2024 Smart #3 Reviews

The most likely site of the preview is the Paris Motor Show in the final quarter of 2012, based on strong sales in crowded European capital cities.

The new Smart ForTwo is expected to be more rounded than the current model, which has always looked like a telephone box with wheels.

The smart was so far ahead of the curve that it missed the ballgame when it launched here in 2003. Australians at that time weren't prepared to consider a micro car and it didn't emulate its European success, where the Merc-built model was a popular city commuter. Fast forward to 2011 and small cars are increasingly in vogue. So, is the two-seat runabout a smart choice now?VALUEA $19,990 sticker price doesn't look like a smart buy in a market where the Holden Barina Spark, Suzuki Alto and Nissan Micra all undercut it by $7000 or more. And they have back seats and a boot. What the Smart does have is rear-wheel drive and the best fuel use of a conventional-engined car at 4.4 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 100g/km. The limited  edition "night orange" model seen here was a sellout, despite costing an extra $2800. In the UK, Aston Martin can't make enough of their Toyota iQ-based Cygnets, even at $55,000, so the re's definitely a market for upmarket city cars.DESIGNThe fortwo is all about packaging. The 999cc three-cylinder engine is mounted directly above the rear wheels so the 200-litre boot is up front. The dash plastics are as good as anything in the class and the overall cabin quality feels better than its rivals, but so it should. The exterior shape is three years old but still edgier than anything else in this market and is a big part of the reason the Smart appeals to young Europeans, according to Mercedes.TECHNOLOGYThe micro car concept is the gamechanger here. Mercedes had no competition when it launched this car in 1998. The design was widened and centre of gravity lowered when the Smart infamously failed a simulated rollover "moose test". It is the only car in this segment using an automated manual transmission but the five-speeder shifts slower than a politician in front of the cameras.SAFETYThere's not much room for crumple zones in the fortwo. Instead, Mercedes developed the tridion safety cell, the black or silver bit that runs from the A pillar to the bottom on the doors. It is a triple-layered steel cell with sliding beams front and rear to absorb small impacts without damaging the cell itself. There are also four airbags and safety software you expect in small cars. EuroNCAP gave it four stars.DRIVINGThe Smart is great fun driving around town and acceptable on the freeway runs that connect the city to the 'burbs. Cross winds will push it around, but it is no worse than a high-riding SUV. What does hurt is the auto transmission. It's slow shifts exaggerate the car's habit of pitching forwards under a gearchange and then backwards as the drive engages.  It is without peer in inner-city laneways  and the tightest parking spot is yours for the taking, with little fear of door and/or panel damage.VERDICTThe car that started the popular micro car trend is overpriced but a more engaging drive than some of its rivals. It was made for CBD owners and is an ideal city runabout. That's why VW is launching the Up .SMART FORTWOPrice: $19,990Warranty: Three years/unlimited kmResale: 55 per centService intervals: 20,000kmEconomy: 4.4 litres/100km (95 RON), 100g/km CO2Equipment: Four airbags, ABS with EBD, traction control, hill start assist Crash rating: Four starsEngine: 1.0-litre triple-cylinder, 52kW/92NmTransmission: Give-speed automated manualBody: Two-door hatchDimensions: 2695mm (L), 1559mm (W), 1542mm (H), 1867mm (WB)Weight: 750kg

Late last year they wowed the 2010 Australian International Motor Show crowd with the Jaffa – a bright orange C63 AMG. This year they’ve rolled out the attention-getting livery again. On a Smart Fortwo. Christened the Jaffette – of course -- the juicy limited edition is being offered with a ‘night orange’ pack that includes sports steering wheel and gear shift know in black nappa leather, matt-finish and black accents and orange stitching and trim strips. The package has a total value of $4800 but adds only $2800 to the normal price $19,990 of the Fortwo mhd (micro-hybrid drive), making a RRP of $22,790. The little city car’s stop-start mhd system makes it one of the lowest emission petrol vehicles for sale in Australia with a C02 rating of 100g/km and a combined fuel consumption of 4.4L/100km). Mercedes-Benz sees the car as a close relation to Jaffa, and has ordered in a crate of 15. “ We got a fantastic response to our bright orange C63 AMG known as “Jaffa” last year at AIMS,” managing director Horst von Sanden says. “Whilst the ‘night orange’ smart fortwo has significantly less power than the “Jaffa” it has 100% of its street presence. It was a no-brainer for us to order 15 for Australia. It is truly a sibling of Jaffa.”

Then we head north in a Holden Cruze and Mitsubishi ASX, looking to see how far this pair can go on a single take of fuel.  Ed Ordynski is in the ASX and I have the Cruze, holding  the trip computer just over 6 litres/100km as Ordynski - expert driver - is below 5 litres/100km.The first stop is just outside Port Pirie after 250 kilometres and the figures are 5.3 and 4.2, as we battle wind and rain.  A lunch stop in Waikerie - about 530km into the journey - and then a turn south to follow the Murray both cars maintain sub-6 readings - the ASX in the region of 4.5 and the Cruze 5.5 litres per 100km as we pass the 700km mark near Murray Bridge.The weather worsens as we follow the river south through 730km at Wellington."The ASX was more adversely affected by that, it was 0.3 litres/100km worse off - we did what you need to do into a headwind and that was reduce the speed a little," Ordynski says.Running down through the southern foothills to complete our 1000km journey we return the tanks to full. There are still 15 litres in the Mitsubishi's 60-litre tank, but my Cruze is almost on fumes.  But after thirteen hours of "real-world" driving we have hit our 1000-kilometre target."I would drive like that with people on board and not be embarrassed," Ordynski says.  "You win on fuel use and emissions as well, with 2kg of CO2 for every litre of fuel, you win on maintenance and longevity of the vehicle by driving it kindly as well, it's hard to see a downside."Ed Ordynski’s Fuel TipsLevel 1. Overall factors1. Plan when you need to use your car to avoid unnecessary journeys.2. Plan your journey to avoid peak hour and congested roads.3. Measure your fuel consumption and take pride in reducing it.4. Choose an energy efficient vehicle.Level 2. Anyone can try1. Concentrate on driving smoothly and anticipate traffic flow to conserve momentum.2. Keep tyre pressures at maximum recommended.3. Avoid any excess weight in the vehicle and remove accessories which affect the aerodynamics (e.g. roof racks).4. Choose a manual transmission and learn to drive it properly for optimum fuel efficiency.Level 3. Hard-core methods1. Avoid use of airconditioning and keep windows closed.2. Do not use cruise control but do focus on keeping a constant speed and conserving momentum.3. Drive at low speed - most cars are at their most efficient at around 75km/h in top gear.4. Drive off as soon as the engine is started, especially from a cold start.GREEN STARSMake-model weight price combined fuel con1. Mitsubishi -MiEV 980kg $leased 02. Toyota Prius 1370kg $39,990 3.93. Smart Fortwo 750kg $19,9904.44. Honda Insight 1205kg $29,9904.65. Suzuki Alto 880kg $11,790 4.8GREEN DUDS1. Ferrari 599 1690kg $677,250 21.32. Ferrari 612 1849kg $698,000 20.73. Nissan Patrol 4.8 2440kg $75,690 17.24. Maserati GT S Coupe 1880kg $345,900 16.65. Mercedes ML 500 2148kg $132,400 16.5

Two new Smart cars are on the boil as Daimler of Germany leverages a new tie-up with Nissan-Renault. There will be two cars for two continents but only one is likely to make it to Australia. "There is a tie-up with Nissan to build a car for the USA and another with Renault for Europe," says David McCarthy, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Australia. He is short on detail because the future models are still on the secret list, but admits there are rumours that the American car will be a four-seater twinned with the new Nissan Micra and the European model will share with the next Renault Twingo. "We really have nothing to say yet," says McCarthy. But it's unlikely that Smart will ever grow to the multi-car lineup originally planned for the brand. At one time there were ForTwo, ForFour and Roadster models in showrooms with a compact SUV also in the planning. Prices were too high and sales were too low - although the Brabus ForFour which sold at $40,000 still brings $30,000 for secondhand sales - to sustain a stand-alone brand. Instead, Benz cut the Smart line right back to the ForTwo and decided it would be used as an entry to the Mercedes-Benz lineup. As well as a way of spreading development costs and bringing an emissions credit from the baby cars to benefit the whole Daimler lineup. While the ForTwo is certain for Australia there is also the possibility of electric scooters under the Smart brand, following a two-wheeled preview at the Paris Motor Show last month. "It gives a clue. We've got to find someone to build it," says McCarthy. While the future cars are some way away, the existing Smart ForTwo is heading for a major makeover including smoother bodywork and daytime running lamps. It will arrive in Australia early next year following a preview last month in Germany. "We will have the ForTwo in the first quarter. It should be February," says McCarthy. But, as Smart is being renewed, Mercedes-Benz has axed the baby A-Class in Australia. "It's no longer part of the catalogue. But there will be another A- Class and it will return," says McCarthy. "We decided to concentrate on the B-Class and our decision has been vindicated by the sales. Last month it actually led its class in the small segment, with 237 sales against the Audi A3 at 137, and we've outsold the Mini and 1 BMW Series year-to-date. B-class sales are significantly higher today than A and B were together."

Hybrid cars and plans are popping up everywhere, from Porsche and Ferrari at the top end in Europe to the dozens of enthusiastic new carmakers led by Geely and BYD - the name means Build Your Dreams - in China.  We are also seeing far more efficiency in everyday petrol-powered cars, with a range of new technologies to boost economy and cut emissions.A growing number of new cars are now arriving with engine-stop systems for traffic-light efficiency, as well as driver-advisor systems to help pick the right gear. There is an Audi A4 in the Carsguide garage this week which does both and, even with a turbocharged petrol engine, is running fuel economy in the 7 litres/100km range.There is much more to come on the petrol-power front and the Toyota Prius, perhaps surprisingly since it's a hybrid, shows the way. Its 1.8-litre petrol engine is the first in the world without any sort of power-sapping drive belt for the parasitic add-ons, with electrically operated power steering and airconditioning, an on-demand alternator and an electric water pump.Expect all this, and soon, on cars for you.  Diesel engine development is going ahead very rapidly with most European brands - Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz among them - touting some sort of Blue technology. So blue is the new green for diesels.The best new diesels are much quieter than in the past and, thanks to the massive advantages of turbocharging, they have huge pulling power. Torque rules in the real world, where you need punch for overtaking and stoplight drags, and that makes diesels the surprising performance choice for a growing range of vehicles.It's easy to go on and on about the engine changes, from Benz's switch from superchargers to turbochargers and BMWs impressive efficiency developments to the small-capacity winners from brands such as Nissan, but the long-term green path is into electric cars.  Australia has yet to see its first commercial electric car but the race is really on now, with Mitsubishi and Tesla expected to both have plug-in cars on the road before the end of the year.An electric Smart will arrive sometime in 2011 and Subaru is keen to have a battery car in Australia as soon as possible, with other brands also working on plans.  But the green machine will run off the rails if governments do not act - and act soon - to give them support. Electric cars need plug-in points, but that's the obvious and easy stuff being pushed today by the Better Place organisation and many others.The real key to sales of electric cars is some sort of Federal incentive, like the ones in Europe and the USA. Nobody by a full-on greenie is going to pay around $70,000 for a Mitsubishi iMiEV when a petrol-powered Colt, which is a similar size and does a similar job, starts from $15,740.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

They want Canberra to make a commitment similar to the ones in many other countries, including the recent 5000 pound ($8200) incentive provided by the British government to buyers of plug-in electric cars.The latest British commitment follows support deals in most European countries, from Spain-France-Italy to Sweden-Finland-Denmark. Converts to electric cars in the USA also get a tax break worth between $2500 and $7500 ($2765-8295), depending on the capacity of the battery."Pretty much everywhere else in the world is paying a subsidy. The government needs to look at a general subsidy. That is the only way you're going to get ordinary people into the cars," says David McCarthy of Mercedes-Benz Australia, which intends to have an electric Smart ForTwo in its lineup in 2011. "We'd like to think we can get the electric Smart next year, and Mercedes-Benz is also doing a test on an electric Vito van."Mitsubishi is also pushing hard on the electric front with its iMiEV, as Nissan works towards local sales of the Leaf and Subaru crunches numbers on its plug-in Stella and BMW Group considers both the Mini-E and a plug-in 1 Series.McCarthy says the Smart should be one of the first battery cars on Australian roads but Mercedes-Benz wants to see a commitment from government at all levels. "The running costs on these cars are low, but they are expensive to buy. We don't have an indication yet on the price of the Smart, but it isn't going to be cheap so people do need some encouragement," he says.Most of the planning electric cars will be in the $50,000-$60,000 range in Australia, even though most are tiny city runabouts and several contenders only have two seats. Mitsubishi is planning to join Mercedes in lobbying the Federal government, most likely through the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries."There is an electric vehicle working group in the FCAI, but I don't think the lobbying has started yet," McCarthy says.

While starting from a higher base of CO2 emissions, companies such as Ferrari have made the biggest improvements, according to automotive data and intelligence provider, JATO Dynamics.Ferrari leads the CO2 volume reduction race, with a 40.4g/km improvement in CO2 output so far this year. This is the greatest volume reduction of any brand on sale in Europe and represents a 9.5 per cent improvement. Ferrari's net reduction puts it well on its way to achieving its stated aim to reduce CO2 emissions from 400g/km per vehicle to 280-300g/km, by 2012.While Ferrari can claim the greatest CO2 volume reduction, when expressed as percentage improvement, it is Alpina that is the outright best performer, although on a small sales base.The next best in percentage improvement is Porsche with 10.6 per cent reduction. Meanwhile, 96 per cent of the top 25 brands of European new cars sold so far this year have reduced CO2 output by an average of 6.2g/km.New car sales for Smart, Fiat and MINI are already under the 130g/km CO2 average required under EU legislation by 2015. The outright biggest improvement of all mainstream marques over the past year belongs to Alfa Romeo, whose average new car CO2 output fell by 19.9g/km.The top spot is taken by Chevrolet, whose diesel Cruze model and three-cylinder, 0.8-litre, 119g/km Matiz helped its new car sales to a 15.2g/km average CO2 improvement. Second is Audi, whose 2.0-litre TDi engine helped it to an average of 163g/km. Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai and Mazda also recorded double-digit improvements. Ford was best of the biggest European volume sellers, improving average CO2 by 8g/km as its ECOnetic range.The cleanest of the range is the new 98 g/km Fiesta ECOnetic which is yet to be released here.However, Ford Australia is bringing the car out for next month's 3000km Global Green Challenge trial from Darwin to Adelaide. 

Never have my wife and I disagreed so much — except on our wedding night, when I wanted to leave early. Echoing that level of differing opinions, she loved the Smart fortwo coupe we had on test recently and I loathed it. She found it fun to drive and I felt like a complete goose in the tiny two-seater.She said people looked, smiled and waved at her when she was driving it while I found they pointed, laughed and made other motions with their hands. So I went to Crazy Clark's and bought a clever disguise for just $2. Not that I'm against small cars. The Mini is great fun to drive. But the Smart fortwo coupe just feels too quirky and weird to make the driving experience anything other than a total aggravation.InteriorIt started for me when I struggled trying to unlock the car with the key fob buttons which are totally invisible to my naked eye.When I slipped in behind the wheel it was no better. It seems Mercedes — the makers of Smart cars — has done everything it can to make the controls different to conventional wisdom.Even the key is located in the centre console, rather than near the steering wheel, although Saab also does that. Speaking of the steering wheel, it is not reach adjustable, so the driving position just never felt comfortable for me, although my wife loved it.TransmissionThe Smart coupe comes with a five-speed manual, but this one was equipped with the ‘Softouch’ auto for an extra $750. It includes steering wheel paddles to change gears, or you can push and pull the gear lever. The ‘Softouch’ semi-automatic changes are ridiculously ponderous and require the driver to decelerate as if they were changing manual gears, but without a clutch.Even leaving it in automatic it dithers and feels as if it's stalling as it slows to change gears. And forget about rapid downshifts for overtaking or impetus on a hill because it groans and struggles on for ages in too-high a gear before deciding to switch cogs. Getting off the mark is also quite slow and it takes more than 13 seconds to wind up to highway speed.Engine It's not that the vehicle is underpowered. It only has a three-cylinder 999cc engine, but it weighs only 750kg. Besides, you can also get a version with 10kW more power and 32Nm more torque. The problem lies in that auto transmission. The manual would undoubtedly be nippier.DrivingSpeed is not the essence of this vehicle. According to my wife it's about fun, economy and easy parking. Oh, and she loves the efficient wipers. I wasn't having much fun, especially around my neighbourhood where people could identify me or when our equally tall photographer and I tried to squeeze into the car together and had to take turns putting on our seat belts or cop an elbow in the eye. However, I will concede on the economy and parking issues. And the big-sweeping wipers.With a turning circle less than 9m and a wheelbase of just 1.8m, it whips into parking spaces with no planning or skill required. You can even fit it sideways in a parking space as they tend to do in Paris and Rome. It also whips into the tightest spaces when merging into traffic without inciting rage from other road users.Fuel consumption As for economy, it simply ran all week without making much of a dint in the fuel gauge, so I tend to believe the supplied figures of 4.7L/100km. And that's pretty good. That's even better than my motorcycle. In fact, under certain conditions, such as stop-start commuting, you could expect to get even better economy if you choose to switch on the economy button next to the gearshift. This puts it into ‘stop/start’ function which means the engine stops when the car stops and starts when you take your foot off the brake again so you aren't wasting fuel while idling at the traffic lights or stopped in a queue of traffic.However, in the summer, you will find the airconditioning also switches off and the car quickly heats up. It also feels very rough as the three-cylinder donk shudders to a halt and fires up again and in stop-start traffic this becomes quite annoying.PricingThe Smart is listed at just under $20,000 and is built to that price, but even competitors in this price range have electric wing mirrors. The only saving grace of the manual mirrors is that you can easily reach the passenger's side because the car is so tiny. Not that it worries my wife — she never looks in the mirrors, except to fix her lippy. However, my wife did find one problem with the car: she felt very nervous when a truck pulled up behind.