This German engineered car has just two seats. The roof is all glass. Body panels are plastic.
It has electronic stability and traction control.
The intercooled and turbocharged, direct injection engine is rear mounted and is equipped with a six speed manual transmission controlled with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters.
It is one of the few modestly priced cars sold in North American that is equipped with a headlight levelling control.
If the car is stopped facing uphill, the brakes will stay activated for a brief moment after the pedal is released to allow the driver to apply the throttle, thus preventing unwanted roll back.
One of the on-board computers monitors the time interval between the release of the throttle and a brake application – if this interval is less than a prescribed time, the car determines the driver is making an emergency brake application and it ensures the full force of the brakes are applied. In a collision if the air bags are activated, in the milliseconds before they deploy, the seat belts are retracted to pull both driver and passenger back into the seat to lessen the possibility of injury.
In the event of an accident, the doors are unlocked and the four-way flashers are activated automatically.
I've been driving this fun little car for over nine years and have enjoyed it immensely. The car now has over 167,000 km on the clock and has been nearly trouble free. Other than having to replace an EGR valve, all other costs have been what is commonly called normal maintenance.
Does YOUR car have all these features? I hope so, some of them might just save your life some day.
Lastly it doesn't hurt that its lifetime fuel economy average to date is 64 mpg!
The car I'm describing is my daily driver, a 2005 smart fortwo pulse diesel coupe!
I couldn't get away with a two seater, but you make it sound like a dream to drive!
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