Find Reviews by Make
 |
Introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1997, the smart Fortwo quickly became a staple on the streets of Paris, Rome, Barcelona and London. It took over a decade, but the United States joined the smart party in 2008. The smart project was started by Swiss watch maker Swatch who turned the plans over to Mercedes-Benz for production. The name smart is an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART. |
By
Martin Schwoerer on November 2, 2007
The Smart ForTwo isn't so much a small car as a short one. At just eight feet from stem to stern, it’s by far the shortest car on the market. What's the difference between small and short? A small car can stay low to the ground to achieve excellent handling and fuel economy. A short car only excels at one thing: unmetered parallel parking. The first-generation Smart proved the point. As reviewed on TTAC, it was a noisy, slow, poor-handling, stiff-legged, bouncy and crashy car with meh mileage. So, Daimler says it’s rectified the first-gen's faults. Is Version 2.0– headed stateside in 2008– ready for prime time?
Smart ForTwo Review Car Review Rating
By
Lesley Wimbush on August 17, 2006
Since the late 90’s, hundreds of thousands of smart cars found homes in European towns, villages and apartments. I first encountered the smart fortwo at my tribe’s annual Testfest. Canada’s finest motoring hacks caned the diminutive machine on highways, byways, roads and racetrack, where one burly journalist declared the smart as much fun as a fart in a wetsuit. And now the butt of a thousand headline puns is headed your way America, thanks to the otherwise sane metal movers at The United Auto Group.
By
Robert Farago on December 9, 2001
Speed matters. So does size. A Lamborghini Murcielago can crest 200mph on an autobahn, but it’s slower than a pair of roller skates down a busy city street. Enter Mercedes’ chic new SMART car. It’s tiny– small enough to dart through any gap wider than an NFL lineman. It’s quick– well, “nippy”. It uses less fuel than a John Deere lawn mower. In fact, the SMART should be an urban driver’s dream come true. It isn’t.
Recent Comments
geozinger - Come to the darkside… ;) No, I’m with you, I like the styling of the Volt better than the Cruze.
kaleun - People on both sides always make the mistake of thinking EVs would or wouldn’t replace ICE. There will be along time where EVs and ICE will...
mtymsi - The only question is when the Chinese will begin selling in the U.S. It’s not that far off, maybe 5 years...
Aqua225 - I am not going to say there is no slot for the air car. However, I can fully agree with the efficiency analysis. Anyone with a aircompressor...
mtymsi - Just further proves the point that EVs are a long ways away from replacing ICE vehicles. Hybrids are ready to gain considerable marketshare as the price...
kaleun - They needed to study that compressed air is less efficient than batteries? non-adiabatic (since we will lose the heat in such small...
B10er - I don’t know what all the fuss is about regarding a front wheel drive BMW. I’ve owned more BMWs than any other car, and currently...
tedward - Mini is going nowhere, that bit was included merely as bait for a too-easy argument so I will ignore it. I do think it would be mildly...
geozinger - @panzerfaust: The Cobalt SS is competitively priced against it’s competition, i.e. Mazda 3 Speed, or VW GTI. To compare the top of the line Cobalt...
NulloModo - In a recent study, Ford found out that over 80% of people, when they tow, tow less than 4500 lbs. As far as payload capacity goes, the Raptor is rated for a little...