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Fri
Oct 10 2008

Still Smarting

Chas Hallett

Our Smart's gone and I'm going to miss it. Not all of us have been smitten, mind you.

SMART-SPRICE-059 The Fortwo's much improved but still slightly jerky sequential gear shift irked quite a few of us, so did the occasionally crashy town ride.

But I've enjoyed it. I enjoyed learning how to get the best out of it  - that 'box requires some work - and I've enjoyed not taking up any more space on the road than strictly necessary. It's also got those increasingly rare commodities: uniqueness and character.

More than this I've relished having what could well be a glimpse of the future. If you take the view that more of us are going to be using 'mission specific' cars - then the Smart fits the bill.

After all, during the week I rarely need more than a two-seat tiddler to ferry me about. So no it's not perfect, but I can see something like it being a permanent fixture in my house before too long.

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About Chas Hallett

Makes all the big decisions at Autocar, including whether he’ll drive the Aston, or the Kia, home. Is currently preoccupied by small turbo petrol engines and whether the internal combustion engine is doomed.

Comments

Zeddy October 11, 2008 10:47 AM

"It's also got those increasingly rare commodities: uniqueness and character. "

Found these days increasingly only in small cars and exotica.

Ed Keohane October 13, 2008 11:17 AM

I was impressed by the vastly improved refinement and stability of the new model, but disappointed that the car had changed so much.

High-speed stability is all very well, but the increase in kerbweight and loss of ride quality really makes itself felt in the seat of your pants when you're driving on broken surfaces or - worse - over speed bumps.

Maybe Smart is right and realises that people are looking for a small, economical commuting car. In that case, fair play. But how about another city car?

RobotBoogie October 14, 2008 9:07 AM

The disappointing thing about the Smart, and it also seems to true of similar sub-supermimi cars like the Toyota iQ, is that the numbers just don't stack up. The MPG and CO2 figures are not any better than most superminis, so unless you really do want something tiny to drive in city conditions, you might a well go a Fiesta/Polo/Corsa.

Zeddy October 14, 2008 7:17 PM

RobotBoogie, have you seen the size of a Corsa?

Size can be everything in city.

The 1 litre Toyota engine in the Aygo/C1/107 can achieve 60 mpg and in sub 120 CO2 levels.

Show me the Corsa that does this for less than £8k.

RobotBoogie October 15, 2008 8:42 AM

Well, all 1.3 CDTI Corsas have figures of 62mpg and 119g/km, and if you can't get within spitting distance of £8K for one at the moment from a credit-crunch affliceted Vauxhall dealer then you're probably not trying.

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