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- John Thompson's review
Picture courtesy of Flamin Nora.
| Performance | 7.5/10  |
|---|---|
| Practicality | 8/10 |
| Reliability | 7.4/10 |
| Value for Money | 5.1/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 6.7/10 |
| Overall Rating | 7/10  |
By John Thompson
on 28th Aug 2007
| Year Manufactured | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Length of ownership | 1 month |
| Doors | 2 |
| Performance | 7/10 |
| Practicality | 7/10 |
| Reliability | 8/10 |
| Value for money | 6/10 |
| Overall value | 7/10 |
 John Thompson's recommendation | |
Tiny footprint, Spacious for two, Surprisingly good on open roads and cheap to run.
Feel-less steering, Slow gearchange, high initial price.
The intriguing little Smart car has been around for ten years now, which is hard to believe, but looks as fresh as anything you can buy to this day, despite the new '451' model being launched at Mercedes benz/ Smart dealerships as I type.
To compare the Smart with a run-of-the-mill Supermini would be churlish....
For starters, it has two seats, not four and Instead of the usual 1.1 litre engine and five speed 'box, a Smart has a 700cc Turbo unit, with 6 speed tiptronic gearchange and plastic body panels!
In many ways, a bog standard supermini is better, but once again, this is missing the point....
So what is the point of a Smart car then? Surely a silly little engine, Plastic panels and only two seats is all a bit naff isn't it? And for less money, you could have a whopping great Ford Fiesta or whatever, like everybody has?
Well part of the Smarts appeal is that it's so damned clever....in every conceivable way!
The plastic panels are not structural, for example, and apart from the immensely strong 'Tridion' which is the steel structure everything is bolted onto, can be changed within a couple of hours for entirely new ones, and in a different colour if you want! Replacements are stupidly cheap, such as a door skin for £40ish. Thats less than repainting a normal car door....
£500, or thereabouts, totally rebodies your Smart car, which is even better once you realise they come from your local Mercedes dealer (SMART is an anachronism for Swatch Mercedes ART)
Now onto the mechanicals: The engine is a three cylinder turbo, and it packs a mighty punch for it's size, producing 61bhp, or enough to propel the Smart up to an electronically limited 85mph as quickly as any 1.1 litre, and when you get there, the biggest surprise is the total lack of engine revs or stress. Most city cars are faster, but few cruise in such a relaxed fashion. This is quite the opposite of expectations by the way...
The Chassis has been equipped with every conceivable electronic safety device with ABS brakes, EBD stability control and ASR anti skid regulation to name just a few, the total package being called 'Smart Trust+'
and enables the Smart to be hustled around with no fear of rolling over, skidding or tailsliding, even though, like any vehicle, it does have limits.
The limits in certain conditions are a little low. For example, hard acceleration in tight junctions sees the nose running wide in a frenzy of understeer, almost like an overladen Tesco trolley, especially with a few bad bumps thrown in. You have to be a little harsh to do this, however, and in every other way the handling is well sorted and idiot-proof! Brakes are great, although the floor-sprouted pedal works at a different angle to the more usual overhead mounted types. A35 and Beetle owners will feel quite at home!
Once mastered, it's good fun, and more satisfying than the mobile aesthetics being churned out by most car manufacturers nowadays (The better they get, the more divorced the Driver becomes from the action)
Inside, you have two very comfy, and typical Germanic seats which slide and recline. (Leather heated ones cost £500 extra) and support you perfectly. The dash is a little like a Swatch watch, hardly surprising given the parentage, being fresh and modern, if a little unconventional, but extremely good quality. Storage is limited to a few cubby holes and handy door pockets, but you soon learn not to carry your life around with you, after all this is a carefree little car, not a mobile home.
The boot is handy. Not the biggest, but good enough for a weeks shopping, a large suitcase, or a stacked trolley full of Beer. The rear hatch is split, so you can always just open the window section, and chuck stuff inside, while the lowered pick-up style tailgate offers the chance to transport 100kg of contraband short distances (You need rope though...)
Standard kit is not exceptional, but nevertheless generous enough, and includes;
Electric Windows
Plip central locking/ Tailgate release.
Alarm/ Immobiliser.
Airconditioning with 'Economy' mode
Twin airbags (One each)
Tinted Glass and Glass roof with sliding sunscreen.
Radio/ CD player (Predictably mundane sounding)
Quad halogen lights (Woohoo! They work!)
And a plethora of nice touches such as the Rear wiper which turns on when you select reverse gear and the front wiper is running, the Hill-helper (The brakes stay on for 0.7 seconds to allow your foot to switch from the brake to the throttle, saving all that handbrake juggling) or even the Headlamps that stay on while you negotiate the darkened pathway to your front door! Classy stuff for a Supermini...
The Gearchange:
I left this until last, as it is one of the more charismatic aspects of a Smart. The electronic shifter does offer you a choice of full Auto, or Sequential shift, just like a Formula 1 car.
Well, nearly...
You see, in 'Slushmatic' mode, the change is slow. Really slow....you can sit behind another car with your foot to the floor, while the little Swatch computer dithers about whether to change into second, third, fourth or just leave it, while the speedo needle remains glued to the spot. Eventually it changes gear...
Shouting sometimes helps, but there IS a God, and this is in the form of a small button on the lever which engages the manual sequential mode.
In manual mode, it changes far faster, and you can blip up and down the box like a Biker, enjoying the Turbo boost and racy little noises emanating from the tiny engine, and it's all great fun! I'm not going to pretend it's really fast, but the Smart moves off the line with gusto, and makes pretty remarkable progress all the way up to the 85mph limter.
It will do 85mph UP hills, but no more down. You can get them de-limited, and they do around 95 apparently, but this switches off the Trust plus system, which is as sensible as hopping. Use the Autobox for gentle wafting around town, and the Sequential for harder driving, and you'll be fine...
The 'tridion' is available in Black, Grey or Silver and cannot be changed, while the body panels can be swapped to anything you like! There are owners clubs, Websites about them, and all the usual trimmings, in addition to the other models in the 'For Two' line up.
Overall then, this is not the car for everyone. If you like Vin ~Ordinaire, buy a Saxo, but if you want something very cheap to run (60mpg and £35 for Road fund) that holds it's price, is built to exacting Mercedes standards and is brimming with a lovable joie de vivre which turns heads just as much as it ever did, whilst entertaining you with it's on road antics.....Buy one!
Thank you for reading!
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