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“Smart Roadster's fine really. Good fun, with good...”

written by Tat on 18/03/2006

Good Points
Funky, small, good handling, comfortable, and a bit different, surprising amount of storage space

Bad Points
MERCEDES SERVICING! Service interval, cost of service, customer service, water leaks (roof, windows), rattles, annoying traction control

General Comments
Smart Roadster's fine really. Good fun, with good handling. The grip is surprising, its got great turn in and is well balanced. It can be snappy at the limit, and could do with a touch more power to really make use of the chassis. Had water ingress problems through windows, roof, and seals so had to have a re-placement seal kit which was a pain. The car develops rattles with age especially the Targa sides to the roof which can be removed. This is largely down to the seals vibrating. The service interval is an annoying 7000mile which can be expensive to run especially with Mercedes costs. They charged me £194 to replace the brake fluid and spark plugs. It normally costs aout £170 for a service. The gear change is not delightful, and can be very harsh if you don't drive it using the manual side to the box, but even when you do it's not the smoothest of changes even with a small throttle lift on the upchange. The traction control is really annoyingm you have an option to turn it off, but if you ever get any drifting going once you get to any advanced angles or full throttle power then it can cut back in a ruin the end of your slide and also doesn't help you brake pad/show wear. Overall though I am pleased with it, it justs cost too much to run and has annoying habits which just spoil it slightly. It is a good toy though and does put a smile on your face, (and makes Elise drivers think twice about taking you on on a B-road blast!!!)