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By Steven Cole SmithOrlando Sentinel
December 15, 2007
Looking like a Shriner who lost his parade, I spent a week driving a 2008 Smart ForTwo, answering questions that usually ended only when I drove away. "How many clowns can you fit in that thing?" (One, besides me.) "The golf course is that way!" (Ha ha!) "It gets like what, a hundred miles per gallon?" (No, maybe 40.) And my favorite: "Man, don't you worry about being smushed between a couple of 18-wheelers?" (Well, I didn't until this very second.) As you likely know, the Smart ForTwo is a beyond-tiny car that has been sold in Europe and elsewhere for years, but only now is coming to the United States, thanks to distributor Roger Penske, the zillionaire who owns NASCAR and IRL race teams, and a bunch of new car dealerships, and is the Penske in Penske truck rentals. The Smart is made by a division of Mercedes-Benz at a factory in France. We'll get three basic versions here: The bare-bones Pure ($12,240), the midlevel Passion ($14,240) and the Passion Cabrio convertible ($17,240). All are powered by a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder, 71-horsepower engine that sits in the back, beneath the floor of the luggage compartment. Inside, these are two-seaters, period. A Mini Cooper is more than three feet longer. You can reach around and touch the back window, which is the rear of the car. Under the hood up front are receptacles for windshield fluid and such, no real room for cargo. The test car was a Passion, which comes with a tinted plastic roof and air conditioning, and had a few other options. In general, I like small cars: We own a Mini. And while I am not particularly taken with the Smart, it really doesn't have that much to do with size. More with the grabby, unpredictable brakes; the darty, go-kart-like steering and that transmission. Sequential transmissions of this sort act like automatics but are really more like manual transmissions that shift for themselves. Leave the Smart transmission in automatic mode, and punch the accelerator, and the transmission shifts so abruptly that you literally rock forward in the seat. Soon you learn that it's smoother to shift manually, using the little paddles on the steering wheel, and modulating the throttle between shifts. Smoother, but no more fun. What was fun is parking wherever you want, turning around in a space that would challenge a motorcycle, and getting good fuel mileage. Good, not great, given what you are giving up: The EPA rating is 33 miles per gallon in the city, 40 mpg on the highway. There are a lot of things to like about the Smart ForTwo: Its attitude, its safety equipment even on the base Pure (stability control, antilock brakes, four air bags), and the fact that its mostly interchangeable parts allow owners to customize a car to their tastes. But the choppy ride, abrupt handling and grumpy engine sort of rained on the Smart's parade, for me at least. I have a feeling that in a year or two, we'll be seeing some low-mileage Smarts on used-car lots, after the novelty wears off. And I couldn't help but think how this really isn't such a great deal. A 2008 Hyundai Accent GS, with a premium package and an automatic transmission, lists for $14,245, and it's a real car, with a back seat, 40 more horsepower and two more air bags, for about $750 less than the ForTwo Passion test car. But the Hyundai isn't particularly cute, and nobody points when you go by. Which brings us to my final observation after a week in a Smart: I could never figure out if they were laughing at me or with me. Sentinel Automotive Editor Steven Cole Smith can be reached at scsmith@orlandosentinel.com.
Find a USED 2008 ForTwo for SaleFind used car inventory in your area.
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