| Smart ForTwo |
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| Ceri Balston | |
| Wednesday, 19 April 2006 | |
 I've always liked the look of this car and so I was delighted when I got the opportunity to drive it around Jo'burg for the day. The autumn sun was shining brightly and so it was the perfect opportunity to put the cabrio's roof down and feel the wind blow across my slightly balding scalp. Ah, the joys of the convertible... I did find the gear system of the ForTwo a bit strange at first, again like the Prius it is automatic, and found that if I tried to drive it too hard there was quite a lurch as the gears changed. I soon got used to it though and found that when I was a bit gentler on the acceleration pedal (and reined in my sporty ambitions) it made the driving experience very relaxing and enjoyable, I have to say that I far preferred it to my VW Jetta. Small means fuel efficient in the motor industry game and in its combined town & country cycle the ForTwo manages an impressively low 4.8 litres/100km (this in turn of course means low running costs). CO2 emissions are also one of the lowest around at just 113 g/km (compared to 120 g/km of the Toyota Prius and 190 g/km of my VW Jetta). Smart didn't just stop there when they came to building their eco-car. The body's paintwork for example is applied by powder coating which uses 40% less energy than conventional painting methods, with zero solvent emissions and no waste. Even Smartville, the headquarters and factory for Smart, is built with a whole variety of ecologically sound principles in mind. This is a very green car indeed!
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Now one concern I've always had with the ForTwo is safety, it doesn't after all have any obvious crumple zones to absorb potential impacts. On closer inspection this car is packed with all the safety features that you'd expect with a Mercedes influenced car. These include anti-lock brakes boasting extra assistance in the event of an emergency, Electronic Stability Control (ESP), full driver and passenger airbags and the unique and incredible strong trion safety cell (see right). This protects its sensitive contents like the hard shell of a nut with its steel structure additionally reinforced with high-strength steel at the strategically important points. 
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