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Our landscapes are changing. More people than ever live in dense urban areas. Nowadays living in a big city, you need more and more a car specifically designed for city life – small, nimble and efficient. Smart is ahead of the game… But the 2013 Smart Fortwo now faces competition from other brands keen to take a bite out of its small-but-growing city-focused market.
Smart isn’t giving up. The diminutive Fortwo, well into the autumn of its life cycle, must carry on until the third generation of the city coupe is launched next year.
So until 2014, the conventionally powered Fortwo, which received updates for the 2012 model year, returns unchanged.
It’s available in two forms and with a choice of several trim configurations. The coupe has a fixed roof while the cabriolet features a retractable fabric soft-top. The Fortwo coupe comes in base Pure trim or up-level Passion trim. The cabriolet is offered solely with the better equipped Passion setup.
In order keep interest in the gasoline-powered two-seaters, the brand launched several different special-edition ”Fortwo” from purely cosmetic package with the Smart Fortwo Cityflamme to really crazy design adaptation as the incredible Smartforjeremy.
Smart has created some special edition of the Smart ForTwo earlier this year: Smartfortwo Cityflamme, Boconcept and the Smartforjeremy.
Exterior features
With an overall length of 2700mm, utility isn’t the first priority of the smart. But despite its small size, the Fortwo’s cabin is rather spacious, easily fitting two passengers in its two seats. In fact, if your gaze is purely fixed out the windshield or side windows, it’s easy to get into the mindset that you’re sitting in a full-size car. Only when you look backward in the cabin or through the rear-view mirror do its tiny proportions snap into focus. It is an arresting realization.
The 2013 Smart Fortwo features 15-inch steel wheels with wheel covers on the base model; all other trim levels feature 12-spoke alloy wheels. A panoramic roof with sun screen is standard on the Passion coupe and the electric drive coupe; a solid roof is standard on the Pure coupe and optional on the Passion coupe. The cabriolets have a fully automatic convertible top (black is standard; red and blue are optional) with a glass rear window. Standard features on the base model include projector beam halogen headlights, and body-side turn signal indicators in yellow. Fog lamps are optional. Power and heated side mirrors are standard on all but the base trim level. Exterior colors include black, white, red, light blue, silver, and metallic or matte grey.
Interior features
The base trim level of the Smart Fortwo includes black upholstery. Upper trim levels offer a choice of black, red, or beige upholstery. Heated seats are available for all trim levels. Air conditioning is optional on the base Fortwo Pure, and standard on the others. Dashboard gauges are standard on electric models, and optional on the Passion trim level. All Fortwos have a fold-flat passenger seat. A driver armrest is optional on the base trim level, standard on the others; a center console storage area is optional on all trim levels. Standard storage areas include a molded area in the dash, lockable glove compartment, and door nets, plus storage areas beside the steering wheel and in both doors. A radio is optional on the base trim level, and standard on the others. A navigation system and a surround-sound system are optional on all but the base trim level.
Option packages available for the 2013 Smart Fortwo include the Cruise Control package, Comfort package (Passion trim level only), Style package (Passion trim level only) and Technology package (all but base trim level). The Comfort package includes black leather seating surfaces, heated seats, electric power steering, and a luggage compartment cover. The Style package adds 3-spoke alloy wheels, LED daytime running lights, ambient interior light, and dashboard gauges. The Technology package includes surround sound and a navigation system. Various wheel designs are available at a premium. Many of these enhancements are offered as individual options.
The Smart Fortwo’s 1.0-liter 3-cylinder engine is tucked into the back of the vehicle. It generates 70 horsepower. A 5-speed automated manual transmission is standard; it sends power to the rear wheels. The Smart Fortwo electric drive replaces the gasoline engine with a 55-kw electric motor powered by a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery pack. Estimated range is greater than 100Km, according to Smart, and the maker claims that the Fortwo electric drive recharges in 6 hours via a quick-charge 240-volt power outlet. I will let you know more about the Fortwo electric drive after a drive test that I will have soon.
Safety
The 2013 Smart Fortwo features hydraulic dual-circuit brakes, a tire repair kit, electronic stability with hill-start assist, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution, driver and passenger air bags, knee bolster air bags, window-curtain air bags, and head/thorax side air bags.
Driving
Even the Fortwo’s small engine isn’t anything to write home about, but no one expects it to be. I’m not crazy about the transmission: the five-speed automated-manual transmission is a bit indecisive, switching gears early and often. Furthermore, gear changes are slow but after a while you get use to that.
I’m always late for external appointments because most of the time I forgot to include the time to park in my schedule. The Smart Fortwo is the solution…. I got for few weeks different Smart Fortwoo for test-drive, and it’s definitively the perfect car for people who need cross the city and park quickly and easily. During that few weeks I discovered that I was really less on stress… Thanks to the small car
The ride can be a bit harsh due to the Fortwo’s short wheelbase, but it’s rarely uncomfortable in low-speed city driving.
Smart Fortwo Special Edition
Adding a bit more curb appeal to an otherwise unchanged basic package, the 2013 Smart Fortwo Edition Cityflame makes its public appearance earlier this year
Limited to just 2400 units globally in both coupe and cabriolet model, the Cityflame is a purely cosmetic package as I said before.
Based on the Smart Passion trim line, the Edition Cityflame will have body panels painted in either pearlescent flame yellow or black and feature a black finish on its external tridion safety cell element and outside door mirrors. It’s set to ride on unique black-painted double-tri-spoke 15-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 175/55 front tires and 195/50 rear boots.
Inside, the Fortwo Edition Cityflame displays a similar visual tweaking. The vinyl seats are executed in the two colors, the kneepad of the dashboard is yellow, and the stitching on the dash and steering wheel is yellow as well. Interior surfaces appear to be leather, but they aren’t. The high-quality and well-executed materials are vinyl and very similar to what Mercedes-Benz calls MB-Tex—Benz’s non-leather alternative.
The Edition Cityflame package brings no changes to the Smart Fortwo’s standard drivetrain. It will continue to match the 1.0-liter/70-horsepower 3-cylinder gasoline engine with a 5-speed automated manual transmission.
More recently Smart has teamed up with Danish interior design company BoConcept to create another special edition ForTwo Cabrio. At the same time, BoConcept has created its own range of furniture pieces inspired by the Smart car and called the Smartville Collection.
The special edition Smart is based on the sportier Brabus-tuned model, which is rated at 100 horsepower and comes with a subtle body kit and light alloy wheels.
The exterior has a fresh and elegant appearance. The body panels have a matte white finish, while a matte brown finish is used for the car’s signature ‘Tridion’ safety cell as well as the side mirror housings. The car’s convertible soft top is also brown.
Inside, the car has a warm and inviting look thanks to natural materials such as leather, felt and, for the first time on a Smart, some real wood. Finally, BoConcept lettering on the black velour floor mats and the labels sewn into the seats mark the cooperation.
A few months ago, I heralded the Smart Forjeremy concept as the weirdest car I’d ever written about (check here). Nowadays, the SmartForJeremy is a reality, a limited run of the haute couture Smart Fortwo.
The production version will be sold in 200 exemplars. Some changes have been implemented to keep cost under control, and to make the car street legal. The flamboyant wings now display five fins instead of seven, and they begin at the shoulder line, instead of sitting on top of the rear bumper; this allows Daimler to keep the Smart’s standard (and certified) taillights. The painted 16- or 17-inch aluminum wheels are now taken from Smart’s regular wheel portfolio. And there are a few more metallic accents replacing the concept’s white door handles and front air intake, which makes for a slightly more substantial and aggressive look.
Certainly in the interest of keeping windshield reflections to an acceptable level, the interior has shunned its chrome-white theme in favor of a black-and-white combination. The concept’s unique steering wheel, which looked more akin to an airplane’s yoke than a wheel, is gone.
Once again the Fortwo Edition by Jeremy Scott takes Daimler’s tiny city car a step ahead of its perfectionist and slightly dull Japanese competition again
It’s not for everyone, but if you want to live like it’s Fashion Week every week look no further.
Smart Forthwo will celebrate his 15th anniversary at the end of the year, we can expect a Special 15th Anniversary edition to wait until the 2014 totally new version of this great city car.
