This is the first acceleration test carried out on the German Autobahn with the 2016 Smart Fortwo equipped with a twin-clutch gearbox and the 0.9-liter turbo engine.
It’s important because it shows what we’ve expected all along, that Smart has slightly downsized the engine and made the cars a little heavier and slower. When we drove the Fortwo at the beginning of the year, we had a 1-liter model with a 5-speed manual. It wasn’t bad, but couldn’t overtake anything and felt much slower than officially claimed.
This is a newer model fitted with a turbo 3-cylinder engine that has not only 20 extra hp but also 50% more torque. The manual has also been replaced by a 6-speed, similar to the one Renault uses on the Clio.
You’d think that a 90 horsepower turbo engine would make the Smart into a road rocket, but even though it’s tiny, the car weighs about 0.9 of a ton. The tiny engine may be powerful, but it’s not that elastic and delivers most of its power above 5,000 rpm.
This independent test carried out in Germany shows the Fortwo turbo model reaching 100 km/h in 12.9 seconds while the official number is 107 seconds. Meanwhile, the top speed of 154 km/h (96 mph) is achieved in nearly 40 seconds. Still, this DCT model is the one to buy if you can afford to because it’s the closest to the Smart ideology of offering a great town car.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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