[Flash443]

I have been following the smart car casually since their introduction into this country. I am a fan of small cars but have only owned a few. I more or less bought mine on impulse one rainy day last week. Carvana makes it too easy. A 2015 light blue metallic Fortwo Passion City beam edition with 31k miles. So far I like it far more than expected I would. Car experts have been highly cricical in their reviews. Owner reviews are mostly positive. Negative owner reviews are predominantly dealer service related. I was expecting the car to be under powered but discovered it is quite zippy and not at all under powered. The transmission is a marvel of technology once a person accepts that it is a manual that shifts automatically. The suspension is sporty. The car handles great. It is feature rich far beyond expectations. What a bonus. I love it.

 

[Igor Barbaros]

Congrats sir. Welcome to our community. I bought mine on a whim a few years back and one put about 25k miles on it already. Fun little cars.
Regarding dealer service, it's pretty bad from what you can read, add to that the fact that smart is no longer on the market, dealers that service smarts are very few...
Would I say it's underpowered? Yes definitely. But it handles a lot better than the SUVs and trucks and blobs out there. I have mine on lowering springs and it handles even better. I often get tailgated by some nugget on straight lines, but as soon as we got a corner I don't even have to lift off, just take corners at 60 and watch them in the rear view struggling to keep up, understand and almost run off the road sometimes

 

[Jeb Baker]

Welcome to SCOA!

 

[1983JZR3W]

Welcome to the world of smart!! I hope you enjoy your little car as much as I have enjoyed mine for the last 10 plus years.

 

[Flash443]

Is there a difference in engine power between my 2015 Fortwo and earlier years? Mine is far from under powered in my estimation. I have no trouble getting up to 75 mph to enter an interstate highway. To pass a truck takes one downshift and 4 seconds to go from 75 to 85.
To be sure it is no rocket ship but it isn't lacking when it is asked to gitty up and go.
I have a 5 speed automatic shift manual transmission. Instead of the dual clutch 6 speed I see listed for 2015 models. Perhaps mine is a early 2015 as build date is 11 2014.

 

[NW453]

The earlier 6 speeds were pretty rare... I bet not more then 10% I sold were manuals. Whole different car!

 

[smartlib]

The earlier models had a bit of a transmission problem, I think ( not that I know much about engines). But my 2008 Passion was VERY slow off the line; I had to really calculate when I was pulling out into traffic how long it would take to get up to speed. My 2016 Prime that I bought just before Xmas is MUCH faster at accelerating and definitely smoother at high speeds. I travel a lot of tollways and regularly have it up to 80-90 mph with no concerns. I love it!

 

[Paula&Charlie]

Congratulations on your new Smarty. You will soon discover that you are among the chosen few who can honestly say they love their car. I hope you get much enjoyment and many years of pleasure from your new ride.
March of 2007 I was walking down a street in Frankfurt Germany and that was my first glimpse of the car we came to love. Standing there taking her all in, I said to my Husband, I want this car. Eight years later we purchased an orphan from Mercedes.
I to own a 2015, passion “styling package” and definitely she is no slug when it comes to being in the front of the pack if I chose. I would have preferred a manual, but also enjoy shifting with the paddles.
We perform most of her maintenance, but she does go back to Mercedes for her yearly state inspection plus her service intervals 10, 20, 30k miles.
Since adopting her they only issue I have encountered was the flex pipe from the cat to the muffler broke, which turned out to be a blessing as I was kicking around the idea of changing the muffler out to something with a little more roar to it. We installed a Solo performance cat back muffler with dual tips and she went from purring like a kitten to roaring like a lion.
Take good care of your smart and she will give you many years without hassle.

 

[1983JZR3W]

@Flash443 Your 451 has 70 horsepower same as all 451's. In some other countries, the 451 was offered with a turbo. The base turbo was 84 horsepower and the Brabus offered 102 hp, if I remember correctly. The US spec 451 Brabus has the same 70 hp as the other models, Pure/Passion. It is a very peppy little car and since I am a big fan of small rear engine cars, it is just right for me.

 

[Flash443]

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies. I am more pleased with my little car the more I drive it. I am impressed with how zippy it is when I had read car journalism complaints about how under powered it was suppose to be. The 2010 transmission softwear update must have been the reason the cars went from blaaaaah to zoom. I am inclined to think 70 hp is a conservative rating for a 3 cylinder, dual overhead cam, variable cam timing 4 valve per cylinder one liter engine with 11.4:1 compression.

 

[1983JZR3W]

You are correct....In Europe they rate it at 71 horsepower.

 

[Rambo4]

Welcome to the family. I get razed over Minimus Prime but keep on trucking. Love these little Swatch Mercedes ART cars! (the acronym for SMART). Again welcome... ...if you have any quiries or concerns, this is place to get a firing solution!

I have been following the smart car casually since their introduction into this country. I am a fan of small cars but have only owned a few. I more or less bought mine on impulse one rainy day last week. Carvana makes it too easy. A 2015 light blue metallic Fortwo Passion City beam edition with 31k miles. So far I like it far more than expected I would. Car experts have been highly cricical in their reviews. Owner reviews are mostly positive. Negative owner reviews are predominantly dealer service related. I was expecting the car to be under powered but discovered it is quite zippy and not at all under powered. The transmission is a marvel of technology once a person accepts that it is a manual that shifts automatically. The suspension is sporty. The car handles great. It is feature rich far beyond expectations. What a bonus. I love it.