| DALES FOLK |  | | | PICK OF THE PAST | | | READERS' LETTERS | | | COUNTRYFILE | | | | CARTOONS | | |
|
|
|
How smart are you?
 |
| Smart |
The smart car - never has a vehicle divided public opinion quite so sharply.
To some, it's the perfect people's car, a class-less vehicle which is perfect in the town or city, and almost as much at home on motorway journeys.
To others, it's a restricted silly-looking car which limits passengers and can only carry a minimal amount of luggage and which has a bizarre gear system.
In truth, both views are accurate. The smart - lower case, if you accept the company's branding - first appeared in 1998 and quickly achieved cult status.
It was popular, mainly with young city types who wanted an easy-to-drive car which was cost effective and safe. In fact, 70 per cent of smart buyers are under 40. No other car attracts so many young people.
The new smart has changed a little. It has a slightly longer wheelbase which makes the ride a little less choppy and the dash is more swish, less utilitarian. smart say it's more masculine. I'm not sure I buy that, but it is certainly more grown-up.
It is a great car, albeit with one or two limitations. No car manages to squeeze such space into a very small box. It is 2,695mm long which is tiny compared to a Ford Ka at 3,620mm, yet you have ample room in the front.
It's such a tall car that it feels positively spacious, which is remarkable.
The ride and handling is acceptable for such a small car but for me the biggest problem is the semi-automatic gearbox which is simply too jerky. It is impossible to drive the smart without appearing like a rookie driver.
There are plenty of good reasons to buy a smart and very few real drawbacks. If you want fun and funky commuting on a budget, and you only need two seats and room for a briefcase, why pay more for a less interesting car?
It's pretty well equipped. All Smarts come with CD systems, central locking and stability programmes and you can have satellite navigation for £330 or alloy wheels for £350. Actually, the alloy wheels aren't bad value and are worth considering as the steel wheels look a little drab.
I can't for the life of me think why you would want one of the more expensive Smarts. They cost more than £9,000 for the Passion and the sporty Brabus is ridiculous at £13,000.
smart for two Coupe PurePRICE: £7,290. What Car says pay you could expect to pay £7,082ENGINE: 899cc, three cylinder in-line unit generating 71bhpPERFORMANCE: Top speed 90mph, 0-60 in 13.3 secs
COSTS: Urban 46.3mpg; extra-urban 70.6mpg; combined 60.1mpgEMISSIONS: 116g/km
WARRANTY: Two yearsINSURANCE: Group 1
6:14am Friday 30th November 2007
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
