Putting the funk in to Smart
New ForFour is ‘butch’ with lots of appeal to boot
IKNOW you are going to judge me‚ but I liked the last generation Smart‚ the little ForTwo that is. Yes, the gearbox was rubbish and you needed a neck brace every time you changed gear. The interior space was not great and the boot space even worse.
But it was different‚ cool even‚ and probably ahead of its time, when it comes to urban mobility – at least in the South African context anyway.
The new Smart ForFour is basically a Renault Twingo‚ which has been . . . smartened up. Now you know. The new model has even funkier looks than the first generation.
The front is cheeky, but at the same time it has a bit more attitude‚ butch even‚ and you get that two-tone paint job for the urban trendies. It all looks rather cool. Inside, the look continues with a colour-coded dashboard‚ seats and trim panels in the doors.
The steering wheel has big FisherPrice style buttons to make you feel like a kid again and you also get reasonably decent space‚ although the boot is on the small side. Being the basic Passion model‚ we did not have the infotainment system of higher models which adds an even cooler dimension.
Instead, the centre console gets a basic radio‚ buttons and aircon system.
You do have a funky slider for the aircon temperature‚ but it actually obscures the digits behind it a little‚ making temperature selection a hit-or-miss affair, when adjusting it while driving. This brings me to driving. A colleague informed me that he had difficulty getting the car to maintain any kind of speed up a hill.
I was doubtful – after all‚ it only weighs 975kg so the little 52kW motor does not have a great deal of work to do.
He was right. Best you wait for the turbocharged 66kW version.
The 52kW model lacks anything that could remotely be described as power and with the manual gearbox I found myself dropping to first gear on many occasions.
With peak power at 6 000r/min‚ I was often driving near to the red line and that is a very noisy place to be.
Three-cylinder motors can be cool‚ with a thrum that could even be compared to a Boxer engine‚ but not when it has to be at such high revs‚ all the time.
In rush-hour traffic things were fine. The little car might take a massive 15.9 seconds to get to 100km/h but in stop/start traffic it purred along well‚ holding its own while surrounded by German sedans and SUVs.
This is probably, where it is most at home though in the urban jungle where speeds rarely exceed 60km/h and its claimed 3.8-litres/100km average consumption figure comes into its own.
In theory, it should be able to cart four adults and some gear around town‚ giving it an edge over the ForTwo. I think it is unlikely to jump up at you like a young puppy‚ eager to perform that task though.
Which means the ForTwo‚ with its space for two adults‚ could well be the better option‚ at least when it comes to urban mobility.
If we are talking about better options‚ then we also need to look at that R199 400 price tag.
Smarts have never been cheap. You pay for that phenomenally strong safety cell – yes‚ the Smart is incredibly safe. You pay for the funky design and trim and you pay for looking cool in trendy parts of the city. That will be fine for some people. The Smart does look cool and the minute you jump into it‚ you feel as though you are driving through the streets of Paris or Milan.
If you live in Melrose Arch‚ you will love it.
The rest of us will be more inclined to go for other options such as the Fiat 500‚ Kia Picanto‚ Renault Clio or Volkswagen Up. So the new Smart is not so smart‚ but it is funky and it is fun.
That will be its appeal‚ but perhaps wait for the higher-powered model and the one with the cool infotainment system. But you’ll pay even more for that. — BDLive
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