Another car for her.... help please!

[Rich H]

OK she has found a car that actually interests her:

Smart Roadster Coupe - anyone know anything about them?

[Mike Scib]

OK she has found a car that actually interests her:

Smart Roadster Coupe - anyone know anything about them?

I actually really like the look of them especially the brabus one, but not convinced i could spend 8k on one.

[Stevoraith]

OK she has found a car that actually interests her:

Smart Roadster Coupe - anyone know anything about them?

I actually really like the look of them especially the brabus one, but not convinced i could spend 8k on one.

My mate had one. He actually had a strange Smart car fetish and owned two for-twos as well as his roadster but thats a whole other topic......

On the plus side the turbo sounds fantastic from inside, chirruping and whistling away like a WRC car. They are quite easily 'chippable', and even in standard (100hp?) form they are nippy enough as they weigh bugger all.

No idea what the handling is like as I never got to drive it but even from the passenger seat I could tell the gearbox was fantastically awful. There's easily a full second between changes and they are jerky and nasty. Would completely put me off.

Less luggage space than an Elise too if thats a concern, and a similar sort of driving position.

In my opinion if they had a decent gearbox they would be good little cars- it all depends on if that puts you off or not.

[Rich H]

Cheers chaps,

they are 80bhp in standard trim the brabus is 110 IIRC. Apparently the gearbox can be chipped to speed it up to - but it probably won't bother her
We are going to look at a roadster (Not the coupe) at the weekend as there is a SMart dealer not far away see if she actually likes them...

The other options haev been veto'd pretty much - RX8 is no good for short trips to work (10 miles) as it'll blow up, the XK8 is too expensive for a sensible milage and age the only cars in the running are S2000 and maybe an Alfa but she doesn't know which one.

Ta
R

[BiggestNizzy]

Always liked the look/idea not the price.

[Dominic]

I have always liked the look of them too... .heard too many reports about the terrible gear box though, however, unless I'm wrong (which never happens... much) I think there is some sort of software upgrade to improve the gearchange.

Always believed them to be fairly slow... anyone know some stats?

Having said that, if it's for the Mrs, then let's face it, a lack of performance or slow gear change won't be noticed...

[Rich H]

0-60 is something like 10 secs so not quick but they are only 700cc so should be light on juice.

They depreciated like Alfas so you can get them from £3k to £6 for the coupe the brabus is up to £8k

[jj]

Phil owned one for a while a few years ago when it was still under warranty.

Was nice to drive and the gearbox is not as bad as old smarts, and it really handled well. Was a bit baws overall though and the build quality was jobby. 4/10

phils old one on the euro rims

[Dominic]

Was a bit baws overall though and the build quality was jobby. 4/10

Do you write for Evo?

[Rich H]

Will it detonate in a fantastically expensive manner and does it have any 'features' that annoy excessively?

Currently she is driving a rapidly rotting 53 plate MX-5 with a ropey back brake and rapidly approaching end of warranty so we CBA in MOT/taxing it again - as long as it's about or less as annoying I can live with that.

It'll be from a Smart dealer anyway so will have a warranty of some description. Might even get it under AA P&L too just in case.

[graeme]

0-60 is something like 10 secs so not quick but they are only 700cc so should be light on juice.

They depreciated like Alfas so you can get them from £3k to £6 for the coupe the brabus is up to £8k

Feel for the idiot (me) who paid £17,500 for a new one and sold it a year later for half that. I saw it for sale a year later with another 10k miles on for more than I sold it for. Still, fun times! Don't think you'd lose too much on one nowadays.

Definitely go for the Brabus 101bhp (I've had both standard one and the Brabster) unless you don't mind slowing down due to lack of power into headwinds, uphill or if a motorway looks at you funny!

Ignore the 10secs to 60 figure. They do take ages to get off the line (sloppy auto box), but once going they're not so bad. Overtaking is fine in the Brabster.

Expect 40+mpg even though you thrash the pants off it absolutely everywhere, which you will. Keep the turbo spinning and it's lots of fun. Great handling, very flat. Far more grip than power, so it will never get out of shape. Merc-style traction control will stop any fun.

[Rich H]

Looked at a roadster today (Not a coupe) and it looks like we are on the hunt for a coupe... she likes it! Not that she has managed to drive one yet as the dealer was being a bit cagey as we said we wanted a coupe Even the Merc dealers prices were pretty good (Roadster up for £4.5k and offered almost book price for the MX-5 £3k)

Cheers!

Rich

[chrisdb]

Running an 03 Smart just now, if you can, get a warranty - saved us 2k on an engine rebuild when liners went. Basically anything that goes wrong is a pain to fix as everything is small/hard to work on and probably 8/10 times involves a trip to the dealership.

Latest was when the immobiliser un synced itself with the fob (probably being pressed repeatedly in swmbo handbag) - £120 to resync for prob 5 mins work at Merc.

The gear change is awful but is better (i.e. faster) in the roadster. Next door neighbour had a Brabus roadster but suffered terminal electronics problems so she chopped it in for a TT last year.

But she likes it

[Rich H]

Will be looking to buy from the Smart dealer and will have a Merc warranty
After that either AA P&L or extend it.

[Rich H]

Well put down a deposit on a Light gold (Champagne?) Smart Roadster Coupe today.

She drove it and loved it!

Saw 2 today and got offered very good money on the MX-5 at both! £600 more than we were willing to accept for it too! (with a little haggling!)

She is well chuffed - only downside is the after-market warranty is only 3 months but we'll have a look about and take a longer one out just in case. IT does have a full Smart service history.

Cheers
Rich