Smart Roadster (2002-) Review

On the road

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With no clutch pedal and a sequential 'Softip' gearshift, the Roadster is very easy to drive. There's an automatic mode, too, which is less jerky than that of other Smarts to date, but it's best avoided unless you're feeling very lazy. In manual mode it's easier than in past Smarts to achieve smooth gearshifts by judicious easing of the throttle, but the slow shift speed still frustrates. You can also (optionally) change gear with paddles on the steering wheel, but as usual with this system, it's not much use on a twisty road because the paddles are too small.

The electrically powered assistance might be welcome if you do a lot of tight parking, but keen drivers will be disappointed by the detached feeling you get until you have turned the wheel a significant amount. The unassisted system offers better road feel, but is only available on the limited edition left-hand drive car. The view forward is excellent despite the low seating position, but a bar across the rear window section obscures the view aft in the Coupe.

Sadly, Smart UK has seen fit to standardise power steering, save for the limited edition left-hand drive model, robbing keen drivers of much of the tactile feedback that makes a good sports car so enjoyable.

Even so, the Roadster is still a hoot to drive. Key to this is the tiny size, which makes the Roadster very agile. A regular Smart is compromised by its height and its short wheelbase, so it is engineered with fail-safe handling designed to make it run wide in corners when the grip limit draws near.

Not so the Roadster: it has terrific bite into a corner, lots of grip, and quick steering. It's not so fast-acting as to make the Roadster nervous, but once you're in a turn, every movement of the wheel gives an exact, proportional response with no delay. The unassisted steering is even better - it gives a great feel of the road, writhing gently in your hands over changing road cambers as a Porsche 911's steering used to do, making the standardisation of power steering a frustrating feature. Given the sound the engine makes, it's almost as though you're driving a Porsche in miniature. The Roadster never feels tail-heavy, but you can trim its cornering line on the throttle to joyous effect. There's even enough power for a tail-flick on a bend's exit, if you're in the mood. The disc/drum brakes are unusually progressive and effective.

Don't be misled by the unpromising-looking 0-60mph time (11.5 seconds), because Smarts are always hamstrung in their on-paper performance by the sluggish getaway. That's down to the transmission, which makes things worse by its leisurely gearshifts. There's quite a lot of turbo lag, too, typical of a small turbocharged engine asked to deliver a big output (it's an impressive 117bhp per litre).

In practice you learn to anticipate the lag and press the accelerator in advance of needing thrust, but the engine can be frustratingly slow to gather momentum after a gearchange. In fact, it provides surprisingly strong pulling power, the engine is very smooth, with a deep, sporty and slightly Porsche-like exhaust note, and you'll be surprised every time you hit the rather low 6000rpm rev limiter because the engine sounds as though it's revving at half the speed, as three-cylinder engines do.

Ultimately the Roadster feels slower than its most obvious rival, the tiny Daihatsu Copen, whatever the figures say, but not disastrously so.

The Brabus-tuned versions have been upped to 100bhp and 69lb-ft (0-60 in 9.8 seconds) and feel stronger mid-range, although there's not a lot in it.

But all versions could be a whole lot more rewarding with a manual gearbox...