Carmaker research says people buy cars within 72 hours -- or they put the purchase on hold for three months or more. Massive jumps in fuel prices and environmental concerns have altered those habits a touch, as the rise in sales of the fuel-efficient small cars and hybrids like the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid have shown.
Additions to the de Fraga garage were made with an eye to the environment, but also to the task of making proper use of a small car. Our Mercedes-Benz A190 Avantgarde and the smart fortwo were chosen for their practicality as much as their ability to wring more distance from a tank of fuel with environmental benefits.
In our defence, you also have to allow for a fascination with small but perfectly formed automobiles. Previous small cars under ownership included a Triumph Herald convertible (twin carburetors, crash-safety interior and modular construction for easy repair), a Fiat 500 (iconic, effective and fun -- and it had a sunroof), and a Hillman Imp (a new rear engine, economical car design with a pneumatic throttle linkage, suspension sorted by Ferrari's Mike Parkes and a Coventry Climax copy engine -- single cam, two carburetors).
In 1999 the A-Class Mercedes came onto the market in Australia and buying was a totally rational decision -- well almost... The writer had in part made the decision when the A-Vision concept example was shown at the Frankfurt motor show six years earlier...
With a mass of 1155kg and 3575mm length, the 1898cc A-Class met safety requirements including Mercedes E-Class crash-ability with a more wallet-friendly petrol figure. Rising fuel prices spot-lit our other Mercedes' (an original 230E W115) four-cylinder thirst -- 17L/100km in town.
Like the single carburettor and single-cam taxi-model W115, (transmission aside) the A-Class was also simple mechanically -- and it should have been cheap to service. Alas this wasn't always the case -- try $1100 for the oil change and normal big service at a city dealer. And $512 for one tyre!
For practicality, however, the A-Class takes some beating. The whole rear seat can be positioned in either of two mounting spots to vary the ratio of boot and rear seat legroom. One third of it can be folded or removed, or two thirds can be -- and then finally the front passenger seat can be removed. This takes less than half a minute, leaving small-van room able to accommodate antique Georgian hall tables or tall stemmed plants from the nursery... Both have been carried in our A-Class.
The leather and cloth insert upholstery of the A-Class Avantgarde trim is comfortable, but overall the cabin shows the effect of then Benz CEO Jurgen Schrempp's era of cost-cutting.
Plastic bumpers at each end of the A-Class means touch parking damage is likely to be minor. The offset to this is the A-Class's steel doors taking a serious beating in carparks... Thanks to all those mums and dads in four-wheel drives opening their rear doors wide and banging the dogleg lower section into the A-Class' unprotected flanks...
Choosing the fastest of the A-Classes available in 1999, delivered a 1.9-litre engine (single cam, two-valve technology with fuel injection and active ignition) but meant taking the five-speed, clutch-less transmission. This proved a real cross to bear with slow changes due to its lazy drive take-up.
AMG suspension and wheels polished up the spec... The 205/40 x17 tyres offered a wonderfully accurate interpretation of the road surface below the car. They also destroyed the ride.
Our A190's louvered Lamella sunroof turned out a winner, however. The opening reaches the back seat and the vent at each end on its first-stage opening provides good ventilation around town or when parked in hot conditions.
Missed on ordering the cruise control -- unfortunately, the only big omission. The standard specification in the A-Class included stability control and with the usual swag of acronyms, meant all round protection and four airbags -- big specifications for a small car at the end of the last century.
Like our old 230.4 W115 parked alongside the A-Class (W168 in Benz speak), the A Class had a first aid kit -- in the rear -- as part of the specification. But the old W115's fire extinguisher (clipped to the leading edge of the passenger's seat) is no longer standard.
How did the A measure up to its tasks? Very well...
The alignment of the ultra-wide front tyres meant noticeable squeal when turning on concrete-floored garages but otherwise grip was admirable and in 10 years the anti-lock brakes were only used once but proved vital. Nothing else in the ESP pack (Automatic Skid Control, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution etc) was needed but it was good to have them.
Efforts to tighten the engagement of the automatic clutch action (the A190 has a five-speed gearbox with a mechanical clutch that is actuated automatically by an electronic control box) proved almost fruitless. And there is an increasingly irritating and worrying buzz now from the transmission from the third and fourth gear shaft in the gearbox.
Ripping out the seats was a requirement because part of the car's task was to be a hold-all for a property maintenance business. In van mode only the long-shaft Honda weed-whacker was a bit of a stretch to fit inside. The Stihl blower and Honda mower and the buckets, bags and vacuum were all easily swallowed, however.
Fuel use varied from 6.3L/100km in the country to 8.7L/100km in the inner city which is acceptable for a car of the A-Class's size and near-200km/h performance. Acceleration is good but it is quite short-geared -- 2700rpm is needed for 100km/h in fifth. At least it is uncomplaining when it is being lugged in a high gear and it will give nearly half a minute of 6500rpm -- 500 rpm into the red -- for overtaking if required.
Tucked deep in the A-Class' nose slanted at 59 degrees to the horizontal, the engine is unusually quiet for a small car. The steep angle mounting helps the car's crash safety. It will slide into the space under the high floor of the A-Class in a frontal collision.
This high, sandwich-floor construction was designed to house hybrid batteries et al or fuel stacks for hydrogen-powered future models. The fuel-cell model proved a winner when sampled at the Frankfurt motor show in 2005, but fuel infrastructure remains a hang-up worldwide. Look out for hydrogen and hybrid A-Class derivatives on limited sale in the United States and Germany later in 2009/2010.
smart THINKING
Choosing to add a Smart fortwo to the de Fraga 'fleet' six years after the A190 was a quick decision, again made rationally -- plastic panels all round with a total cost of an hour and $2500 to replace (less than the cost of preparing and masking up a car's steel nose for a respray or its two plastic bumpers). An easy 625km range from 33 litres (our actual city figure is 4.4L/100km) was also attractive -- even more so when fuel was knocking on $1.70 during 2008.
The Smart's rubber-duck flexible plastic panels with no bumpers means no-damage worry in a car park (nothing from four-wheel drive doors yet) and it has four airbags, cruise control and speed limiter, CD player, outside air temperature indicator, next service indicator, a glass roof with an internal sunshade and efficient air-conditioning for the small volume of cabin air, electric windows and the ability to find a car park almost anywhere!
And, of course, it has ESP which occasionally catches you off guard. It will snatch the brakes on any wheel that lifts, so sometimes the short wheelbase catches the car out over humps. It is more comfortable to ride in than it looks and there is much more room than expected.
The rear-mounted engine is tiny at 693cc but still bigger than my earlier Fiat 500's rear mounted 495cc. However, the Smart's turbocharger (also tiny with an electric-fan-fed intercooler just the size of an airport paperback) makes up for any lack of capacity propelling its 805kg easily to run with the traffic at up to 110km/h on its way to an electronically limited 135km/h. At 100km/h, the engine is turning at a relaxed 2500rpm in sixth -- slower than the A Class in fifth.
Again, the clutchless six-speed transmission is a bit ropey. The ratios suit Europe more than Australia, a fact for which we have the speed camera tickets to attest.
Fifth needs 2100rpm for 60km/h and 2100rpm is right on the bottom end of the speed range of the gear. Fourth gear is better with speed limits see-sawing from 40-70km/h around town -- no coincidence that much of Europe has 50km/h in-town limits.
It is possible to skip-shift going one-three-five up the sequential gearbox, taking a comfortable 4000rpm in the lower gears. The engine will spin easily to its 6000rpm redline and give you 6500rpm for brief overtaking moves.
Small car, small bills, right? Well no. The oil change regime for a small service (that does not include changing the twin plugs per cylinder) still ran up to $900. Both service costs for the Smart and the A-Class are at a city dealer and included changing the wiper blades.
Carrying stuff inside is easy in the Smart because there is space above the passenger's feet (on a shelf over the air-pump and battery) and behind the driver's seat. There is a tyre-seal system and no spare wheel in the Smart.
Seats are staggered to prevent occupant's heads clashing in a side-on accident. Although the plastic shrouded load area is modest above the rear-mounted engine, there is room for a couple of boxes of German beer. Why is it German engineers use a box of beer as a measure? The Porsche Boxster's nose-boot is similarly arranged in size...
The Smart has an additional Michelin medical kit under the driver's seat and some extra console storage for parking meter money, in addition to the three storage shelves under the dashboard.
Biggest problem in owning the two cars? The auto-clutches, starter key location and engine start procedures are quite different so turning off the engine for an expected long level crossing wait can lead to momentary indecision on restart. The anti-theft kicks in with the Smart and both have to be in neutral to engage the starter. At least the new 1.0-litre Smart comes with auto-engine-off at traffic stops.
Kinder on the environment? Certainly -- both do it well without pain. However, neither is ideal for interstate trips thanks to their firm rides, rather than a lack of performance. Either car will make the trip at posted speed limits without trouble and in air-conditioned comfort.