What's outside today 20 - Smart For Two Passion

This is the Smart For Two Passion which we have been using for the Verdict test.


This thing really impressed me. If you accept the limitation that it's a strict two-seater, there are virtually no compromises. The passenger cabin is actually pretty spacious and there's even a fairly useful amount of luggage space (over 200 litres - which is enough for, say, two bags/cases that use the full airline carry-on baggage dimensions). The 1 litre engine is easily powerful enough to keep up with other traffic, even on the motorway, and the For Two stays very well planted for something that looks a bit topply.


Our test car had an automated manual gearbox - this one seemed to change gear a bit more quickly than those on some previous models, where this arrangement came in for a bit of criticism, but still seems to suffer a slight delay. The cheapest models don't have the 'automatic' function but still do without a clutch pedal; you change gear either by nudging the gear-stick forwards (to change up) or backwards (to change down), or use the steering-wheel-mounted paddles that are provided. Overall, a cracking effort.

What's outside today 19 - a load of Smarts

Actually, this was yesterday, rather than today, and this is the scene outside the Hotel du Vin in Bristol, the location of the launch for the Smart For Two, rather than my usual gaff.


This one is the slightly hairy Brabus version - there were two LHD examples to try.


I was able to take away what is expected to be the big seller in the range - a Passion - for the Verdict test and completed most of the testing with our readers down in Devon and Somerset yesterday. To be honest, I'm not too keen on the Brabus, which I think is a bit pointless, but the basic car is excellent; it's extremely roomy for two people and although this new version represents a consolidation of the Smart concept rather than a big leap forward, it still contains an awful lot of clever thinking.

Wheelwobble wallflowers 1 - smart forfour

This occasional series highlights likable cars that have struggled to get noticed in today's crowded market.

First up is the smart forfour (lower case intentional). Smart announced in April 2006 that it was discontinuing this model after just two years and 100,000 units sold. I have fairly fond memories of the forfour, partly because it was the first car I covered for the Independent's 'Verdict' test almost three years ago.



Here's some background. Smart launched its original tiny two-door model in 1998 and by the early nineties, it was looking to expand its range; one extra model was the smart roadster, which had a similar rear/mid-engined layout to the original but dressed up in a sports car body.

But the big departure from the original smart concept came with the forfour. In terms of its exterior styling, this looked just as funky as the other models, but under the skin, it was a much more conventional affair. Its fairly standard front-wheel drive layout was shared with the Mitsubishi Colt and the two cars were built in the same Dutch factory.

This fact prompted some to complain that the forfour wasn't a 'proper' Smart. Now I'm normally the first to grumble about the diluted pedigrees that widespread part sharing has produced in modern cars but I think that the criticism was unfair in this case. Of course the forfour wasn't as technically adventurous as the other smarts but when it was discontinued, the company was still only a few years old, so there was no entrenched tradition of what constituted a 'proper' smart to be violated. And at least some versions of the forfour did have more smarty features than they were given credit for; the diesels and the cheapest petrol-powered models had characterful three cylinder engines, just like the original; the diesel, in particular had an appealingly fruity sound to it.

An interesting post-script to the forfour story is that around the time it was announced that this model would be discontinued, Smart's partner Mitsubishi introduced the 'i'. In concept, at least, this was precisely the car some of the critics said the forfour should have been; it took a smart-style compact rear/mid-engined mechanical package and used it in a larger four-door, four-seat body.

Mitsubishi brought some 'i's to the UK last year to gauge reaction to the concept, and it does now look as though the car will reach the British market before too long.