Smart Fortwo (2004 – 2007) Review
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Smart Fortwo (2004 – 2007) At A Glance
Handles better than original LHD version. Funky looks, perky enough in town and low running costs.
Unsettled ride. Sluggish gearshift. Rearmost side windows leave the cabin vulnerable to theft. Some engines are short-lived.
They've been around for years. At first, enterprising independents started importing them. Then, when Mercedes Benz saw the opportunity being missed, official imports began. And, at a launch price of just £5,400 for a base model Smart & Pure, it wasn't a bad little buy.
But, for the British and Japanese markets, there was one tiny problem. The Smart was left-hand-drive only. And, the way the car was constructed, there was no way of converting it to right hand drive.
So Smart itself set about the task, and built a new floorpan that effectively mirror-images the left-hand drive car. While previously the LHD Smart was fine for use in town, and excellent for the disabled who could emerge kerbside, the RHD option opens the market to everyone. And the car makes a lot of sense.
For a start, it's only 2,500mm long (eight feet two-and-a-half inches), so takes up half the road space of an executive saloon. Very logical if there's only one of you commuting in it. Official fuel consumption for all models is 46.3mpg on the urban cycle, 65.7mpg extra-urban and 57.6 combined.
Reviews for Smart Fortwo (2004 – 2007)'s top 3 rivals
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Smart Fortwo (2004 – 2007) handling and engines
So what's it like to drive? We had a 54bhp Smart & Passion which offers either Softip self selection of gears or, at the touch of a button, Softouch fully automatic.
The Tiptronic-type Softip change takes a bit of getting used to because it's counter-intuitative (works the wrong way round), and you need to use all six gears which means a lot of gear changing. Switching to Softouch fully automatic relieves you of that chore, but returns a sluggish response and can leave you with no gears at all when trying to set off from the traffic lights (indicated by a '0' in the gear selection display). However, get it right and it has enough poke to overtake a slow-moving Volvo 440 without unnecessarily quickening your heartbeat.
From inside, you don't feel that you're driving a dinky little 8ft-long car. The passenger sits a few inches behind the driver and the cabin spaciousness makes it seem more like a mini MPV than a two-seater sportscar. It doesn't pitch forwards and backwards anything like as much as you would expect, and even the ride quality is better than the average hot hatch.
Come to a corner and, after last year's front suspension improvements, the handling is noticeably better than the early LHD Smarts. Eventually, though, you do encounter serious understeer and a sort of hopping effect, which is hardly surprising with 145/65 tyres on the front and 175/55s on the back. Amazingly, the wheels are a full 15 inches in diameter.
Smarts are a lot thicker on the ground these days. You don't get the smiles and pointed fingers of a few years ago. They're starting to be accepted as sensible urban transport rather than gimmicky and trendy. Over the next year they will begin to sell in serious numbers. If the Smart & Pure gets the Group 1 insurance rating it should get, then my 17-year-old son could be driving around in one by this time next year. I only hope he doesn't try to get sixteen of his mates inside, as demonstrated by members of the Chinese State Circus to set an official new Guinness World Record.
Model History
January 2004
Re-named Smart ForTwo and facelifted with peanut headights in early 2004.
Improved insurance groups from August 2005 put 50bhp fortwo Pure in Group 1E and 61bhp fortwo Pure and Pulse in Groupe 2E, making them starter cars for young drivers.
A Smart ForTwo has reached 339,600 miles on its original engine and transmission, with just one new clutch at 96,000 miles. Zytec Electric Smart ForTwos available for business lease, but at high £400pm due to low volume.
What to watch out for
Parallel imports sold as UK market cars.
Rearmost side windows can be prised off with bare fingers giving access to thieves. So never leave valuables in the car.
Engines can have a short life and exhaust back boxes rust inside out.
At least one instance of rear window shattering violently due to minor prior damage exposed to extreme temperature change. Replaced without demur under warranty.
Exhaust manifolds can crack and cost £380 + labour of about £300 to replace. OK if still under warranty, but a lot of money if not.
Check the CO2 certification of the car you are buying as could mean the difference between £35 and £115 annual tax.
Coil spring failure increasingly common. Failure occurs at the tops of the springs.
Smart initiated unofficial recall over this.
Knocking from the front near-side suspension has been attributed to excessive end play in the steering rack and also near-side suspension strut. This noise uniquely is evident especially on smooth roads with ridges and seams, and is annoying. It can be heard and felt through the steering wheel, and floor. Smart Car Of America Forum has featured this issue also.
If the rack is replaced ensure steering wheel is centered, Smart dealers have found this difficult to correct first time.
On some cars with side airbags there is a faulty connection onto the SRS wiring loom under both front seats. This will cause the SRS warning light to illuminate and the airbag system will be disabled. Re-route and secure the airbag cables and connectors. Sometimes Smart Centres tell owners that the only cure is a new steering wheel, at considerable cost.
Frequent oil changes essential for long engine life.
From talking to Smart mechanics, a gentle warm up until the turbo spins freely is very important. Also, the oil level is difficult to check unless on level ground. People just forget to check the oil level and if they do, over fill it.
Smarts have a persistent weakness and that is that the reluctor rings on the drive shafts rust and crack so that the ABS keeps cutting in. You can't get separate reluctor ings any more so Mercedes wants you to buy a complete drive shaft for £200 plus fitting. You can fix it yourself with Araldite and a jubilee clip.
MB/Smart replaced a pair of front springs FOC on a 2006 ForTwo, so if your front speings break all may not be lost.
05-11-2014:SEVERE WARNING that brake pipes pf Smart ForTwos are hidden behind plastic shrouds and can corrode to the extent that they leak. Not found during an MoT because the pipes are hidden.
