The Car Show gets smart

It's a pretty big claim to say your cars are smart. The original idea for the tiny-two-seater smart car was forged in the early '90s by Swatch watches boss Nicolas Hayek, and eventually produced by DaimlerChrysler in 1998 after VW decided it was  not so smart to become involved...

smart started off with the tiny 'fortwo' and after a sluggish start eventually made sales in the clogged cities of Europe. Deciding that one model wouldn't cut it in today's economically rationalist world, DC introduced the ill-fated roadster and forfour. Maybe these models would catapult Smart into the big time? Well, not so far...

smart is bleeding and costing DC millions because it's not selling enough cars, but how do they rate over here? Dieter tests the fortwo; Glenn takes the roadster and Sam speeds off in the new Brabus-enhanced forfour to find out if these tiny cars are suited to our big country -- and if they are smart enough to stay.

Also this week The Car Show crew checks out the diesel-powered Jaguar S-type. Enter a pure British touring saloon that ditches petrol for an advanced up-to-the-minute twin-turbodiesel. A car which is pure Jag, from its walnut dash to its quaint retro lines.  The S-Type has been improved so much since it was first released that it now stands toe-to-toe with the best of the Teutons and gives no ground.

But the engine is the key piece of information, and it is a cracker. It's got to haul around 1800 kilos, so it needs torque: 435Nm to be precise. The 153kW power figure is irrelevant. Diesels mean torque and this one pours it on...

As usual there's the Yokohama Hot Lap segment and this week's Shannon's enthusiast is Andrew Drummond, a Karmann Ghia fan with eight in his collection. Andrew shares two of his favourites with us.

Tune in next week for David Morley's review of the evolution of Mitsubishi's EVO IX.

The Car Show airs this Wednesday at midnight for an hour and on Saturday at 12.30pm. Visit The car Show minisite for details. thecarshow.carpoint.com.au