I was barely out of my awkward teenage years when Mercedes-Benz unleashed its audacious, Pop Swatch-inspired Smart City Coupé on upwardly mobile young city types.
Having driven one back in the early noughties, I loved the original looks, valued the park-anywhere ability and giggled at the insane turning circle.
Fast-forward a couple of decades and although Pop Swatches have now been banished to the hazy memories of jaded Generation Xs, the Smart is battling not to go the same way. I’ll be living with a Fortwo for six months and am intrigued to see whether this third-generation model has tweaked its tried and tested compact car formula enough to remain a serious proposition in the fiercely competitive city car class.
I wanted a bit more oomph on tap for my occasional blasts around the M25, so I opted for the more powerful of the two engine options in the regular Fortwo: the 898cc, 89bhp turbocharged triple that also powers the Smart’s close French relative, the Renault Twingo. Rather than plumping for the five-speed manual gearbox, I’ve chosen the new six-speed dual-clutch auto to see just how much better it is than the previous generation’s clunky robotised manual. I recall that no matter how hard I tried, gearshifts were far from seamless in the old gearbox.
To keep things realistic on the price front, I’ve gone for mid-level Prime trim. On top of standard features such as air-con, cruise control, heated seats, a multifunction steering wheel and a tyre pressure monitoring system, we’ve added an £845 Premium Pack that includes heated and electrically adjustable door mirrors, rear parking sensors, a height-adjustable driver’s seat and steering wheel and a 7.0in touchscreen infotainment system with sat-nav, Bluetooth connectivity and MirrorLink for Android phones.
My tastes have also matured somewhat in the choice of colour scheme. Retina-abusing shades and fake graffiti-style body panels have been eschewed in favour of classier-looking Midnight Blue paint with a silver Tridion safety cell. One of my colleagues expressed disappointment at my decision not to go for the arresting orange and black colour combo also available, but with my motorcycling background, this would have been too reminiscent of KTM’s signature look.
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