Smart fortwo grows up
COLOGNE — I vividly recall the first time I brought a Smart fortwo home for a test drive. It was a warm summer’s day in 2005, and I was in the buoyant throes of new love.
We happily navigated our way through downtown Toronto, giggling at people’s reactions. The pointing, openmouth stares and head-scratching expressions of “what the heck?” just added to our overall euphoria.
It didn’t take long for the spell to wear off, however, both for the car and the romance. Both left me with a feeling of disappointment over what could have been, but wasn’t.
The first Smart fortwo was a pioneer in our market. Although it had been a familiar sight on Europe’s narrow and congested roads since the late 1990s, North Americans were still struggling to come to terms with the fact that our wanton consumption of natural resources was coming to an end. The Smart was the first of the tiny urban microcars to hit Canadian roads, and though it was a hit with the environmentally conscientious and early adopters, it was a curiosity to a lot of us. The company’s marketing department had to work hard to convince Canadians — devotees of pickup trucks, SUVs and other road-going leviathans — that this little car did indeed meet all of our criteria for safety.
Those who embraced it were thrilled with the Smart fortwo’s manoeuverability, its fuel-sipping economy and its ability to fit in just about any spot large enough for a bicycle. However, it was almost universally agreed that the Smart’s transmission was probably the most woeful gearbox ever produced. I could overlook the fortwo’s two-seat impracticality, its cheesy interior and utter lack of cargo space, but for me, that lag ‘n’ lurch transmission was a deal-breaker.
We’ve had more than a decade to get used to the idea of alternative transportation. Tiny cars no longer turn heads and the segment has grown, in keeping with our own explosive population. Around the world, there are 21 urban centres whose population density is such that they’ve been dubbed “smart cities” and they are the ideal target market for the Smart car.
Cologne is a busy financial and cultural centre in Germany, with more than a million inhabitants, and it typifies the “smart city” ideal. Cologne is known almost as much for its traffic as it is for its landmark cathedral, built in the mid-1200s. Narrow streets, an abundance of construction be- fitting an affluent market and a constant volume of traffic made Cologne the ideal venue for our drive.
The only thing about the new Smart that remains the same as the older model is the length: 2.69 metres. The fortwo’s ability to park perpendicular to the curb legally was one of its strongest selling points, but the overall new design is so much better that the car actually appears longer. That previously truncated rear gave the old car a characteristic cartoon appearance.
It’s still cute, but in a much more mature way. The snub, bull-dog nose sports an attractive mesh grille flanked by LED headlights. Newly bulging fenders and rear haunches add muscularity. There are myriad colours available for the fortwo’s panels and its Tridion Safety Cell frame, and a variety of interior combinations as well, depending on trim level.
Interior space has grown by 100 millimetres, so you’re no longer sitting uncomfortably close to your passenger. While the cabin’s style is still playfully funky, it’s more sophisticated than the previous fortwo, with a free- standing touchscreen display, more refined instrumentation, available leather seating and longer list of optional tech features.
While Europe and other markets receive a variety of engine sizes, North America’s sole offering is a turbocharged threecylinder with an output of 89 horsepower and 100 pound-feet of torque. As before, the engine is mounted transversely above the rear wheels. There is a choice of two new transmis- sions: the five-speed manual was unavailable for our test, but we spent plenty of time with the dual-clutch six-speed automatic.
According to powertrain engineer Carlo Fuerst, the new dual-clutch was in development for five years. Although it was built for Daimler by Getrag, the transmission’s computer calibration was done in-house. The chassis was developed in partnership with Renault, using the Twingo platform, and suspension consists of Mercedes C-Class-inspired front struts, as well as a De Dion axle — a setup exclusive in our market.
The first part of our day was spent coursing through the lovely forested roads outside Bonn. We’re happy to say that the new DCT is a decent bit of kit, displaying very little lag when left to perform as an automatic, and shifting sharply and cleanly when using the sport mode’s manual function.
The wider track gives the car more stability than the previous model, and it’s a lot of fun to toss this little car around bendy roads, despite its meagre power output. The 900-kilogram fortwo doesn’t seem underpowered: during one autobahn stretch we hit 158 km/h. Standard Crosswind Assist contributes to the new car feeling far more planted at speed than the previous generation. The improved stability also gives the fortwo a better turning radius of 6.95 metres. It certainly excels at navigating through construction signs, cyclists and dense city traffic.
The current fortwo starts at $14,800. The new powertrain will reportedly deliver 100 km/4.1 litres.