MCC Smart & passion

~ ~ The mad cabbie has been aware of these new 'mini' cars for quite some time now, but never had the opportunity to drive one until recently, as they didn't have a distributor here in Ireland. Thus any Smarts on Irish roads were either imports from the UK or the Continent, or driven by visitors to the Emerald Isle.
That has now changed, and Smart cars are now on offer to the Irish public through 5 dealerships here in Dublin, and one or two ...
...really only became aware of just how popular these little dinky cars had become when on holiday over in Rome in June of this year. (2003)
It seems like every second car on the Roman streets these days is a Smart.
I got a great laugh while sitting having an espresso at a pavement café. A very smartly dressed young Italian male in a Gucci suit (or something similar) pulled up near where I was sitting, and proceeded to park his shiny new ... more

~ ~ The mad cabbie has been aware of these new 'mini' cars for quite some time now, but never had the opportunity to drive one until recently, as they didn't have a distributor here in Ireland. Thus any Smarts on Irish roads were either imports from the UK or the Continent, or driven by visitors to the Emerald Isle.
That has now changed, and Smart cars are now on offer to the Irish public through 5 dealerships here in Dublin, and one or two others throughout the country.

~ ~ I really only became aware of just how popular these little dinky cars had become when on holiday over in Rome in June of this year. (2003)
It seems like every second car on the Roman streets these days is a Smart.
I got a great laugh while sitting having an espresso at a pavement café. A very smartly dressed young Italian male in a Gucci suit (or something similar) pulled up near where I was sitting, and proceeded to park his shiny new Smart nose in to the pavement in a space hardly big enough to take the average pushbike!
He then disembarked, all the time talking a dime to the dozen into his mobile phone, which seemed to be permanently attached to his ear.
Into the tiny boot of his Smart, and out came an equally tiny pop-up electric scooter, and off down the pavement he went. No doubt to meet up with his equally smartly dressed Italian girlfriend.

~ ~ The reason I mention this story in relation to Smart cars is that the manufacturers (Mercedes) would appear to have targeted the young, single person as the most likely purchasers of one of these vehicles. In much the same way as Austin Morris/British Leyland targeted the youngsters back in the 1960's with the now legendary Mini.
What surprises me is that they took so long to catch onto the fact that they have such a HUGE potential market here in Ireland. About 88% of Irish youth in the 20 to 30 year-old age bracket are single, rising to a staggering 91% in Co. Dublin.
And if you are aged under 26 here in Ireland, it's practically impossible to get insurance for ANY vehicle at a price that doesn't involve you in having to rob a bank to raise the necessary spondoolicks. (Cash)
So the Smart car, with it's tiny, three-cylinder, 599cc engine offers an ideal opportunity for Irish youngsters to take to the highways, with low price insurance premiums. (Well, lower than normal insurance premiums)
Car tax here in Ireland also varies depending on the size of the engine. The larger the engine, the more car tax you pay. So again, the Smart is ideal for the young motorist, as it costs buttons to tax it for a year. (Under €80)

~ ~ OK. So we've ascertained that the Smart is an ideal buy for a young motorist in terms of running costs. But really, that's not a lot of use if the car itself is an absolute dog that makes you wish you'd never given up using the old pushbike!
And you also have to take into consideration the actual purchase price itself, which at €12,995 for the entry-level model is far from cheap!

~ ~ The car that I drove was the 54bhp "Passion" model.
The first thing that strikes you about the Smart is the styling. It really is totally unlike anything else on the road, and kind of like an updated version of the tiny "bubble cars" that went through a popular phase back in the 1950's.
Mercedes formed an unlikely partnership with the trendy Swiss watchmakers "Swatch" to come up with the design of the Smart, and they certainly managed to come up with something completely out of the ordinary and innovative.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and Ciao have now given us the facility to include pictures with our opinions. So go and have a look at the attached piccys, and you'll see what I mean.

~ ~ The Smart is a small car, and only measures 2.5 metres from nose to tail. This is just over half a meter (550mm) shorter than the original mini, but remember the mini had/has seating in the back, whereas the Smart is a two-seater.
But because it doesn't have any pretensions towards being a four/five seater, the Smart gains lots of room for its intended two passengers. (Well, one driver and one passenger)
The amount of interior space is truly amazing, and I had to bring the seat well forward in order to achieve a comfortable driving position. (I'm 5'10" tall, by the way.) So even folks who are six feet plus should have no problems getting comfortable in a Smart, especially since the headroom more than matches the legroom.
The seats are big and comfortable, and have very high backs, which are an added safety feature should you ever be unfortunate enough to be "rear ended", as they will help to prevent serious whiplash injuries.
Smart have achieved all this extra space by placing all the mechanical components underneath the passenger compartment, in a sort of "sandwich" arrangement.
Both sideways and forward visibility is excellent, as everywhere you look seems to be glass.

~ ~One of the major worries I always have when driving a small car is safety.
Put in its simplest terms, in the event of an accident there's just not so much metal between you and another vehicle, or your body and the tarmac or concrete.
The truth is, I DID feel vulnerable in the Smart, although in reality it scores fairly high in the safety ratings league. (NCAP Ratings)
Being built by a renowned car manufacturer like Mercedes helps, as they have incorporated many of the safety features that they include in their standard range, with crumple zones all around, and a "Tridion" safety cell that makes up the core of the interior. Don't ask me what "Tridion" actually means, but presumably it’s a reinforced cell that protects the driver and passenger.
The engine being underneath the car also helps in terms of safety, as it means it can't break through into the passenger compartment in the event of an accident, and thus damage your vulnerable legs and torso.
But despite the reassurances from the manufacturer in regard to safety, the truth is that I didn't feel as safe and as well protected in the Smart as I would in a normal sized saloon car. But I had just stepped out of my own very large Nissan Maxima V6, so perhaps this coloured my perception somewhat.
The body panels are all removable and recyclable incidentally, so if you get fed up of your colour scheme after a while, then you can order a new look from the manufacturer.

~ ~ Mercedes also make full use of all the available space in the interior, and the Smart comes loaded with little extras that you wouldn't really expect in such a small car. It has a stylish dashboard, which includes a speedometer, a rev-counter and a wee clock.
The front seat folds flat to give you some much-needed extra luggage and load carrying capacity, and the tailgate opens up fully by using the rather clever method of having the top window section swing upwards, while the lower section swings down towards the ground.
There wasn't that much space in the section behind the seats for carrying luggage, but I reckon I'd manage to get all my golf gear in, (at a push) and I'd certainly have no problem if I had the front passenger seat folded down.
There’s even a wee bit of extra storage space underneath the seats.
Lots of little extra goodies come as standard, including electric windows and mirrors, and air conditioning to keep you comfy in the Summer and help demist the car in the Winter. You also have remote central locking, so you don’t forget to lock up the car when you park, and an immobiliser in case some tearaway decides to try to nick it on you.
There was a decent radio/cassette player (can’t remember the make) and you can have a CD player for a small extra charge.

~ ~ So what’s the Smart like to actually drive?
The gearbox takes some getting used to, as it’s a bit of a mixture of both manual and automatic. There’s no clutch pedal, and the gears are changed electronically, either in fully automatic mode, or manually by simply clicking the gear lever forward.
Initially I drove it using the automatic change, and there was a long lag between the car selecting the gear and it actually beginning to move forward. Then it tended to leap forward with a bit of a lurch, which could easily see you up the back of the vehicle in front of you if you aren’t careful. You do get used to it after a while though, and compensate for this.
There are six forward gears, and in manual mode you are reminded what gear you are in by an electronic display on the dashboard. It’s quite clever though, as the car wont allow you to strain the engine by driving too slowly in a high gear. If you try this, then the automatic box takes over again, and changes you back down into the appropriate gear for the road speed.
I believe you can also get a "paddle" gear change mounted onto the steering wheel, but the car I drove didn't have this feature, so I can't say if it's any improvement on the ordinary gear lever.

~ ~ Performance is “adequate”, as Rolls Royce used to love to state. With a 0 to 60mph time of around 18 seconds, you’re not going to be challenging the boy racers at the traffic lights. But would you really expect to with a tiny 599cc engine? The Smart has plenty of poke to get you around in city traffic handily enough, without frustrating the guy in his 3-litre BMW sitting behind you.
And with the turbo-assisted engine, you can hold your own while cruising on the motorway or open road, with a top speed of 84mph. (It’s actually capable of more speed than this, but the top speed is electronically limited!)
The Smart has inherited many features from its 'big brother', the Mercedes "A" class. There's traction control to stop you spinning the wheels under hard acceleration, and an anti-lock braking system (ABS) to stop you getting into trouble in event of a skid.

~ ~ No power steering, but as the car is so light you could almost pick it up and stick it in your back pocket (slight exaggeration!) this isn't really necessary, and the steering is both light and very responsive. Smart have made the front tyres slightly smaller than those on the rear, and this also helps to make the steering that little bit lighter to the touch.
Road holding is grand, and it corners fairly securely, but does have a tendency to lean into the corners just a little.
The suspension is just a tad on the hard side for my own liking, and when you went over one of the many "speed bumps" which seem to have appeared just about everywhere on the Dublin city streets, the old bones got a fair old jolt!
Fuel consumption, as you would expect in a car with a (very) small engine is dramatically frugal, and even driving it hard you could realistically expect to get between 40 to 50mpg around town with ease, and more if you were on a long journey. But you will still have to visit the garage fairly often, as along with everything else in the Smart, it also has a tiny fuel tank. But at just over about 4 gallons maximum capacity it won't cost you an arm and a leg to fill it up.

~ ~ Now for the million dollar question. Would I actually consider buying one?
If I'm truthful then the answer would have to be no.
I'm a big car man to the bone, although I enjoyed the somewhat quirky looks of the Smart, and it WAS loads of fun to drive.
If I were in the market for a smaller car then I would have to go for something a little more practical for everyday use, like the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Micra, Ford Ka, or Seat Ibiza. If I were 20 or 30 years younger I might think differently though!
I feel the Smart is an ideal car for a young, single person, who wants to cut a bit of a dash and make a fashion statement, and who isn't too concerned about space for luggage. (Or family!)
Mind you, I was passed out only today by one of the new Smart sports jobs (the Roadster) on the motorway to the airport. I was doing a good 80mph in my Maxima, and it passed me as though I were standing still!
I feel another test drive coming on. (heh, heh)

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Copyright KenJ November 2003

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