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By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY
25 February 2008
One of the most distinctive cars seen on our roads in recent
years is the tiny two-seat smart fortwo. They’re a common sight
in the narrow, congested streets of European cities, their
appearance often personalised with a mixture of different coloured,
interchangeable panels. While they’re never going to be big
sellers in the wide open spaces of Australia, they certainly have
a place in our major cities.
Now the latest version of the smart fortwo has arrived in
Australia and it’s larger both in its dimensions and in engine
size.
Built on an all-new platform the 2008 smart fortwo is 195 mm
longer than its predecessor (although it’s still under 2.7
metres long), 43 mm wider and 19 mm taller.
Despite these extra centimetres your oversized journalist
approached this undersized car with some trepidation. These things
are of course relative, but the smart fortwo is surprisingly
spacious inside with good leg and headroom as well as acceptable
elbow and shoulder room, even for a pair of full-sized adults.
Cleverly, the passenger’s seat can slide significantly further
back than the driver’s to allow for some overlap of elbows and
to assist the driver’s visibility.
Two bodies are offered – coupe and convertible, with the
latter’s soft top able to be peeled back automatically at any
speed up to the car’s maximum of 145 km/h.
The smart fortwo’s forte is parking. In cities where drivers
haggle over the illegal parking spots and leave their cars in
places Australians would never dream of, having a car that's only
2.7 metres long is a major advantage.
The smart’s eye-catching ability to turn heads has led a
number of astute business people to add them to their fleet and,
after a trip to the spray painter, to use them as moving
billboards. As many as 40 per cent of smart fortwos sold in 2007
were to commercial buyers.
The biggest change in the new smart fortwo is under the bonnet
where the capacity of the three-cylinder petrol engine has been
increased by a whopping 43 per cent to almost reach one litre! Two
of these 999 cc engines are offered, one naturally aspirated, the
other turbocharged. The previous model only came with the turbo.
Power is up 17 kilowatts to 62 kW while torque jumps by 25 Newton
metres to 120 Nm at 3250 rpm. Equivalent figures for the non-turbo
engine are 52 kW and 92 Nm.
Transmission is through a five-speed manual gearbox with an
automated clutch. It can be operated either by a traditional gear
lever or via a pair of paddles mounted at the rear of the steering
wheel. The latter was our preferred option, not only because of
its sportier feel but also as it reduced the number of times that
the driver has to apologise for bumping the passenger’s leg. An
optional ($750) automatic gear program is available.
Our test drive, appropriately enough, was in and around the
suburbs of Sydney. While the naturally aspirated model struggled
at times, especially on some reasonably steep hills its
turbo-powered sibling, with the extra torque, was great fun to
drive and with its variety of bright colours attracted plenty of
attention.
The suspension is on the harsh side and with recent rain having
opened up plenty of potholes we had to endure quite a few mild
shudders.
Parking the cars for our lunch break was made easy by slipping
all ten cars into five parking spaces!
Prices that start at $19,990 might seem a bit steep for a
1.0-litre two-seat car. Think of it as a two-seat Mercedes-Benz
(smart is a fully-owned subsidiary of the German car maker) and it
doesn’t seem so expensive.
And it does come well equipped, including safety features such
as front and head/thorax airbags, stability control, ABS brakes
combining to give it a four-start NCAP safety rating.
But the most fascinating options are the interchangeable body
panels which allow you to mix and match the various vibrant
colours on offer. Although smart recommends the changes be done at
a dealership it can be done in your own garage, once you’ve
learned how to do it properly.
The complete smart fortwo range, with prices (excluding on-road
costs) is:
fortwo coupe: $19,990
fortwo turbo coupe: $21,990
fortwo cabrio: $22,990
fortwo turbo cabrio: $24,990
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Marque Publishing Company
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