Bring back the smart Roadster

[Evilution]

Originally Posted by BigWarpGuy

I read that the Smart Roadster might come back as a MG roadster but that was in 2007. Is there any news of it lately?

Funding couldn't be found so the project was scrapped, I believe the rights and designs were sold to an Indian company so we will never see it again.... or a really rubbish $2000 version will be released with a 20hp engine.

[FORFOUR]

Originally Posted by sheureka

Let's see how well you do writing in Greek -

Thank you

[fmaxwell]

Originally Posted by Evilution

I don't think its design lends itself to the Americans, it is a classic 60's sports car design. The reason it didn't sell was the silly price and they leaked.

The real reason that it did not sell was the Mazda Miata (MX-5).

• The Miata had the finest-shifting manual transmission made. The Roadster had the infamously clunky "automated manual" transmission that most find annoying in an economy car but intolerable in a supposed sports car.
• The Miata has a fully independent, fully adjustable suspension with double wishbones (A-arms) at front and rear with coil-over shocks (same configuration as modern Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, and many race cars). The smart Roadster had a de Dion rear suspension and Macpherson struts up front (for those who don't already know, that's not even in the same league).
• The Miata had a 50/50 weight distribution (with the engine in front and rear drive) while the smart roadster had a 44/56 front-to-rear weight distribution.
• The 2003 Miata took 7.3 seconds to reach 60mph and the 2003 smart roadster took 10.5 seconds (if you want to talk about the Brabus version of the roadster, we can compare that to the turbocharged Mazdaspeed Miata).
• The Miata had a proper convertible top. It could be lowered in roughly 3 seconds without leaving the driver's seat (two latches and, with one hand, fold it back). I know. I own one. The smart roadster had a powered soft top that was complex and had the cabriolet-like over-the door bars that had to be manually removed if you wanted something more like a true convertible. But then it still had the tridion frame that took away much of the open look and feeling.
• The Miata/MX-5 has one of the richest aftermarket performance parts catalogs ever. The smart roadster had little available for it, yet needed a lot just to be competitive with a stock Miata.

If Mazda had never created the Miata/MX-5, the smart roadster would still be with us. But compared to the Mazda, it's obvious that the smart roadster has much more in common with the fortwo than can make for a good sports car.