Smart City Test Drive Compartment 1998 - 2002 hatchback
Smart - wise guy or upstart?
In the spring, sales of an unusual minibus will begin. City car of a near future. What should it be? It is not at all easy to answer this question, although there are several basic requirements that the modern city machine should meet. Firstly, this is compactness. Secondly - economy. Thirdly - ecological purity.
Based on these three whales, the German concern Daimler-Benz and the Swiss company SMH (the world famous in the world, first of all by its Omega and Supermarks) in April 1994, decided to create a car that would make it differently to look at the problem of movement in the city . The technical competence of the Daimler-Benz, coupled with non-standard SMH design solutions, as well as the experience accumulated by the Swiss in the field of microelectronics, made it possible to construct a unique machine called smart (this can be translated as smart).
Smart is a one hundred percent European. The car was developed in Germany, its production is established in France, and the main office of a joint venture called MCC (micro compact car) is located in Switzerland.
For the production of the car, high -strength alloys are used, as well as environmentally friendly modern plastics and fabrics. The base of the body is a particularly rigid metal frame-frame, to which plastic body elements are attached. At the same time, the frame perfectly opposes deformations and successfully protects passengers in the event of an accident. In the back and front, it is supplemented with special energy -absorbing panels, the presence of which will protect the body from damage when colliding at speeds up to 15 km/h. By the way, the designers did not intentionally facilitate the machine too much - this allows the protective zones of the body to deform and absorb the energy of the blow, thereby reducing the load on the passengers. Designers who gave a completely original appearance to the minibus decided that the frame can also be used for decorative purposes. They made it easily distinguishable both outside and inside the machine by choosing a color that does not coincide with the main used for the body. The frame can be painted in one of the two colors provided for it - anthracite or diamond -silver, while the body itself - in one of four: white, yellow, red, black. It is easy to calculate that eight options are possible in total. But this is for now, and there it will be seen.
One of the main and indisputable advantages of the smart is its dimensions. With a length of 2.5 m and a width of 1.55 m, the car easily maneuns in a tight stream and can easily find a parking place in urban crowding. Such modest sizes, however, allow you to comfortably accommodate in the car to two adult passengers, and an unusual layout provides an excellent review and passive safety. The car interior is devoid of excesses, it is as functional as possible and thought out to the smallest detail. There is a place in it for a pair of suitcases, and if you move a passenger seat forward, the luggage volume will increase to ... 550 liters! In such a car, it is impressive. The difference between the smart and most of the current cars also lies in the fact that the engine and gearbox, compiled to one node, are in the rear of the car and go down in the event of a collision without invading the salon.
In addition, the machine is seriously equipped with full -sized airbags for the driver and passenger, aluminum amplifying beams in the doors and belt pretensors. The anti -lock system is also serial, and you can additionally order lateral airbags.
As a power unit, a three -cylinder gasoline engine with a turbocharger with a working volume of 600 cm and a capacity of 55 hp was used, which allows to develop a maximum speed of 130 km/h (then the electronic limiter is triggered) and accelerate to 60 km/h in seven seconds. In this case, the maximum fuel consumption does not exceed 4.7 l/100 km. The option with a diesel engine of a similar volume (and also with turbocharged), which consumes a little more than three liters of fuel for the same 100 kilometers, is being prepared. It is curious that the car has a drive to the rear wheels, and the gearbox (of course, five -speed) works paired with automatic clutch: to turn on an increased transmission, the driver needs to shift the lever on himself, and lowered - from himself. Daimler-Benz and SMH do not intend to dwell on what has been achieved and plan to create a hybrid power unit by 2000 with a minimum content of harmful substances in exhaust gases. In general, when developing a smart, its creators did not forget about the environmental factor for a minute. The car engine received a certificate of environmental cleanliness, and 95% of the materials from which the body and details of the cabin make are suitable for processing and subsequent secondary use.
The authors of the design of the car proposed the so -called concept of mobility using a number of original devices that help the driver in difficult situations. The system includes a cell phone and is capable of transmitting information about the location of the car, road situation, contact the police or the medical care service in a matter of seconds.
The concept of mobility, as its creators believe, will allow the owner to travel with a smart all over the planet. Imagine: a baby driver parks her in a specially designated compartment of the aircraft, and she flies with him to anywhere in the world. Or another option. In large European cities, it is planned to create a parking network where you can rent a smart at any time. So far, of course, these are only plans and prospects, but the release of the factory for the production of smart capacities - 200 thousand cars a year is the case of the coming years. According to the company's representatives, the retail price of smart in the most expensive configuration will not exceed 20 thousand German brands, which is quite affordable for the average European.
We wanted to complete the article on the fact that the new micro -car, apparently, will be in high demand in Europe. However, the subsequent development of events showed that his prospects are far from so cloudless. First, the car pressed the message that the Mercedes A -class has problems with active safety - in other words, the car is not stable enough. This forced many to treat a well-known share of prejudice-the technical parent has one, Daimler-Benz. And now the Italian seal reports that in similar modes, smart behaves like A-class. Of course, it should be borne in mind that Italians (and not without reason) consider themselves leaders in the European production of minibuses and are very jealous of possible competitors. Nevertheless, in one of the closest numbers, we will try to state our point of view about the situation. Now we just note - it will be a pity if the bold (and ambitious) attempt of the Mercedes to break out of the framework of the famous stereotype of the manufacturer for the rich will fail.
The body frame is said and easily withstands standard Crash tests.
Gamma? Palette!
A speedometer and a block of control lamps. The once similar shield was on GAZ-21 ...
The gear lever and the ignition lock next to it. Something resembles Saab, right?
Smart power unit.
Almost like in American station wagons - you can open both the third door for the entire and separately glass.
Mikhail Gzovsky. Photo of the company
Source: The magazine "Driving"
