What is it?
It's the new Smart Fortwo, fitted with the 'Twinamic' dual-clutch automatic transmission and a 0.9-litre three-cylinder turbocharged 89bhp petrol engine.
We've driven this car abroad previously, during which it proved to be an agile and competent city car, but now we've had the opportunity to try it on UK roads – albeit still in left-hand drive form.
In 'Proxy' trim, as tested here, the Smart is a well equipped car. It comes with climate control, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, cruise control, lane keeping assistance, heated seats, a panoramic roof and sports suspension as standard.
It'll set you back £12,615 in this specification, with the turbocharged engine and automatic transmission, which is a hefty chunk of money for a small city car.
A similarly specified Volkswagen Up will cost you £11,890, though, so the Smart's pricing isn't entirely outrageous. The Up does come with sat-nav and DAB, mind, but it isn't offered with climate control. The Fortwo is also much smaller and more distinctive.
What's it like?
The new Smart Fortwo is full of character and fun to drive. The eager turbocharged engine delivers more than enough power to propel the car with vigour, and even overtaking from 60mph doesn't require a huge amount of forward thinking.
The gearbox, now a six-speed dual-clutch automatic instead of the old five-speed automated manual found in previous generations of the Smart, does a decent job. The take-up of power is usually swift, while gearchanges are dispatched quickly and smoothly.
It can still be caught out from time to time, though. For example, if you coast up to a roundabout and then open the throttle again, it can linger while it decides what to do, before dropping into gear all too obviously.
The only thing that really lets the Smart down is steering that's devoid of feel or additional weighting at speed. It's fast and precise enough, and you acclimatise to its responses eventually, but it takes the edge off what could otherwise be a more engaging experience.
Its brakes, too, could do with a little tweak. The pedal is soft at the top of its travel and there's no real response initially, which is ideal for avoiding excessive braking applications at lower speeds but not particularly confidence-inspiring when you're driving a little faster.
The sports suspension is quite firm and occasionally causes the Smart to bounce around on rougher roads. At no point is it uncomfortable or jarring, though, and it didn't feel inappropriate. The car is quite settled at motorway speeds, too, only occasionally wandering and requiring a little corrective input – but it's by no means tiring.
During our cross-country test the Fortwo returned an indicated 43.2mpg, and it's likely a higher figure could be achieved without difficulty. Even at that average you'd still cover 332 miles on a tank of fuel, which is more than enough for such a small car.
Inside the Smart is well designed and finished to a high standard, with good-quality materials throughout. The driving position is comfortable, even during longer trips, and the cabin is even quite quiet on the motorway. Only a little wind noise from the trailing edge of the door, and the lack of a place to put your phone near the USB connection, mars the overall appeal of the cabin.
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All auto boxes have this problem
I don't think the frontal styling is anything like as neat as the previous versions. A classic case of safety legislation spoiling things, although I'm sure that if there were the will, or the money, a way round that stubby front end could have been found.
The vw up is probably a
Sounds good