Smart Forfour 2007 News

It's clever and quirky, but the Smart car concept is largely lost on many Australians. The diminutive 2.7m-long Smart Fortwo may have taken Europe by storm, but it has struggled to find its footing in Australia. Despite the Smart Forfour and Roadster now discontinued, DaimlerChrysler president and CEO Wolfgang Schrempp says the one-make brand still has a future here. DaimlerChrysler acknowledges it may have been too clever for its own good and not addressed key marketing issues with the car. As fuel prices skyrocket and commuters turn to motorcycles for their second vehicles, Schrempp is convinced there is enormous scope for the new Smart Fortwo. “I am convinced ... we can do 2000 to 3000. Seven hundred units for Smart is ... just not enough,” Schrempp says. Last year DaimlerChrysler sold 773 Smarts in Australia, a 20percent lift on 2005 sales figures. The Fortwo, with 533 sales, was the dominant model sold. Schrempp acknowledges the Fortwo's pricing has been a key sticking point. At $19,900 for the coupe and $22,900 for the cabrio, the Fortwo must compete in the small-hatch segment. Some four-door cars with bigger engines and more room are positioned right in the Fortwo's price range. “Yes, that is a problem,” Schrempp says. He is aware that Australia's wide open spaces and clearly marked public parking spaces diminishes the argument for an ultra-mini like the Fortwo. But his message is clear; get ready for some smart marketing for the Smart. The new Fortwo is expected to go on sale next year. It is slightly bigger than the current car and Australia will probably get a more powerful 45kW three-cylinder petrol engine, and possibly the new ultra-frugal 62kW turbodiesel.  

THE condemned Smart Forfour is going out with a bang. Smart has announced it will kill off the four-seater hatch that stands out in a crowd with its plastic panels and unique style. But the decision to end the production of the Forfour came after German tuning house Brabus had its way with the car. Only 50 of the Forfour Brabus cars have come to Australia, with a hefty $39,990 price. Smart is better known for tiny city cars that are both light on petrol and driving thrills. But the Brabus uses a turbocharger with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to smash any pre-conceptions. The super Smart is powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder that pumps out 130kW when the turbo is spinning and 230Nm of torque. That's enough herb and spice to sling the 1090kg Forfour from 0-100km/h in only 6.9 seconds. Though most new turbo engines have a smooth powerband spread through the rev range, the Brabus Smart is decidedly sluggish down low, but goes on to unleash a brutal rush of power when the tacho spins past 2500 revs. It might go against the new turbo trend, but the Smart's power delivery is a lot of fun, accentuating how much poke the car really has. The turbo fun also comes at a reasonably low cost, because the official fuel economy figure for 100km of mixed highway and city driving is only 6.8 litres. The boosted front-wheel drive is fitted with traction control to try to tame the engine. The traction system tries hard to react quickly enough, but you still have to be careful feeding on the power in slippery conditions. The Brabus could do with a limited-slip differential, which quickly switches power across the front axle for the best possible traction, because it tends to lift the inside wheel and spin coming out of tight turns. The Brabus ride height has been lowered by 30mm, the suspension is much stiffer and it runs on big 17-inch alloy wheels that look great. The harder suspension is designed to help the Brabus car sit flat in turns and Smart says ride comfort has not been sacrificed. "The car's agile and very sporty handling does not mean you are in for a rough ride," reads a Smart statement. Sorry, Smart. That simply isn't true. Few cars have a ride as harsh as the Brabus Forfour's. It's fine on smooth roads, but crashes and thumps over bumps and potholes with such severity that you soon tire of it. The interior has plenty of standard equipment, including a big sunroof. Heated seats, trimmed in nice leather, are also appreciated on freezing Melbourne mornings. There are extra dashboard gauges, an aluminium gearknob, new instrument cluster and a thick leather sports steering wheel. The Brabus Forfour is available with a five-speed manual gearbox only. It is quite a slick shifter, but an extra gear would be nice to stop the engine buzzing at highway speeds. The Brabus also misses out on cruise control, which should be standard on a $40,000 car. Exterior details including the six-spoke alloy wheels, twin-pipe exhaust, body kit and Brabus-branded engine rocker cover also help the special Smart stand out from standard models. The Forfour has a reasonable amount of interior room, given its size, and has some intelligent features, including a rear seat bench that can slide back and forth.

Had a friend not promised us a dawn ride on a steam train we would have stayed snug inside. With a scraper, enough snow is scooped away to allow us to get into the car. That's one challenge taken care of, but the next is daunting. Snow is thick on the road, but I think the Smart should be OK to drive if I take it easy – no sudden braking, accelerating or turns. Driving in the snow before the sun rises is eerie. There are few vehicles around, but several snow ploughs work to keep roads open. Other cars are travelling under 40km/h – the locals know how treacherous these conditions are. We are close to Aviemore train station, but aren't sure because signs are covered in snow. Luckily, the Forfour has satellite navigation which is not affected by weather. We find the station in time for a run on the black and red steam train. Throwing out huge clouds of smoke and steam, it trundles through snow-covered fields on the Strathspey line. We are in the engine room, the best place on a day such as this. After the train ride, we want to make it over a mountain range to the western seaside town of Kyle of Lochalsh, just across from scenic Isle of Skye. It is one of the most awesome roads you could drive, with mountains, cold dark lakes and expanses dotted with small stone huts. Eilean Donan castle, on a small rocky island not far from Kyle of Lochalsh, is a must-see for tourists. The scenery along this road is so stunning it is tempting to stop, pull over to the verge and take a photograph. That can be dangerous because of the snow. It is hard to judge what is under it and whether it is safe to put a wheel there. We see one embarrassed man and his partner walking to a phone box to call for a tow truck. He parked his car at the side of the road, misjudged, and his hatchback slid into a ditch. Half an hour later we came across three cars facing different directions on a slippery corner. Somehow they had not connected. The Smart handles conditions well. The standard stability control doesn't seem to come on too much, but it is nice to know it is there, along with the anti-skid brakes and front and side driver and passenger airbags. The snow turns to rain the next day so we decide to head south, over some of the same winding roads, this time covered in streams of water rather than snow. The twisty tarmac turns into the major highway that runs through Glasgow and we drive to Coventry late that night, an 820km trip. We arrive at Brighton, on England's south coast, after stopping at Salisbury Plain to see Stonehenge monument. At the start it seemed a daunting distance in a small car such as the Smart, but it is a pleasant surprise. The interior is comfortable and the rear seats fold to fit luggage. So the Smart is not great for families on holiday, but is perfect for two. The 1.5-litre engine has plenty of go and is nothing like the underpowered engines in the rest of the Smart range. The test car has a five-speed manual that works well. Fuel consumption is a strong point of the Smart which often comes in at less than 6l/100km, a real plus when fuel in Europe often pushes past $2 a litre. THE seats stand up well to our lap of Britain: there is not a numb-bum report for the whole journey. The only thing missing in the test car is cruise control, but it is not an issue. The car's red and grey paint is a traffic-stopper in northern Scotland, but quite at home in Brighton. The Smart attracts plenty of interest and questions. Most people are surprised that much of the Forfour is made of plastic, which explains why it is 975kg. The doors have extruded aluminium components and intrusion beams inside, but the skin is plastic. Then there is the Tridion safety cell – in silver, black or titanium – to absorb impact energy and channel it away from occupants. There are 10 panel colours in the Smart range, including the test car's Phat Red.