Gingerjo’s Blog

I’ve had my smart fortwo for just over 5 months now so I’m familiar with all it’s little quirks.  I promised a review, err, well, 5 months ago, but hey, better late than never - so here it is …

Town and City

It’s just great. It’s nippy through traffic and you can always find a parking space.  The automatic gearbox is a godsend - no more changing up and down, up and down, up and down, stopping completely then changing up and down again.  It takes a few weeks to learn clutch control when you don’t have a clutch (I guess I should call it accelerator control really) but you soon get the hang of it.  I used to miss gears a lot when I was tired and on the way home from work - that’s jusr not a issue anymore.

The only problem is speed bumps - you have to go really slowly over them or it gets very upset - hit one at more than 10 mph and an angry red light comes on and flashes at you, then you lose power for a moment.  There is a certain joy to be had, however, in going really slowly through suburbia building up a little following of BMWs and Urban 4×4s.  I like to think of it as a public service - it makes the streets much safer for children as they are less likely to get run over by some git in a VW Touareg.

Motorways and Dual Carriageways

OK, I admit it - it’s hard work.  But no worse than my old Metro which I loved dearly and went all over the country in.  Besides, it helps keep you awake.  Driving my old Fiesta was immensely dull and boring, but my smart car is the absolute opposite. You’re in contact with the road and it helps make going on the journey as satisfying as actually reaching the destination. You can cruise at 70mph quite happily.  Not that I’ve tried it of course but you can also cruise at 86mph quite happily too.  How fast do you want to go for Christ’s sake? 

Twisting Roads and Hills

Now all the reviews I’ve read about smart cars complain they they lose power going uphill and that they don’t corner very well.  Obviously the reviewers have never taken their smarts to Snowdonia.  I learned to drive on twisting country lanes and am fully aware of the pitfalls of this type of driving.  At some point you will come round a corner too fast only to discover a sheep in the middle of the road, or worse still another vehicle.  Usually you are lucky and only lose a wing mirror to the stone wall.

I took my smart car up the Nantlle-Rhyd Ddu pass and through Beddgelert to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Only once did I have to drop into second gear to climb a hill and that was on a very tricky corner.  I dare say if I knew the road well I could do it in third. I’d say the smart’s performance was easily comparable with that of a 1000cc engined typical small car under the same conditions.  The smart fortwo has one major advantage though - it’s shorter and narrower than any other car.  This means that you have more road to play with - you don’t have to slow down as often to make sure there’s enough room for you and the on-coming car to pass eachother.  And you can always find a passing place as there will always be a curve in the wall or a gateway big enough for you and no-one else.  I’m not saying the smart car would be the perfect vehicle for a camping trip to Wales, but it would certainly do the job if you chose to stay in a guest house.

Obviously tight corners on fast roads (for instance motorway slip roads) are a different story.  Smart cars really don’t go round corners quickly on a fast road. Fortunately, there aren’t that many tight corners these days.

As an addendum to the section on Dual Carriageways I also took my fully laden smart car up the monstrous Rhuallt hill on the A55, a stretch of road that burns an incredible amount of fuel in only a mile or two. My little smart went up it quite happily maintaining a solid 60 mph all the way to the top without me braying it (the pedal did not touch the metal).  This isn’t far off the performance of my Fiesta on the same stretch and better than my old Metro ever managed bless his little soul.

Fuel Economy

I haven’t bothered to work it out officially, but I reckon I get around 10 miles per litre out of my Smart which is about 45 miles per gallon.  This is nowhere near the 60 mpg claimed by Smart, but then I ain’t exactly slow away from the lights. My driving style isn’t conducive to good fuel economy.  My old Fiesta would only do about 30 mpg (they’re supposed to do 45) and the Metro was even worse.  Besides, it’s quite gratifying when you can fill your car up for less than £25. When the tank is nearly empty the display tells you how many litres you have left so you know whether you’ve enough petrol left to get home or if you have to fill up NOW.  To be honest though, I love my smart car so much that it could do only 2 miles to the gallon and I’d still drive it.

Bad Weather

OK, if it’s windy you get blown all over the road. If you’re going anywhere that you’ll have to face cross-winds at speed just make sure your petrol tank’s full and that you’ve got a bag of concrete in the boot.  The extra weight helps keep you on the road.  As I said it’s no worse than my old Metro.

Shopping

Now for the really important bit. How much shopping can you fit in a smart car.  Loads - I easily fit a week’s shopping for two in the boot - it’s just not an issue.  The passenger seat slides forward if you need a bit more room, still leaving plenty room for the passenger and if you’re short, like me, there’s room behind the driver’s seat too. 

Storage

There’s isn’t a glovebox which is a bit annoying, but there is a little drawer underneath the stereo where you can fit loads of CDs - I keep them in those little plastic wallets.  A CD holder is available as an optional extra if you really must.  You can also buy a cup holder (for £20!!). That would actually be quite handy though - I must get round to buying one. In fairness, you don’t buy a Smart car if what you need is space.

Gadgets

Well, you can have bigger speakers fitted and a 6 CD-changer installed under the seat…

The standard stereo is pretty pants really - CD only (no mp3) and tiny little tweaters that you can’t hear if you’ve got the fan on. The fan is pretty rubbish too - the car steams up really badly when it’s raining (especially if you have a passenger) and the fan on full heat barely demists the windows, but somehow manages to roast you (and your passenger).  Equally in the summer (not that we’re having one this year) the fan on full cold manages to blast you with warm air.  I like it warm though.

Did I mention you can buy a cup holder?

Overall

I love my smart car.  It’s the best thing I’ve ever bought. It has so much soul and personality it’s like driving everywhere with your best mate.  I can no longer contemplate having children because I don’t ever want to have to go back to driving a normal car with a clutch and all those seats everywhere. I smile everytime I see it - I just want to give it a big hug. 

It’s not perfect, as I said, the speakers and fan are rubbish, but I could have bigger speakers and aircon fitted if it bothered me that much.  You have to go over speed bumps slowly, but then so does my friend who drives a Porche.  Perhaps that’s one of the things that makes a smart car as much fun to drive as a Porche.  It doesn’t go nearly as fast obviously, and it doesn’t go round corners very quickly either, but you do have that same connection to the road. You can feel the lumps and bumps and corners and textures.  Most modern cars are like driving around in a big sofa - you could be anywhere and it’s easy to lose concentration, to forget where you are, to forget you’re driving a potentially lethal missile.

But you never forget you’re driving a smart car - every journey is an event, a joy and a pleasure.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 11:39 am and is filed under Rampant Consumerism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.