Coast to coast in a turbodiesel Smart using only 89 gallons of fuel

Here is a story from Wheels in Canada where two people, a father and his 14-year-old daughter drove from one end of Canada to the other, specifically from Halifax to Vancouver. No big deal, right? Wrong... they did it using only 89 gallons of diesel fuel. The vehicle used to generate this low fuel consumption was a last-generation Smart. You may be aware that we will be getting the newest version of the vehicle soon in the U.S. Unfortunately, we won't be getting the diesel version which was used in this trip. If you want it here, make sure to mention that when you pick up your new Smart. Anyway, click for more on this story, and pay special attention to all of the questions that the driver got from other drivers. As you can imagine, some concerns were present when it came to crossing the Rockies in a vehicle with all of 40 horsepower at its disposal, but it did just fine. Remember, despite lower horsepower figures, a diesel engine makes very good torque, the twisting power of the engine.

My favorite quote: "Too bad I was still getting looks from other drivers as if my fly was undone. And like the reaction from our construction friend Jason, we weren't quite sure if our Smart was generating responses of envy, ridicule or ignorance."

[Source: Wheels via Treehugger]