10 Sep 07
Make no mistake, the Fortwo Brabus is fun to drive: it pulls along smartly, the engine sounds great and its 780kg weight means that it's easy to chuck the car around. Then there's the fact that its combined fuel consumption is 54.3mpg and it emits just 124g/km of CO2.
In theory, it sounds like a great way to have fun while not leaving too much of a carbon footprint.
But - and it's a very big but - all this comes at a cost. As we mentioned earlier, the retail price of the Brabus Fortwo is pretty hefty for what the package provides. You should really consider whether thirteen-and-a-half grand for the coupe is really worth the money. For around the same price, or not much more, you can bag yourself a new Fiesta ST, Peugeot 207 GTi or Corsa VXR. If you're prepared to go for a used car, you've got a lot more options. And they seat four.
And as for the £15, 470 cabrio, if you really want a fun-to-drive two-seat soft-top, for another £300 you can get a Mazda MX-5. Fun as the Brabus is, it's frankly a no-brainer.
So perhaps it's not that we Brits are adrenalin-junkie petrolhead yobs: maybe we just have more money than sense.
