Smart ForFour 2004 Review

What we liked
>> Unconventional styling
>> Spacious interior
>> Zippy 1.5-litre engine

Not so much
>> Lunging automatic gearbox
>> Plenty of tyre noise
>> Short suspension travel

OVERVIEW
Originally designed to combat Europe's growing traffic congestion and tight streets, smart is not exactly tailor-made for a wide brown land like Australia. Sales, therefore, have been understandably slow since it first launched in June 2003. With just 12 dealers Australia-wide, 10 of those on the eastern seaboard, smart is not exactly aimed at total domination.
The smart brand launched on the back of a two-seat compact city runabout originally called city-coupe but renamed 'fortwo' in 2004 to make way for a four-door, four seater later on. Second on the road is the Roadster, an MX5-style minimalist sports car with low kerb weight, turbocharged engine and high levels of enjoyment.

October 2004 greets the third, and arguably most attractive model of the smart line-up - the forfour. As its name suggests, there's seating for four in its four-door hatchback body, though tiny external dimensions (it's just 3.7m long, 1.7m wide and 1.45m high) are in keeping with the city-car mantra.

A fourth model will follow, but not until 2007 at the earliest. Called the formore, it's essentially a forfour with a more pronounced boot, high riding suspension and all-wheel drive. Think forfour for offroad... Very light duty offroad.

FEATURES
The smart forfour is the result of a partnership between DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi, which also delivered the Colt. It's a more practical, less confronting prospect than the previous two smarts and has the potential to increase the brand's awareness and appeal in Australia.
The front-wheel drive forfour continues smart's two-tone body-style theme, and with 10 external colours and three highlight choices, there's over 30 combinations to choose from. We reckon it's the best looking smart in the range, and will appeal to those who want something different from the typical four-door hatchback.

The forfour's price at launch in October 2004 starts from $23,990 with a Mitsubishi-supplied 1.3-litre (70kW), four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual gearbox. Another $2000 will get you the 80kW 1.5-litre model, and a six-speed 'soft-touch' automatic is a $1035 option on either model.

Australian specification cars reflected the European 'Pulse' equipment level, but with a few extras thrown in. All models come standard with electric front windows, remote central locking, air-conditioning, CD player and alloy wheels. The 1.5-litre version adds multi-function steering wheel, trip computer and of course, the bigger engine.

COMFORT
Remember the Tardis? smart, too, has a surprisingly roomy interior given its tight external packaging. There's ample room for two adults in the front, and there's enough leg and headroom to fit two adults in the rear - getting in and out of the rear presents no problems.
The driver's seat adjusts fore and aft, and for backrest rake, but the height is fixed and feels too high (a driver's seat with height adjust is an extra-cost option). The steering wheel tilt adjustment can take a little of the sting out, however, making for a reasonable compromise overall. The cabin has a useful amount of oddments storage, including door pockets, a glove box and a cupholder under the stereo stack.

The boot, such as it is, fits an overnight bag, or maybe four bags of shopping if you're a light eater. The second row of seats can slide forward up to 150mm to free up room in the otherwise cramped boot at the expense of rear-seat legroom. It can also be folded flat for bigger loads. A space saver spare tyre hides under the boot floor.

SAFETY
DaimlerChrysler makes plenty of noise about smart's 'tridion' safety cell, which is essentially a clever name for the body structure. smart does comply to European and Australian safety requirements, and has lap-sash seatbelts in all four spots, and at least four airbags (front driver and passenger, and side driver and passenger). Curtain airbags are optional.
smart's active safety features put it ahead of similarly-priced offerings from other European manufacturers. It comes with and electronic stability program which controls the wheels to regulate slip and reduce the chances of losing control. Four wheel disc brakes are standard, as is ABS (antilock brake system) with EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution).

MECHANICAL
The forfour sits on an incredibly long wheelbase which almost leaves the rear axle behind the car! This wide footprint endows the forfour with the on-road dynamism and responsiveness of a much bigger car. It rides on 15-inch alloy wheels and two different specification 15-inch tyres - depending on the engine you choose.
All models have the choice of a five-speed manual transmissions or an optional six-speed automatic with a sequential manual mode. Slide the lever left to access manual mode and then you tap forward to change up, backwards to change down.

Both the 1.3-litre and 1.5-litre four-cylinder engines are the product of Mitsubishi Motors. The former produces 70kW of power and just 125Nm of torque, which is sufficient to propel the 970kg forfour from rest to 100km/h in a claimed 10.8 seconds.

The 'big-bore' 1.5-litre engine boosts peak power to 80kW and torque to 145Nm and knocks a full second off acceleration times. Fuel consumption for this engine is a claimed 6.1 litres/100km. Both models have a 47 litre fuel tank and smart recommends premium unleaded.

COMPETITORS
Four-door four-seat flexibility opens smart up to a whole new world of shoppers: Those looking at the VW Golf, Renault Megane, Peugeot 307, Holden Astra or Ford Focus could be tempted by smart's striking looks.
If you're comparing on room, then smart stacks up pretty well with its true four-adult capability. Performance? The smart makes good use of a modestly-powered engine and lightweight chassis to deliver good on-road performance and fantastic fuel economy.

Features? OK, smart's Mercedes-Benz heritage means it isn't exactly loaded with goodies for the price - the wing mirrors are manual adjust for example - but it's got the basics in place, and has a safety equation few can match for the price.

ON THE ROAD
It's fair to say the smart forfour surprised us on test. It's an enjoyable car to drive and exacts strong performance from both engines, though the 1.5-litre's extra zip gives it more appeal. We've criticised the steering on smart cars before, and the forfour exhibits the same artificial feel we experienced in the Roadster.
The automatic gearbox is the pick of the two transmissions, but only when you shift it yourself. If left to its own devices the gearbox seems in too much of a hurry to reach fourth or fifth. Every gearchange is accompanied by a lurching loss of power which destroys any smoothness the acceleration may have offered.

smart's on-road dynamics are quite impressive, and it doesn't mind a punt as long as you forgive the lifeless steering. It delivers good grip in corners, and plenty of squirt on exit, but there's very little chance of breaking traction under power unless you provoke it shamelessly.

It's strong under brakes, also, and demonstrates a level of responsiveness and poise beyond what we expected. Rough roads, however, can play havoc with smart's short suspension travel, and you could be bucking and bouncing all over the place. On smooth roads the ride is typically European smooth, but those European Continental tyres throw up plenty of noise from coarse Aussie roads.

Plenty of space from city-friendly dimensions, economical and recyclable: it is easy to be green! We drove the 1.3lt forfour for a week and were impressed with its sprightly performance and economy, albeit at the cost of premium unleaded.

Official consumption figures are 5.8l/100km for the 1.3 with 'softouch plus': an automated six-speed transmission with gear-selection program, available as an option for $1035. It features a 'crawl function' for traffic driving and gearchange assistance, which allows for up to three downshifts at once. The softouch plus works best in 'manual' mode and with a bit of boot. This reveals the forfour's fun factor which is supported by the responsive engine and agile handling.

With electronic stability control, wide track width and amenable steering the forfour feels surefooted and more mature than its baby car look implies. Rated at 70kW and weighing less than 1000kg, the forfour has a power-to-weight ration of 12.2kg per kW: the same as smart's roadster model.

Brabus picks up on the forfour's potential with a 130kW version but it's more about green points. High marks scored in the Australian Green Vehicle Guide rating this year attest the eco-friendliness of the forfour and fortwo, and the smart brand implements DC's 'Ecology Management' scheme, involving the use of software tools designed to optimise the use of recycled and raw materials in production and to increase the re-use of parts at the end of a vehicle's life.

There's evidence of this throughout the forfour's interior, from the synthetic material covering the dashboard to the austere instrumentation and shapeless but solid levers and door handles. No frills, but considering it's an attempt to help save the planet, tolerable.

Now that it's official development of the formore is no more, the forfour is the only four-seater in smart's range. That's ok, because seven days with the forfour proved smart's original theory: most drivers rarely have more than one passenger, so build two-seater cars. For test purposes we went for a Sunday drive with two 'average-sized' and pleasantly-surprised adults in the back, making use of the sliding rear seat for extra legroom.

The forfour is a slightly-sporty option among the $20K class, although you'll be paying more because of its aristocratic ancestry. Considering the refined standard-fit list with safety features such as ESP and ABD, it's worth snobbing the hoi polloi.