Category: Roadsters 
Price Range: £13,515 to £17,290
Highly entertaining, cute looks, durable construction, great handling, versatile roof, cheap to run, a cult car.
Slow sequential gearshift, poor rear visibility in Coupe, soft throttle response, power steering lacks feel, poor panel fit, small boot, expensive for what it is.
An exotic-looking car at a reasonable price and a hoot to drive. But there are compromises and the prices are high for such a small-engined vehicle.
Although small, light and cheap, the Roadster has plenty of safety kit. Airbags are limited to two, but the belts do have pre-tensioners and force limiters. Active safety is helped by standard ABS and electronic brake-force distribution; the latter is particularly useful in a car like this with a lightly laden nose, because it stops the front wheels locking up. There's a proper electronic stability system, too, which modulates brakes as well as throttle to keep the Smart straight in a skid, emergency brake assist and corner brake control, which reduces the risk of skidding when braking in a corner. There is also a hill-holder, which prevents the car rolling back for 0.7 of a second after the brake pedal is released. An immobiliser is standard, built into the remote central-locking system.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Smart Roadster Coupe
wrote on 07 07 2008