Topic: First Drive: 2016 Smart ForTwo

[Blueprint]

Drove a 2nd-gen smart in a comparo, and it was a handful at 120km/h on the highway. Glad to see they cured that with the 3rd gen, but oh that nose!

In typical comparo driving (idling, pictures, leaded feets, etc.), we got 10 l/100km out of it.

Cherry on the sundae: the turbo mill uses premium gas.

ps  guys, it's "smart fortwo" in smallcaps.

[SaskSpecV]

I love small cars - but it seems that the ONLY thing the Smart has going for it is size.  That's it.  It's an expensive small car with pretty much no other redeeming qualities that I can find.

True, but if a person is values the tiny size, then the other subcompacts just don't compare - regardless of their price. 

There's few places in NA where a Smart makes logical sense.  But where it does make sense (congested city core), it makes a lot of sense. People pay thousands and thousands of extra dollars for upgraded engines or suspensions that they may rarely, if ever, fully utilise. So it's really not ludicrous for someone living in downtown Boston, Chicago, or SF to pay a little more money for a vehicle with a ridiculously small turning circle / exceptionally easy parking, which will be useful every single day.  And the rest of us will make the logical choice and get a Micra, Fit, or Versa!

At least this gen Smart Car has an acceptable engine and not-awful transmission - MB engineers must have totally mailed it in on the previous version.

[johngenx]

In typical comparo driving (idling, pictures, leaded feets, etc.), we got 10 l/100km out of it.

 

That's ridiculous!

[SailFastSimon]

... the rest of us will make the logical choice and get a Micra, Fit, or Versa!

Hoo boy, Toyota's Yaris just ain't getting any love in this thread!

[dkaz]

You guys got my hopes up. There is no stick shift forTwo.

[JohnM]

"In Europe, where parking is a giant pain and urban centres were never designed to accept cars in the first place, the ForTwo makes perfect sense"

What makes this different from the gridlock which pervades Canada's major cities?  If all personal transport were required to meet the Smart form factor, traffic would move vastly better and a lot of people would get 40 minutes a day of their lives back.  That is until they let in another million immigrants to feed the machine.  It is a lot easier to get around in the European cities I've been in due to their transit and the recognition that cars and density don't mix.  Smaller size cars would help a lot but cars of any size in high numbers simply don't work in large and dense urban areas.

In any case, I see many more Smarts outside of the GTA in small towns and cities so it isn't just a city car.  A hoot on secondary roads.

Cheers,
John M.

[chignectohead]

What Brendan left out:

This new SmartforTwo is a Renault Twingo with a foot hacked out of the wheelbase.

It is not a Mercedes, especially this new and ugly one. Renault, who is Nissan, and who make the Micra, in one more instance of the Mercedes-Renault Nissan Alliance, decided the Twingo should be rear-engine, rear wheel drive.

What luck then, that the original Smart was the same layout. So now Mercedes could knock together some CKD kits in their Smart factory, tack on the awful styling outer skin and pretend this new Smart was all their own. The details are all on the web on European sites. Here it's a secret to justify the price.

So you can now purchase a cheap Renault at a premium price with a rear engine and suspect crosswind behaviour.

If you are completely out of your mind, that is.

[vasyapirh]

Looks better, but still wondering why someone would choose this over a Nissan Micra

I test drove Micra. Engine was too loud at 60 km/h, and car was too rough. I get that it is cheapest but It was just too slow, too loud and too hard even for $13K out of the door...

[johngenx]

Looks better, but still wondering why someone would choose this over a Nissan Micra

I test drove Micra. Engine was too loud at 60 km/h, and car was too rough. I get that it is cheapest but It was just too slow, too loud and too hard even for $13K out of the door...

And the Smart is quieter and faster and less rough?   

[jyarkony]

ps  guys, it's "smart fortwo" in smallcaps.

Pretty sure it's a proper noun... though i keep changing my mind about the T vs t. Fortwo looks weird to me, but ForTwo seems wrong too... No-win situation.

[dirtyjeffer]

ps  guys, it's "smart fortwo" in smallcaps.

Pretty sure it's a proper noun... though i keep changing my mind about the T vs t. Fortwo looks weird to me, but ForTwo seems wrong too... No-win situation.

nope, the brand name is "smart" (all lower case).

the model is "fortwo" (also all lower case).

http://www.thesmart.ca/ca/en/index.html

[jyarkony]

ps  guys, it's "smart fortwo" in smallcaps.

Pretty sure it's a proper noun... though i keep changing my mind about the T vs t. Fortwo looks weird to me, but ForTwo seems wrong too... No-win situation.

nope, the brand name is "smart" (all lower case).

the model is "fortwo" (also all lower case).

http://www.thesmart.ca/ca/en/index.html

Feel free to treat it however you want to on your site... 

[dirtyjeffer]

Feel free to treat it however you want to on your site... 

not trying to be a dick or anything...i just figured the manufacturer would likely prefer their brand and model are mentioned accurately in the review.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Feel free to treat it however you want to on your site... 

not trying to be a dick or anything...i just figured the manufacturer would likely prefer their brand and model are mentioned accurately in the review.

[Chet]

It seems a lot of you don't 'get' the fortwo - that's OK, just don't beat it to death with your opinions. There's a lot of things I don't get either:

1) Spending $80,000 - $100,000 on a tricked out 4X4 that never goes off road.
2) Super high performance cars that never see the track or at least 30km above the posted speed limit
3) Ultra luxury SUV's that have off road performance capabilities beyond where they will ever go (or where their tires will let them).
4) The Man-Bun http://www.manbunhairstyle.net/
5) The hype surrounding every new Apple product launch.

The list goes on and on. I don't dwell on them. I let them go knowing that my preferences/needs/desires etc. are different than everyone else.

The smart fortwo has a loyal following in Canada and the US (when was the last time you saw a Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris or Nissan Micra Rally? - I will give Nissan a nod for the Micra Cup...), plus it is a very viable means of alternative transportation as evidenced by the sheer number of Go Cars seen in the Vancouver area.

Do some reading on the smart forums, follow the smarts down to The Tail of The Dragon and other interesting parts of North America. There are a lot of smart drivers who are out there just having fun and putting a smile on thier faces...

Vehicle ownership is not strictly about economics, there is invariably some element of emotion involved in the purchase - and emotion rarely if ever makes sense.

[Ontariodriver]

RWD.

I don't think thats even on the minds of most people.  I don't know why they don't bring over the smart ForFour. Anyways - 20,000 for a smart or a Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Ford Focus.......Lets see now.....