Flying High

The Smart has no problem maintaining freeway speeds, and in the lower gears can also scale the steepest hills with ease. But the combination of high speed and long mountain inclines – I wasn't sure if the car would have what it takes to climb the area around Mt. Shasta and the Siskiyou Pass on the Oregon Border (4,310 ft or 1,314 m). I thought I might be bogged down at 30 mph in the truck lane. But no worries - I buzzed on up without a hitch, occasionally having to shift down to 4th to maintain power, passing pretty much everything else on the road.

Here's a picture of the Smart sailing past Mt. Shasta (14,179 ft or 4,322 m). You can see I had the top down the whole way.