The new fortwo - thesmartclub's TEST REPORT
 

thesmartclub was honoured to be invited to spend a weekend test driving the new smart fortwo in Madrid. 

First, some positioning.

There will be many many journalistic reports over the coming months covering the size, looks and engine specifications of this car so THIS report will take you through what it's like to own, maintain and drive this latest generation fortwo.  Our own web site already has a wealth of technical data and specifications of the forthcoming model.

So in this report, we look at the differences over the current versions, both positive and negative and hope that from a club and 'owner' or prospective owner's point of view, we answer some of the questions the other articles fail to consider.
 

• 1998 saw the 'first' generation smart produced
   
• More than 770,000 of these vehicles have been produced
   
• The new fortwo really is a second generation smart - not a facelift of the old model and remember, it's only really the UK owners that started applying 'mark' conventions to the first generation (i.e. Mark1s, Mark 2s etc).

So what about this new 'second generation' fortwo?

We think one of the most important points to note is that over the years, smart have taken note of a number of potential changes, some large, some small.  Rather than bring some of these in during phased upgrades to existing models, the newfortwo has saved up a real bag of goodies!

• the wheelbase is 55mm longer
   
• the front overhang is 72mm longer and the rear overhang is 68mm longer
   
• it's better on luggage space - the boot area can hold 220 litres (70 litres more than before) and when loaded to the roof, can hold 340 litres (that's an extra 80 litres)
   
• the cabrio has a superb heated glass rear window and the mechanical system of folding this away is a dream to watch and the side roof bars can also now be removed and stored in a storage area in the tail gate.  Really excellent.
   
• the rear comprises 4 rather than 6 light clusters
   
• the turning circle is only 8.75m which is better than any other small car on the market

there's much more too but, rather than make this report fall into the same style as any other report,  let's split this into relevant chunks ...

The extra 195mm in length really makes a difference.  A slightly longer front, more space in the rear and a stretched centre means that inner space and legroom is outstanding. Push the passenger seat back and you have to be a seriously tall individual before your feet touch the end of the passenger footwell.

Next, we have reclining seats!  Yes, at long last the seats have  a few degrees of recline available which further enhances the comfort and legroom within the cabin area.

One aspect that would have been beneficial is an adjustable steering column - we did find that there could be instances where the seating/pedal position was ideal but the wheel was not or vice versa.

The entire dashboard has been significantly redesigned and the storage area in front of the passenger is useful.  The design of the curved under surface of this dashboard mainly down to USA safety tests - we understand that passenger crash tests are carried out without a safety belt and the passenger knee area has to have a large amount of energy absorption hence the design of the underside of the dashboard. 

The only potential disadvantage we found was that in only a few dozen kilometres of popping in and out the car during the testing, one's feet could catch the underside of this dashboard and leave scuff/mud marks on the fabric.  We'd be keen to see how long it takes to have a degree of significant wear and tear on this surface over a couple of years.

On the upside however, there's a neat storage area in front of the passenger area (where the old airbag used to be) that can house your CDs or a very flat sandwich.

There have been some minor additional changes such as moving the interior light from the rear to a much more sensible (and conventional) location at the front above the rear view mirror.

Another surprise was the lack of passenger grab rail on the inner tridion - this is an omission and something that we feel should be introduced.

Sun visors are now real sun visors, proper size and effectiveness but without the ability to rotate through 90 degrees

The roof sun screen has now changed from the plastic panels to a smooth fabric pull screen.

Also good to see that the driver now has control over both passenger and driver windows

The external door handles have been rotated by 90 degrees making it more pleasing to look at and more conventional to operate

Lower the rear tailgate and you find a small pull handle on the surface - pull the handle and hey presto, additional storage in the tailgate area.

It's a totally different fortwo - simple as that.

We tested the 52kW and 62kW (71bhp and 84bhp) versions of the car.  The first word that springs to mind is 'smooth'.  The power delivery is smooth, the 1 litre engine is whisper smooth and the ride is super smooth.

smart claim that the improved gear change setup improves gear change speeds by 50% - there is no doubt it's better (and smoother) and much more refined but we'd give it a 25% improvement - nothing scientific in that analysis, just the feel of the changes itself.  At first, we thought we'd discovered a small software glitch with the gears as the car would not change up to 6th gear ... then we realised it is a 5 speed box.  OK, nothing wrong there just culturally different having been brought up with the previous 6 speed boxes.  The ratios are good with an impressive range in 1st gear.  Even in manual mode (and similar to the current gear change software on Roadsters, fortwos etc) keep the foot nailed to the floor and it'll auto upchange anyway.  A nice feature however is the ability to skip gears on the way up or down rather than sequentially waiting for each gear to engage. 

The handling however is awesome.  The latest (first generation) fortwo does handle well and is a big improvement over the early models thanks to the revised suspension setup but the new fortwo is a whole different ball game.  Throw the car into a negative camber corner and just when you expect an unpredictable front end and a pair of rear wheels that may suddenly decide to exit stage left ... nothing.  It reminded us of the Roadster in terms of 'nailing itself to the road'.  There is absolutely no doubt that this new fortwo can be driven harder and cope with much more demanding corners and conditions compared with it's predecessor.  And that is before you come on to the ESP - something that other manufacturers have still  to master or even offer in a car of this size. 

The roads used during the tests covered motorway, twisty mountain roads and some very bumpy, seriously poor road surfaces.  The car and suspension coped will with all environments and the space, peace and comfort within the cabin area really is a huge improvement.

The torque of the 62kW was good (if somewhat 'choked') and even the 52kW was impressive although it had to work hard.

A vast number of changes made with the owner in mind - now that can't be bad!

We all know that to effectively change a headlight bulb in the current fortwo you had to possess the dexterity of a practicing gynaecologist.  The great news is the introduction of the 'service panel'.  The panel stretches between the two headlights and there are two cunningly hidden levers at the top left and top right of the front grill.  Push and lift the two levers and the 'service panel' pops up.  It can then be located on two, strong, well designed catches or left to dangle on a bit of strapping.

With the panel lifted, access to bulbs and fluids is simple - in fact better on the fortwo than many other cars we can think of.  A great piece of design work. 

We are not certain if this ease of access to fluids in a car presents any security issues however ... it is not hooked into the central locking system and we fear that in less salubrious areas on our planet we have visions of this panel being removed by passers by and all sorts of things being done inside the service area (or are we just paranoid?)
 

• The new Brabus version is being launched at this year's Geneva Motor show and that is sure to be impressive
   

• The diesel version of the fortwo comes to market early summer
   

• A micro-hybrid version of the car is also due out - not a fully hybrid but a clever mixture
   

• April 2007 sees a 'limited one' being introduced.  Only 1500 coupe versions being manufactured with silver tridion and pyrite grey metallic panels and a host of internal goodies

There are a vast number of changes to the car and it's actually a real joy to drive, live with and maintain. 

There are, of course, a few minor niggles that are sure to be resolved in future facelifts but we have absolutely no hesitation is saying that it's a quantum leap forward, it's certainly now really well positioned within the market and is a 'must have' for all current and future fortwo owners.

Without a doubt, and MOST importantly, it's still a smart fortwo

thesmartclub is very proud indeed to have the opportunity to have tested the new fortwo now, well in advance of many UK journalists.  There is a whole team of people we'd like to thank personally including Heinz Gottwick, Lars Zeppenfeld, Katja Lauffer and more but equally, our thanks go to everyone at DaimlerChrysler Germany and the UK for making this possible.