The 2016 smart fortwo

Well the long wait is over! Daimler AG, the parent company of smart, has finally debuted the next generation smart fortwo and forfour cars. I think the fortwo looks fantastic, the fourfor not so much. I'm not heartbroken we likely won't be getting the four-seat forfour here in North America. Hopefully the wait for the new fortwo might not be too long.

Incidentally Daimler AG makes over 100 models of cars and trucks, including: Mercedes Benz, Freightliner Trucks, and even Western Star Trucks (which used to be built right here in Kelowna, BC). In my whole working career, my favourite job was the years I spent as a technical illustrator in Western Star's Publications Dept. Jack, Brian and I, did great work and had fun doing it too – what could have been better?  

I've always liked small, light cars. Something I had in common with the late Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Racing Cars, who often said, "Adding power makes you faster on the straights, subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.” But I digress, this post is supposed to be about the new smart fortwo (note the name is NEVER capitalized), which was a joint project between Mercedes and Renault. The two marques share the basic chassis and many mechanical bits.

WHAT HASN'T CHANGED?
Overall Length: stays at 2.69 metres (8 feet, 10 inches).
The Chassis: which smart calls the Tridion Safety Cell, actually surrounds the vehicle (it's the orange part on this car). I've often thought it's much like sitting INSIDE an enlarged racing helmet.
Plastic Body Panels: No door dings, no rust. If you decide you want to change the colour of your car, new panels can be fitted in about an hour. I've even heard of people who have two sets and change them to match the seasons.
Rear Engine: initially consisting of two, three-cylinder engines one naturally aspirated producing 71 horses and a turbocharged unit with 90 horsepower. Which engine would I choose... duh!
Split Section Tailgate: The back window goes up and a tailgate, much like a pickup truck's, swings down. Our 2005 smart, has this useful feature, which has enabled us to carry large items and on occasion use it as a picnic seat.
Active and Passive Safety Features: Having access to Mercedes engineering expertise and their parts bin enables smart to incorporate a great many safety features other small car manufacturers only dream of having in their cars.

WHAT'S NEW?
Let's start with the look: smart calls the shape of the car a 1-1/2 box design. The more prominent nose of the car being the 1/2 box part of the equation. I quite like the look of this new car, although I've never been a fan of the two-tone paint schemes seen on most smarts, preferring a more monochromatic paint scheme. Our smart, who we have named "Mr. Pants" looks "menacing" in all black.

The Interior: The big news here is space, more of it. The car is still strictly a two-seater (although my buddy Jack has ridden sideways in the back of our smart). The new car is nearly four inches wider than the last generation. Although I've never felt cramped in our car, the extra width in the new model would be welcome. If Jack were to climb in the back he'd appreciate the increased legroom that extra width would allow.
There's many new details in the interior that are interesting, including the floating infotainment system in the centre of the dash. I like the relocation of the tachometer to a pod above the upper left side of the instrument panel.
Suspension: In their press release smart says the suspension has been upgraded for a smoother ride and for gentle understeering handling. I don't like the sound of that, but in the next sentence of their release they mention a sport suspension will also be available... hooray! Elderly Aunt Martha might like a car with numb handling, but anyone who actually LIKES driving will opt for the sport pkg.
Two Transmissions: I've saved the best for last! Our 2005 diesel smart fortwo, has a six speed manual transmission with a computer controlled clutch. I ordered the car with the paddle shift option and it works just fine. The speed at which the transmission shifts is about what a human would do during normal driving. The 2008 generation smart replaced that six speed with a five speed which seems to have both a torque converter and a clutch – hmmm that reminds me of the Fluid Drive Chrysler products of the late forties and early fifties. That 2008 edition has often been criticized for its slow shifting.
That's all gone! The new smart has two transmission options: a true five speed standard with a real third pedal on the floor, and a computer controlled unit which they call the "twinamic six-speed dual clutch transmission" – which hopefully will shift like the similarly described transmissions found in Porsches, Audis and Ferraris.
A New Mr Pants! I can easily visualize him sitting in our driveway, a new all black fortwo with the turbo engine, the five speed and sport suspension. I'll take those all black wheels too! Maybe a darker tint on the windows. Just what I'd need to tangle with Fiat 500 Abarths and the like. Who says I'm not a bad boy? (Just kidding, I've recently been told, more than once, I drive like a grampa.)
So there you have it, a short intro of the new 2016 fortwo. If you'd like to read more and see 99 more pics, check out: The new smart fortwo by Daimler AG
You might have recognized me standing next to the new smart in the opening photo and sitting in the car in the second shot. I was tempted spin a tale about us, while in Germany recently, having come across a secret photoshoot of the new car in the old town of Heidelberg, but alas, I'm in the pictures thanks to photoshop.