Cyclone and Amy Featured on smartusa.com

The new smartUSA.com website debuted today. Scroll down about two thirds and you'll see our Cyclone and Amy. I took this picture at the national rally in Goshen, IN this year.

http://www.smartusa.com/

So are you pulling the smart car behind the cyclone?

PhotoPete said:

So are you pulling the smart car behind the cyclone?

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No Pete, the smart travels in the Cyclone's garage.

That's very cool

Really cool I've always wanted to do that too. And I finally got a smart car but haven't put it inside it yet.. Can't wait to see what it looks like in there.. I was using a four seater gemcar that just fits in there.. Thinking the smart should be a lot smaller..

jasons09cyclone said:

Really cool I've always wanted to do that too. And I finally got a smart car but haven't put it inside it yet.. Can't wait to see what it looks like in there.. I was using a four seater gemcar that just fits in there.. Thinking the smart should be a lot smaller..

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smart is still the smallest and lightest car for toy haulers. There is more than enough room in the 12 foot garage and there still is room for 10 foot garage. I have my computer desk in the garage and park the smart using the rear 8.5 feet.

We're thought about this, too. The big problem that we've seen is, as usual, weight. A SmartCar weights around 2,000 pounds or so, as I recall. That is a fair portion of the CCC of most toyhaulers, which doesn't leave much for other stuff that full-timers need. My other concern is that putting the 2,000 pounds of car right at the rear of the coach would seem to upset the balance. How does this actually play out in real life?

kb0zke said:

We're thought about this, too. The big problem that we've seen is, as usual, weight. A SmartCar weights around 2,000 pounds or so, as I recall. That is a fair portion of the CCC of most toyhaulers, which doesn't leave much for other stuff that full-timers need. My other concern is that putting the 2,000 pounds of car right at the rear of the coach would seem to upset the balance. How does this actually play out in real life?

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Happy Thanksgiving! My '08 smart weighs 1825 pounds with 1/4 tank of gas. As for the balance, putting the smart in the garage actually improved it. The kingpin weight decreased 175 pounds. There is noticeable improved difference in towing as well. The extra weight did not make a dent in my fuel mileage at all and and with my Ram towing it, it hasn't even noticed, if you know what I mean.

I think the biggest issue now is that the largest Heartland toy haulers' (TH) GVWR is 18,000 pounds. When you add a smart to that then that leaves you with about 1500 pounds for all your other contents. My Cyclone's GVWR is 20,400 and I'm still under that. I don't know for sure why Heartland reduced the GVWR for the TH. I think it would be appropriate that they had at least one TH with 20K+ GVWR.

Heartland is introducing the new Torque soon and I wonder what the GVWR and dry weight will be for it.

DW_Gray said:

...Heartland is introducing the new Torque soon and I wonder what the GVWR and dry weight will be for it.

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Dave,

Not sure what the Torque GVWR will be, but as it's a mid-profile TH, it's going to be a lighter GVWR than the Cyclone product.

Jim

jbeletti said:

Dave,

Not sure what the Torque GVWR will be, but as it's a mid-profile TH, it's going to be a lighter GVWR than the Cyclone product.

Jim

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Jim,

Since I learned about the Torque, I've been hoping the GVWR would remain in the 18K range or better while the dry weight would decreased to allow more content weight. My "crystal ball" clearly indicates that the smart will become the most sought after car to transport in toy haulers. I'm a member of a couple of smart clubs and there is a growing group of RVers who own smarts and we have discussed this issue. If Heartland ignores this niche market, then they will be left in the dust.

Dave