying colors.
The idea of this trip was to
show that the “so-small” Smart
Fortwo could actually do really
big things. It certainly put to rest,
once and for all, the notion that
its size meant that it was weak or
incapable of anything other than
some light-duty intercity com-
muting in the interest of saving
money at the pumps.
“So . . . small?” So Smart.
Joe Knycha is a feature writer
and an editor with Wheelbase
Communications. He can be
reached on the Web at:
www.wheelbase.ws/mailbag.html.
Wheelbase Communications sup-
plies automotive news and fea-
tures to newspapers across North
America.