First Drive: Smart Car

The concept of the Smart car emerged in the early 1990s when the Swiss company Swatch, best known for its funky watches, sought to build an affordable city car that would fit into the smallest of parking spots and go easy on fuel. Not too long after, the company paired up with Mercedes-Benz to make the idea a reality. The car was later christened “Smart,” an acronym for Swatch Mercedes Art.

Even though the Smart has been around for a while it’s certainly worth considering if you’re looking for a small town car. The Smart is so small you can fit one sideways in a parking space. In fact, you can fit two of them in that same parking space.
Inside though, it‘s a completely different story. In what has to be the most efficient packaging feat ever accomplished in a modern car, the Smart fortwo really is for two. The shoulder and leg room put many saloons to shame and, surprisingly, it is a very capable size for lugging around your wheelchair too.

The car works well in the city, where its lofty driving position and tiny dimensions make it easy to spot parking places and squeeze into them. The ‘micro hybrid’ models also come equipped with stop-start technology to improve emissions and consumption even further. Petrol engines are all 1000cc in capacity, with outputs ranging from 71-98bhp. Engines with middling outputs make most sense, and the small 45bhp diesel is also interesting as it brings a rather astouding 85.6mpg capability – if you can put up with its rather sluggish performance. The city-coupé and cabrio, with its high seat height, amount of leg room and wide-opening doors, is ideally suited to the majority of disabled drivers. Automatic transmission is standard across most of the range, while gear-change paddles mounted on the steering wheel already come as an option.

The Smart fortwo is more fun to drive on tight, congested city streets at low speed than even the Mini Cooper. But as soon as the traffic thins out and the roads open up to the motorways, the Fortwo’s cons- a hard ride, a noisy interior, the lack of power, and tense roadholding – become more serious drawbacks.

Factor in the middling fuel economy of only 33 mpg city, and the “wow” factor is quickly muted. It can also be a bit hairy when an articulated lorry eases past you on the roads. It may have a four star Euro NCAP safety rating but its diminutive size doesn’t really fill you with confidence.
All things considered though, the sharp funky looks of the Smart, the high and spacious driving conditions, the ease of nipping around town and the new host of parking options that seem to appear from nowhere make the Smart a real contender for second ‘city car’

Our final recommendation would be to opt for the Passion rather than the more expensive Brabus.

Thanks to Pauline Lyndsay at Smart Glasgow.