PLUSES: Small size means it fits in tight places most vehicles can only hope to enter. High mileage. Low price. Stability and traction control plus side air bag curtains standard.
MINUSES: Seats only two. Limited cargo capacity. Makes 18 wheelers look like a mountain approaching in the rear view mirror. Bigger cars have similar mileage.
Less than smooth shifting.
It was only a few years ago that many of the nations tree huggers were predicting that every driveway, parking lot, and paved road in America would soon be covered with the micro mini 2-seater Smart car.
Yes, Smart was tiny, so small, in fact, the two fit between the line in a single parking place in the mall lot, whether parked bumper to bumper behind one another or parked door to door when placed side by side.
But with gas prices topping the $4 a gallon mark and sure to reach leap over the $5 a gallon mark at any moment, conservationists preached that the 33 m.p.g. city and 41 m.p.g. highway rating on the Smart was the answer to reducing this country's reliance on foreign oil.
When testing a 2011 Smart coupe, we were the only Smart on roads still filled with full size SUVs and pickup trucks, large and midsize family sedans, and a number of gas/electric hybrids---even though gas prices had topped $4 a gallon.
Smart was considered cute and cuddly when it first came out in the U.S. in January of 2008, and still is considered cute and cuddly now. But the car isn't at the top of most folks shopping lists.
In fact, Daimler just announced that it was going to take over the distribution of the Smart car lineup from Roger Penske, whose Penske Automotive Group of more than 300 dealers sold 41 brands of cars throughout the U.S.---Smart included.
Daimler's luxury Mercedes-Benz operations will start handling the sale of Smart cars by late this summer, either at Mercedes stores, or at Smart stores owned by Mercedes dealers. Smart stores owned by non Mercedes-Benz dealers will no longer sell the nameplate.
Smart attracted attention not only because of its size, but because it was powered by a teeny 70 horsepower, 1 liter, three cylinder engine.
The Smart fortwo coupe claimed a top speed of 90 m.p.h. and a 0 to 60 m.p.h.
acceleration of 12.8 seconds. Not sure we have the guts to take it up to 90 m.p.h., although with it taking nearly 13 seconds to reach 60 m.p.h. from a standing start, we aren't sure we'd have the time to attempt it either.
Sadly, in switching distribution channels, Daimler said it has abandoned plans Penske made to expand the Smart coupe lineup to include a 4-door sedan created in cooperation with Nissan that was to bow later this year. Instead, Daimler is going to proceed with a plan to produce a 4-door in cooperation with Renault that is expected out in 2014 at the earliest.
As for the current car, the Smart fortwo is offered in pure, passion, and passion cabriolet (softtop) versions. Prices are respectable, with the base pure starting at only $12,490, the passion coupe at $14,690, and the passion cabriolet at $17,690.
We tested the passion coupe which has made some upgrades for 2011, such as the addition of new alloy wheels for the 15 inch all season radials, new fabric trim for the instrument panel and seats or the choice of leather in a $950 comfort package for the passion.
There's also a new storage box that swings out from along the floor near the passengers left foot for a convenient place to keep things, a new clip attachment to the glove box door to hold pictures, notes, directions, or the shopping list, new net seat pockets fore storage between the seats, as well as the addition of side air bag curtains and knee bolsters for occupant safety.
And you can't fault other standard equipment items, such as stability plus traction control to keep the car pointed in the right direction, along with a polycarbonate material sunroof that looks like glass and stretches nearly the entire length of the roof for a generous overhead view of the outdoors and make the cabin feel extra open and spacious and not cramped.
Climate control, power windows, heated mirrors, power locks, reasr widnow wiper/defroster, AM/FM radio with USB and auxiliary plugs for MP3, CD, or iPod are all standard.
Smart says the big change for 2011 is that the automated manual transmission, basically a 5-speed manual that shifts on its own without need for you to depress a clutch pedal, is much smoother than it had been. When first we drove a Smart a few years back, you and the car would lurch sharply forward each time the transmission changed gears, almost as if riding a bucking bronco, not piloting a motorized vehicle.
Smart revised the electronic software to reduce the amount of lurching or bucking. It's not gone entirely, especially when moving from first to second gear, but the movement isn't going to knock you hat off like it was prone to do in the past.
Still, you have to accept that you are in a 1 liter, 3 cylinder car that develops 70 h.p. You are going to spend most of your time on the road looking at exhaust pipes. The reward is a 33 m.p.g. city/41 m.p.g. highway mileage rating and more than 300 miles of driving range before need to refill the tank.
While 33/41 was very good reason to check out a Smart a few years ago when gas prices topped the $4 a gallon mark, others now have made great strides in increasing fuel economy in larger size packages.
The 2011 model 2-seater micro mini Smart Passion gets 33 m.p.g. in the city and
41 m.p.g. on the highway, but the 2011 model 5-seater midsize Ford Fusion gas/electric gets 41 m.p.g. city and 36 m.p.g. highway and is considerably larger and more comfortable and quiet.
Smart, by the way, is built on a 73.5 inch wheelbase and is 106.1 inches long overall. Fusion is built on a 107.4 inch wheelbase and is 190.6 inches long. That means Fusion's wheelbase, its hub to hub measure, is 1.3 inches greater than Smart's overall bumper to bumper length.
Smart came out as a small, high mileage vehicle and has stayed that way while others started out as larger, low mileage vehicles but upgraded to higher mileage without sacrificing size.
By the time Smart gets a larger 4-door sedan in 2014, Fiat will have time to establish its new mini Fiat 500 that's just gone on sale now in the U.S. and BMW will have time to upgrade its MINI Countryman even more.
Smart still can play a role for Mercedes by contributing a high mileage offering to the luxury nameplate at a time when the federal government is demanding automakers deliver higher mileage from their vehicle fleet in the near future.
That's why Smart is going to start testing a battery powered Smart electric coupe in the 2012 model year using a fleet of 250 lithium ion battery powered Smart coupes available for lease.
2011 Smart Passion coupe
Wheelbase: 73.5 inches
Length: 106.1 inches
Engine: 1 liter, 70 h.p., three cylinder.
Transmission: 5-speed automated manual.
Mileage: 33 m.p.g. city/41 m.p.g. highway.
Base price: $14,690.
Price as equipped: Add $390 matte green paint, $950 comfort package with heated leather seats, power steering, and fog lamps, $200 anti-theft alarm, $80 arm rest, $190 ambient lighting, $30 center console storage box, and $750 freight.
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