Smart City Test Drive Compartment 1998 - 2002 hatchback

And ponies also horses

Smart: Little relative of Mersedes
In large cities in Europe, the vast majority of residents prefer to move in compact and legal cars. And why, in fact, carry air and suffer from parking? Ko tested the two smallest serial cars Smart and Daewoo Matiz. Based on the results of the tests, I can say that these cars are the most mobiles of all the types of individual transport I experienced. Faster in Moscow you can travel only on something two-wheeled.
In the hole Nirk, in the mink Shmyg. That is how in a nutshell I would describe my sensations from Smart the most unusual serial car of our time. The trip on this machine is more than a banal movement from point A to point B. This is a real attraction, dazzlingly bright and breathtaking.
The first thing that comes to mind at the sight of this car: Lord! But how can you fit in this tiny one?! Smart length is only 2.5 m, width 1.5 m, height 1.55 m, weight 720 kg. The machine is so compact that it can be park perpendicular to the sidewalk, and with standard placement in the area occupied by one Volga, two Smart fit. However, inside the car you do not feel at all a notorious frog in the box. Smart gives the driver and passenger a sense of safety and space. This impression arises due to a very wide torpedo: in order to reach the lower edge of the windshield, you will even have to stand a little from the chair. The internal space visually expands and due to the fact that due to the large area of \u200b\u200bglazing (even the roof of the car is made transparent), Smart is literally flooded with light.
A sense of calm inspires a car frame set. The metal elements of the loading body of the body are painted silver, which emphasizes the elements of passive safety Smart. And the interior decoration and external body panels of plastic contrast with the frame in texture and color.
In general, it feels that Smart designers climbed out of the skin so that the car from the inside was larger than outside. And they succeeded. Two adult men under 100 kg of weight, sitting in this car, will not feel in some ways infringed. There is a lot of space for baggage: small things can be cut along the niches of the dashboard, large shelves are located under the windshield, and the trunk itself can accommodate four boxes of beer. True, the designers responsible for the ergonomics of the salon forgot about people below the average. Neither the steering wheel nor the car seat is adjusted in height.
The dream has come true: a toy car is going for real
At the wheel of Smart you feel like a driver of an expensive toy car. Toy is not in size, but in spirit.
The front panel is made in the form of two curved horizontal consoles, which are united by a microclimate control unit. In the center, like small periscopes, tachometer and analog hours stick out, on the sides of the nozzle of the ventilation system. On a vertical stand under the lower console, at your discretion, you can string additional equipment as an ashtray, cup holders, boxes for small things, etc. The fabric upholstery of the front panel looks harmonious: it is made of the same material with which the seats are covered.
By the way, if desired, you can order a Smart with a leather salon. Such cars, in particular, are produced by Brabus tuning studio. But the SMART standard is very well equipped: electric windows, air conditioning, tachometer, analog clock, radio, alarm, two airbags (you can additionally order two more), alloy wheels, ABS, Traction Control, automatic transmission.
I don’t even know that it is more pleasant and more fun to sit behind the wheel of this car or admire it outside. Smart is a rare guest on Moscow highways, and a pity is a portion of smiles in our traffic jams is not superfluous.
This car has a chameleon. All his body panels are made of plastic. The kit of body kit costs about $ 1400. If you get tired of driving, say, in a black car, you can buy plastic panels of a different color. After a simple operation to replace them (this is done in a couple of hours), it seems that you bought another car. Plastic parts, by the way, are not repaired, but replaced entirely.
However, enough to discuss the car in statics. The key to the start (the ignition lock is located like Saab at the gear lever)! The adventure began. If you do not discard speed before irregularities, then riding Smart will look like rodeo mercilessly. Periodically, the feeling is created that the car is completely deprived of the suspension. Therefore, it is better to go around road irregularities, the benefit of a sharp steering wheel (without hydraulic power steering) allows.
Smart does not apply to the category of models of the Selo and went: you need to get used to the car. The main thing at first to deal with the gear system.
For the sake of compactness, Smart was equipped with a cunning six -speed checkpoint, in which electric drives are controlled by clutch and gear. That is, the driver has two pedal gas and brake. The role of the left leg squeezing the clutch is performed by the electric motor, and the signal for the beginning of its operation is the movement of the gear lever.
You can switch the speeds manually, shaking the lever from yourself (increasing gear) and to yourself (lowering gear). And you can set the automatic mode of selection of programs. But even at the same time, in order to move off, it is not enough to release the brake pedal (as it usually happens on cars with an ordinary automatic box), you still need to press the gas pedal. With such an algorithm for the work of the checkpoint, it is very inconvenient to move in the hill: you just start to transfer the right leg from the brake pedal to the gas, as the car begins to roll back. Therefore, for starters, it is good to master the reception from the arsenal of motor drivers who slow down with their left foot.
If you entrust the gear shift to the machine, then the passenger will probably think that the newcomer from the driving school controls the car. With each switch, the driver and passenger are inclined in a Japanese greeting. The delay in the machine gun is so great that you are sometimes afraid to perform overtaking. Therefore, it seemed to me much more convenient to switch the gears in manual mode. But this technique must be learned.
On the instrument panel there is a window that displays the transmission modes. With the automatic mode (when the letter A is displayed on the display) everything is clear (see above). If the gears are switched manually, then numbers corresponding to the selected speed appear in the window. At the same time, electronics suggests when it is necessary to take up the lever. If a smart machine offers to switch to an increase in the gear, then an arrow directed upwards appears on the screen, and if the arrow turns down to the lowering arrow.
So, in order to ride smoothly, without jerks, and most importantly, actively, you do not need to look at this arrow. Switching the programs should be called, as they say, by ear, the benefit of the motor sings its song loudly. There is another nuance. When accelerating, when the checkpoint works manually, the transmission must be plugged constantly, but when braking, the cunning box itself turns on the lowering gears.
Needless to say, an intricate algorithm. However, it must be mastered, otherwise only unpleasant sensations will remain from communication with Smart. But, as soon as you find a common language with a wise box, the car begins to start. In the third gear, it accelerates under 100 km/h. For more calm drivers, there are economical fifth and sixth gear. A three -cylinder engine with a volume of 0.6 liters and a capacity of 45 hp. instantly untwisted to the maximum 6000 rpm (then the limiter is turned on). This allows Smart to do not only nine on traffic lights, but also some adult foreign cars. At the same time, the short -lane car confidently holds the straight line. At the maximum speed of 130 km/h (limited by electronics) you do not feel any discomfort. The main thing is not to fall on the gentle waves of asphalt, and even if it is listed on them, then hold on to the steering wheel, the driver.
In the severity of control, Smart is somewhat reminiscent of racing cards. You are temporarily pushing you in a needle ears between some KamAZs. But you should not get involved in steep turns at high speeds. If you do not calculate the speed of entry into the turn, then the thin front wheels will break into sliding. The car will return to the previous course only with a speed reset. However, the contrasting system (installed in the standard) and ABS with electronic brake effort control saves from extreme situations.
Manufacturers call Smart an all -season car. In Europe, for him, sets of winter tires, anti -scenery chains, and even trunk for transporting snowboards in the summer on this car, are fun to drive around Moscow fun. In winter, I think you just laugh.
If we talk about the prospects of this small car seriously, then in Europe Smart is sold successfully. Its production began at the end of 1998, and in the first two years about 200,000 cars were sold. And in the first quarter of this year, Daimlerchrysler even has been ahead of the schedule for sold 28,400 Smart. Moreover, 9000 cars were sold in Germany, another 8,500 in Italy. The model is increasingly popular in England and Japan.
The choice of Europeans is clear: with very outstanding appearance and decent sled qualities, the car is very economical. For example, in England, he was officially recognized as the most profitable car in terms of operating costs. Its owners spend only 11 cents per 1 km of the car run.
As for Russia, Smart is unlikely to be sold not only by thousands, but even hundreds. According to some reports, in two years in the capital, only about 40 cars found their owners. No one wants to buy a car worth more than $ 14,000 (in Europe Smart is sold for less than $ 10,000) just for the sake of saving on gasoline. There is no question of the appearance of an official Smart dealer in our country. There is no worthy service. But, I think, Smart cars in Moscow will increase in Moscow: painfully a clockwork machine. The main thing is to learn how to play it correctly.
Igor Komarov
 

A source: Wheel (company)