SMART FORTWO test drive since 2012 coupe
Smart - smart or jack?
Already in the spring will begin sales of an unusual micro-car. City car near future. What should he be? Not just to answer this question, although there are several basic requirements that the modern urban car must meet. Firstly, this is compactness. Secondly - efficiency. 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 and foremost in the world of Omega and Czcotch) In April 1994, we decided to create a car that would make a different look at the problem of movement in the city . The technical competence of Daimler-Benz couple with non-standard design solutions SMH, as well as the experience gained in the field of microelectronics, allowed us to construct a unique machine that called smart (into Russian it can be translated as smart).
Smart is one hundred percent European. The car was developed in Germany, her release was settled in France, and the main office of a joint venture called MCC (micro compact car) is located in Switzerland.
For the production of a car, high-strength alloys are used, as well as environmentally friendly modern plastics and fabrics. The basis of the body is particularly rigid metal frame-frame, to which plastic body elements are attached. At the same time, the frame is perfectly opposed to deformations and successfully protects passengers in the event of an accident. It is supplemented from behind and in the front with special energy absorbing panels, the presence of which will protect the body from damage when the speed collide is up to 15 km / h. By the way, the designers intentionally did not too much to alleviate the car - it allows the protective body zones to deform and absorb the impact energy, thereby reducing the load on the passengers. Designers who attached a completely original appearance of a micro-machine, decided that the frame can also be used in decorative purposes. They made it easily distinguishable both outside and inside the car by choosing a color that does not match the basic 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 is one of four: white, yellow, red, black. It is not difficult to calculate that eight options are possible. But it is still, and there will be visible.
One of the main and indisputable advantages of Smart is his envelope. With a length of 2.5 m and a width of 1.55 m, the machine can easily maneuver in a dense stream and easily find a parking place in urban cramped. So modest sizes, however, allow you to comfortably accommodate in the car by two adult passengers, and an unusual layout provides a great overview and passive safety. The car's salon is deprived of any 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 forward a passenger seat, then the volume of the trunk will increase ... 550 liters! In such a car it is impressive. The difference between the smart from most of the current cars is that the engine and gearbox arranged into one node are located in the back of the machine and in the event of a collision go down, without invoking the salon.
In addition, the car serially complete full-size airbags for the driver and passenger, aluminum amplifier beams in the doorway and belt pretensioners. The anti-lock system is also serial, and additionally you can order side airbags.
A three-cylinder gasoline engine with a turbocharged 600 cm3 turbocharged 600 cm3 and a capacity of 55 hp is used, which allows to develop the maximum speed of 130 km / h (then the electronic limiter is triggered) and accelerate to 60 km / h in seven seconds. At the same time, the maximum fuel consumption does not exceed 4.7 l / 100 km. Preparing for release and option with a diesel engine of a similar volume (and also with turbocharged), which consumes a little more than three liters of fuel to the same 100 kilometers. It is curious that the machine has a drive on the rear wheels, and the gearbox (naturally, the five-speed) runs in a pair with automatic clutch: to enable increased transmission, the driver is only required to move the lever on itself, and low ones. Daimler-Benz and SMH do not intend to stop at the achieved and plan to create a hybrid power unit for 2000 with a minimum content of harmful substances in exhaust gases. In general, when developing Smart, his creators never forgotten about the environmental factor. The engine of the car received a certificate of environmental purity, and 95% of the materials from which the body and part of the cabin are suitable for processing and subsequent recycling.
The authors of the design of the car offered 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 able to transfer information about the location of the machine, road situation in seconds to contact the police or medical care.
The concept of mobility, as its creators consider, will allow the owner to travel with smart all over the planet. Imagine: The driver of the baby parks it in a specially designated compartment of the aircraft, and she flies with him to anywhere in the world. Or another option. In major European cities, it is planned to create a network of parking, where at any time you can take a smart rental. While this is, of course, only plans and prospects, but the exit of the plant for the production of moghers on the design capacity - 200 thousand cars per year - 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 by the average Europeans.
We wanted to complete the article on the fact that the new microhematomus, apparently, would use high demand in Europe. However, the subsequent development of events showed that its prospects are far from being so cloudless. First, the automotive press has shielded a message that Mercedes A-Class has active safety problems - Simply put, the car is not sufficient enough. This made many forced to the smart to treat with a well-known share of prejudice - the technical parent has one, Daimler-Benz. And now Italian printing reports that in similar modes, smart behaves like a class. Of course, it should be borne in mind that the Italians (and not without reason) consider themselves the leaders in the European production of micro-car and very jealously relate to possible competitors. Nevertheless, in one of the nearest rooms we will try to set out our point of view about the current situation. Now I just note - it will be very sorry if the bold (and ambitious) attempt of Mercedes escape from the framework of the famous stereotype of the manufacturer of machines for the rich will fail.
The body frame is durable and easily withstands standard krash tests.
Gamma? Palette!
Speedometer and control lamps. Once a similar flap was on GAZ 21 ...
The gear shift lever and the ignition lock next to it. Something reminds Saab, right?
Silent smart unit.
Almost both in American universities - you can open as a third door whole and separately glass.
Mikhail Gzzovsky. Photo firm
A source: Journal "Behind the wheel"
