I totally agree with everything Jeremy said about the joy of cornering with a light-weight car with such good traction. It is by far the biggest selling point of the Smart Roadster. I often take longer routes if I know there are good corners :) I've test driven a lot of cheap and expensive sports cars, but there is simply no other "go-kart" that you're allowed to drive on the road. It's high time for a newer model. If anybody knows of something equivalent please let me know.
yeah exactly. one of my funnest times in a car is when i owned my 1990 corolla. had a 1.6L 105hp engine but it only weighed 1000kg and had skinny tires so it would do 2nd gear burnouts and shit. i constantly sent old volvos to gapple bees even though they had double the power. that car was more known in the town than i was xD. everyone knew it as the pizza racer. som times when friends would introduce me the people be like nah i don't know how you are. and then you mention the corolla and they allways like oh you the pizza racer ohh yeah i know you. even had a girl kiss me while her boyfriend was right next to her. i realised it mid kiss and apologised to the dude but he was like nah it's cool you the pizza racer xD. not even my bmw got me that kind of reputation
I’ve 20 years old and I drive a 102 hp Smart Roadster since 18 (not the Brabus, just the 82 hp with a remap). I drove many cars and it’s absolutely the funniest one. If you’re looking for something modern and quite as fun as the Smart Roadster the Mazda MX-5 ND is your choice. Perfectly balance like the Smart Roadster, weight nothing and has very good handling in the corners (also if you like sliding there’s the version with the lock differential). The only difference is that it has front engine. Other than that I found it so good that will be my next car. Obviously there’s no way I’m gonna sell the Smart. I will drive it until the end of my days.
Later models didn't have those issues anymore... I know two people, one used to own one and the other still owns one... both of them said they never had any real issues with them. Biggest problem with the later Roadster are fading of the paint and plastics... they start to look quite tattered even if you take good care of them, even a low mileage one will start to look a bit shabby because of the faded paint and plastic.
Even though Smart now only make electric vehicles, I reckon an electric remaster of this car would be brilliant Least of all it'd do away with that bad gearbox
I just got rid of my Fortwo and it broke my heart. I genuinely love the smart line, the fact they dont sell these in the US anymore just bothers me. We have such a weird obsession with enormous vehicles.
I have my ForTwo Passion for 11,5 years now. Love it. Nimble, alive, contact with the ride. Big cars feel like coffins for me. And always laughing when to park or to turn
my aunt have a roadstar turbo, it was parked at our house for a few weeks while she was away and i got to drive it. it was honestly such a fun little thing that i ended up taking it out almost everyday and blasting around in it, i loved the handeling of it and the engine and turbo noise right behind you. Edit: i just rememberd this thing also got pedal shifters making it even more awesome in my book :D
I'm sad these things were never sold in America! It reminds me a bit of the Honda Beat. Yeah it's about the size of a Hot Wheels car and the engine is tiny, but they look fun as hell to play around with.
We had smart Brabus Roadster. Of all the cars we have had, and that's quite a few, we will always remember the smart with affection. It was such a hoot to drive and the Brabus version is quite quick. It was completely trouble free and beautifully made. Such a shame we don't still have it. One day people will pay a lot for these as a classic.No leaks, no electrical issues of any kind, by the way.
I’ve an 82 hp Smart Roadster with a remap that makes 102 hp. It’s so fun to drive that I’ll never sell it. Don’t know if it will go up in value, but my sentimental value with it is very strong. I’m 20 and that’s my first car since 18. Never had problems with it.
If only motor journalist got knowledge about how to drive that gearbox it would've turned to a fun test. Gearbox ain't a problem, it's the handling. Change gears like it was an clutch and all of a sudden it goes faster then a standard manual/clutch version.
Correct , there is a knack to it and once mastered, its not an issue at all. In fact its part of the driving challenge. Its technically semi auto mode is good, the auto mode is not for larking about.
Oh how i miss my Smart Roadster Brabus which made me smile for the 5 years i owned it. And after owning many other sportscars since then I have to conclude that on public roads, with speed limits, this is the car i had most fun in!
I did like mine, I covered 80k+ in it. But that gearbox really spoiled the experience. Just imagine how incredible it would have been with a proper manual box.
Easily sorted with a remap, i spent £200 at a Smart owners weekend in 2006 at Billing aquadrome, got a full stainless exhaust, forge dump valve and sports filter too, night and day difference 86bhp up from 60 odd with 10 mins on a laptop, regret selling it to this day.
My wife had the coupe version. It was an amazing little car. But I'd did have problems, water getting into the wiper motor, cracking air con pipes, but it was a brilliant concept...
I'm a big Jeremy Clarkson fan. I remember Hammond reviewed this car back in the Top Gear days and liked it as well. Sadly we never got this car in the US. Thanks.
I‘m honestly astonished he even fits in that car. I‘m just slightly taller than Jeremy and I only just fit in an Audi TT and the roadster is still a bit smaller.
Always wanted one of these. I remember speccing one on the website like 20 years ago. Then I saw a friends that had been in a crash and was very glad I didn't.
Generally Smart is a very secure car. But... if you have an accident with an SUV, Land Rover or truck, your head will be kicked off. The roadster and coupe are much tooooooo deep on the street. So I agree, this car can be very dangerous.
One of friends had accident with Roadster on highway at 140km/h (tyre explosion), car totaled, he got out with scratches and he said "this car is so safe that I decide to buy another one"
@@greenbunnyinabongo7299 I was there too. The body exploded and the head went back on the body and started talking again and then went off again! Thats how unsafe Smarts are.
Shame he never rolled it, his big head was sticking out. The gearbox works fine when you know how to use it. Including taking it to the redline where it changes on its own
The transmissions on all smarts of that era take forever to shift. Easily almost a full second between shifts. If they had fixed that the car would have got to 60mph in around 8.5 seconds just from that transmission not sucking
The Roadster isn't set up for fast flat racetracks. It is however perfectly set up for any public road you can throw at it. Speaking from ~250.000 km worth of driving 2 of those through half of Europe, all over the Alps, Pyrenees, Sicilia, down to Montenegro, etc.
The Dodge Slingshot concept was a Smart Roadster in disguise, probably shown to see if there would be any interest. But we got a Ram SRT10 pickup instead.
Sadly from 2030 on all combustion cars including classics will be banned from public streets in entire EU and Scandinavia :-( In Germany the Green Peoples Party gave order to shorten fuel supply from 2025 on by reducing all conventional fuel stations to only one state operated central gas station per city or county. Now they even want to slow down all the gas pumps from 20 litre per minute to 2 litre per minute...From 2027 on in the EU certain car spare parts will be banned too....as exhaust systems, turbo chargers and even some engine and gearbox oils...California and New York will do the same from 2027 on.... So no investments should be done in oil burning cars any longer....They even created a new kind of crime here, called emissions and smoke crime. Called Bundesabgasbespaßungsverordnung in German.... :-(((
Exclusive access to over 50 videos that show in detail repairs for different Smart models
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Put a Hayabusa engine and 6-speed manual gearbox in it
or sequential
Or a forfour manual trans
@ any motorcycle engine would be manufactured with a manual sequential trans so it’d make sense
@Nigel Buckham They are finicky enough factory
It's the perfect car for a magic dorito engine!
1:33 "Feel that grip it's fantastic!" as the thing understeers massively through the turn
I have one and the Trip is insane
I totally agree with everything Jeremy said about the joy of cornering with a light-weight car with such good traction. It is by far the biggest selling point of the Smart Roadster. I often take longer routes if I know there are good corners :) I've test driven a lot of cheap and expensive sports cars, but there is simply no other "go-kart" that you're allowed to drive on the road. It's high time for a newer model. If anybody knows of something equivalent please let me know.
yeah exactly. one of my funnest times in a car is when i owned my 1990 corolla. had a 1.6L 105hp engine but it only weighed 1000kg and had skinny tires so it would do 2nd gear burnouts and shit. i constantly sent old volvos to gapple bees even though they had double the power. that car was more known in the town than i was xD. everyone knew it as the pizza racer. som times when friends would introduce me the people be like nah i don't know how you are. and then you mention the corolla and they allways like oh you the pizza racer ohh yeah i know you. even had a girl kiss me while her boyfriend was right next to her. i realised it mid kiss and apologised to the dude but he was like nah it's cool you the pizza racer xD. not even my bmw got me that kind of reputation
Turbo mx5
I’ve 20 years old and I drive a 102 hp Smart Roadster since 18 (not the Brabus, just the 82 hp with a remap). I drove many cars and it’s absolutely the funniest one. If you’re looking for something modern and quite as fun as the Smart Roadster the Mazda MX-5 ND is your choice. Perfectly balance like the Smart Roadster, weight nothing and has very good handling in the corners (also if you like sliding there’s the version with the lock differential). The only difference is that it has front engine. Other than that I found it so good that will be my next car. Obviously there’s no way I’m gonna sell the Smart. I will drive it until the end of my days.
@@rampage3337 yes i love light weight cars to my civic eg weighs 950kg and have 120hp it sends a lot of cars to gapple bees
The MX5 is superior in every regard especially reliability.
This car needs a revival with an electric engine. Damn this would be so cool.
Agree with you.
...and there are even concepts of that! Mercedes-Geely, please!
Wouldn't be at all light then would it? That'd ruin it.
Would be heavier and way less fun, stop wanting everything electric
there is even a smart car that hit monster speed with the electric
:front end plowing tires with massive understeer
JC: "Amazing grip!"
Such a good idea that they got so wrong, leaks, electrical issues. Most fun car to drive though.
Pretty typical for Mercedes cars from that era
@@Sossingro Only typical for Mercedes around 2003 was rust. At least my 320cdi W211 was pretty bulletproof.
Later models didn't have those issues anymore... I know two people, one used to own one and the other still owns one... both of them said they never had any real issues with them. Biggest problem with the later Roadster are fading of the paint and plastics... they start to look quite tattered even if you take good care of them, even a low mileage one will start to look a bit shabby because of the faded paint and plastic.
Even though Smart now only make electric vehicles, I reckon an electric remaster of this car would be brilliant
Least of all it'd do away with that bad gearbox
Manual swap can be done and decently easy. Trans from for four
@Lyrical Gammster So did Mike Quaver
Good news!
Electric option would be fantastic in todays market.
I just got rid of my Fortwo and it broke my heart. I genuinely love the smart line, the fact they dont sell these in the US anymore just bothers me. We have such a weird obsession with enormous vehicles.
7 years more and you will be able to import one of these
I have my ForTwo Passion for 11,5 years now. Love it. Nimble, alive, contact with the ride. Big cars feel like coffins for me. And always laughing when to park or to turn
It wasnt even designed for the U.S. Its made for tight European streets
Yes, but as a Swedish guy, it's nice to see that Volvo is very popular in the United States.
You do realize they're junk quality, right? People loved them until they discovered that. They aren't even that efficient.
It's always more fun to drive something slow fast than something fast slow!
Still have mine after 16 years... despite having an AMG to drive otherwise.
I am sure you are a bipolar person 😂😂😅
Ooo sorry
What kinda amg?
If this had a manual box it would have been so much better.
Only one made with manual transmission from forfour
Slap a small honda bike engine, and a manual assembly, and this thing would be bitchin.
Iirc we can swap in a standard trans from forfour
@@SmartRacer do you know which gen of the forfour?
I'm selling mine right now, 130.000km of fun and is still perfect.
A very nice car.
my aunt have a roadstar turbo, it was parked at our house for a few weeks while she was away and i got to drive it. it was honestly such a fun little thing that i ended up taking it out almost everyday and blasting around in it, i loved the handeling of it and the engine and turbo noise right behind you.
Edit: i just rememberd this thing also got pedal shifters making it even more awesome in my book :D
Glad you like it :D
I'm sad these things were never sold in America! It reminds me a bit of the Honda Beat. Yeah it's about the size of a Hot Wheels car and the engine is tiny, but they look fun as hell to play around with.
Soon you will be able to import one ;)
This is totally inspired by the Honda beat, they borrowed one before designing it
Yeah light cars are the solution. Colin Chapman (Lotus) knew that well.
Simplify, and add lightness. Not simplify, and add electric windows.
We had smart Brabus Roadster. Of all the cars we have had, and that's quite a few, we will always remember the smart with affection. It was such a hoot to drive and the Brabus version is quite quick. It was completely trouble free and beautifully made. Such a shame we don't still have it. One day people will pay a lot for these as a classic.No leaks, no electrical issues of any kind, by the way.
I’ve an 82 hp Smart Roadster with a remap that makes 102 hp. It’s so fun to drive that I’ll never sell it. Don’t know if it will go up in value, but my sentimental value with it is very strong. I’m 20 and that’s my first car since 18. Never had problems with it.
keep a coupe one, roadster too many roof leaks@@Idelvion
„Weight kills the fun“.
Fun is dying slowly in this world, you can see it everywhere.
Lets keep fun alive!
Agree with you
If Clarkson approves then I need one
If only motor journalist got knowledge about how to drive that gearbox it would've turned to a fun test. Gearbox ain't a problem, it's the handling. Change gears like it was an clutch and all of a sudden it goes faster then a standard manual/clutch version.
Correct , there is a knack to it and once mastered, its not an issue at all. In fact its part of the driving challenge. Its technically semi auto mode is good, the auto mode is not for larking about.
Oh how i miss my Smart Roadster Brabus which made me smile for the 5 years i owned it. And after owning many other sportscars since then I have to conclude that on public roads, with speed limits, this is the car i had most fun in!
Yes the gearbox is slower than other cars but you have to ease off the throttle for better changes .
Many drivers are not awared of this
Why have I never heard of this, not sold in the US?
Not, but there are few in US
I did like mine, I covered 80k+ in it. But that gearbox really spoiled the experience. Just imagine how incredible it would have been with a proper manual box.
I agree totally with you, that would be much better car.
Easily sorted with a remap, i spent £200 at a Smart owners weekend in 2006 at Billing aquadrome, got a full stainless exhaust, forge dump valve and sports filter too, night and day difference 86bhp up from 60 odd with 10 mins on a laptop, regret selling it to this day.
@@Thegeordiemonkey maybe I missed it, but how did all that improve the awful gearbox?
@@bobmcl2406 because the gearbox is linked to the electrics and ecu, the remap can alter the times the shift changes as its a semi auto.
@@bobmcl2406 Apparently you can remap the box as well as the engine. There was a guy who recently bought a Brabus 4-2 who spoke about it on his
I bought one when new and really enjoyed it. I'd happily still have a brabus if they were more reliable
My wife had the coupe version. It was an amazing little car. But I'd did have problems, water getting into the wiper motor, cracking air con pipes, but it was a brilliant concept...
Its a little cheeky car, fun for the summer, always like these, a really cheap fun runabout
So it is an elongated smart car?
1:59 suits perfectly to common F1 racing!
I've never seen Jeremy less convincing.
I'm a big Jeremy Clarkson fan. I remember Hammond reviewed this car back in the Top Gear days and liked it as well. Sadly we never got this car in the US. Thanks.
I‘m honestly astonished he even fits in that car. I‘m just slightly taller than Jeremy and I only just fit in an Audi TT and the roadster is still a bit smaller.
'Am I a pencil?? Am I a collyflower?? Am I a nuclear powerstation?? IM A GEARBOX!! OH HEAVENS I SWAP SOME COGS AROUND!!! It takes forever'
Always wanted one of these. I remember speccing one on the website like 20 years ago. Then I saw a friends that had been in a crash and was very glad I didn't.
Generally Smart is a very secure car. But... if you have an accident with an SUV, Land Rover or truck, your head will be kicked off. The roadster and coupe are much tooooooo deep on the street. So I agree, this car can be very dangerous.
One of friends had accident with Roadster on highway at 140km/h (tyre explosion), car totaled, he got out with scratches and he said "this car is so safe that I decide to buy another one"
I saw one after a bad smash, I was there so quickly after the smash that the head of the driver of the smart car was still rolling down the road
@@greenbunnyinabongo7299 I was there too. The body exploded and the head went back on the body and started talking again and then went off again! Thats how unsafe Smarts are.
Devil in me, tells me to convert it into an off-roader
It´s great to be different
Did I search for this? No
Have I thought about this Top Gear segment once in the last 15 years? No
Am I glad I clicked on this video? Oh yes
Imagine if it had a 1.3 litre hayabusa engine and a 6 speed manual gearbox. It would be even more fun.
Thank You! Ich liebe meinen roadster (mein Titelbild) seit 2004 und seit 120 tkm. ER macht einfach nur Spaß!
this thing needed a high raving 1.6lt atmo 4 cyl and a manual.
Shame he never rolled it, his big head was sticking out.
The gearbox works fine when you know how to use it. Including taking it to the redline where it changes on its own
I had one of these - then I got a VX220 Turbo - honestly this was more fun
I was thinking to buy Elise or Speedster
Its slow but its fun i get it
It is
Slow is VERY relative ! On curvy roads, 50 mph can be VERY fast
They need to rebuild this as an electric car it would be so well suited to it
@Nigel Buckham wow
I've got one in the collection of cars, & yes it's a fun little car to drive, Rj in Oz
Him drifting:
Me: get it I guess ( wish I could do that )
The transmissions on all smarts of that era take forever to shift. Easily almost a full second between shifts.
If they had fixed that the car would have got to 60mph in around 8.5 seconds just from that transmission not sucking
Most journalist test them in auto mode, there is noticeable difference between auto and manual mode
I wish they had made it with a manual and maybe a choice of engines
such a good platform wasted really
Brabus made one with gearbox from forfour and Mercedes made one with engine from A class and manual gearbox.
Would love to drive one of these... With a Suzuki Hayabusa and manual gearbox inside... :D
This is my car haha. I absolutely love my Roadster, her name is Fleur
Mine has no name yet. Had it 4 months, brilliant
MY ROADSTER BRABUS EXCLUSIVE LIMITED EDITION 2006 SİLVER, ONLY 26.000 MILES. . .
I'M THE 2ND OWNER.
IT'S A LITTLE FERRARI.
I wonder what this could do with a downpipe and a tune
Jeremy loves roady 🚀
He does :)
Tbh if I had a pound for every time Jeremy contradicts himself over cars I would be rich .
I see alot of people in early college years driving this.
Such a shame this car doesn't get the powertrain it deserved, could be a fun car
Bellissima!!!!😀😀😀👍👍👍
It is fun! I love mine to bits!
Looks like a fun car!
am I a pencil? am I a cauliflower?
I always thought it looked like a fun car.
For a moment I read the channel name as "smart roadster" & thought why would they upload a video of their car getting roasted?
There was massive understeer in one of the corners. Sports cars don’t do that.
The Roadster isn't set up for fast flat racetracks. It is however perfectly set up for any public road you can throw at it. Speaking from ~250.000 km worth of driving 2 of those through half of Europe, all over the Alps, Pyrenees, Sicilia, down to Montenegro, etc.
I'm about to buy one and maybe god throws down an bike engine while driving and it may accidentally fall into my roadster😉
such a shame that Dodge didn't produce it for the USA
I’m not going to lie I would have one. It looks nice in my opinion!
It's just another smart car in a party frock and now almost 20 yrs later they still command excellent second hand prices
this with a bike engine would be great
And now you can get one for next to nothing. A good example will run you around 2000 in England.
German Kei car?
Put 1.0 turbo vtec of Honda or 1.4GTE one engine
Can't help but think how much fun it would be to put a better engine and gearbox in it.
It just sounds like understeer
short wheel base mid engine, average person wouldn't be able to drive it without a healthy under steering setup
this is an excellent car.
I agree with you 😃
Great old video, I have Dvd somewhere
Thank you for watching
I miss 2003 😢
Gordon Murray has one.
Yep, saw interview. It can be great daily car
Is this a car that you can drive at 16 yo?
Maybe
@SmartRacer it isn't i alr found out
A good platform to put a Hayabusa engine in
I love this car. We never got it.
did you see his irritated glance back, when the car wanted to roll away because HE GOT OUT?
It was almost my first car.... but missed out on one so went civic instead..
Honda 660s and new Copen come v close.
I miss mine
Its like a Lotus if the engine was from a small motorcycle.
If this car didn’t look so ugly, I would buy one
Love this car !!
So the only way to enjoy this car is to drive it like a chav hooligan?
Clarkson can sell me anything
700cc motorised pencil sharpener
Needs a manual
Sadly, when you live in America like me, there’s not really anything here that Jeremy would consider “lightweight”
There are, but unless you want to drop big money, the lightweight cars avaliable are garbage.
Or anyone.
The Dodge Slingshot concept was a Smart Roadster in disguise, probably shown to see if there would be any interest. But we got a Ram SRT10 pickup instead.
I was expecting him to hate it.
Why I read it Smart Roasted by Jeremy Clarkson
He should Review your car
This car needs a small rotary engine
That would be fun
Nice car, but i just see one in Indonesia
#Peak #Obfuscation
Too bad this thing lost to a mini.
Oh well, the mini is a lot better though.
Sadly from 2030 on all combustion cars including classics will be banned
from public streets in entire EU and Scandinavia :-( In Germany the
Green Peoples Party gave order to shorten fuel supply from 2025 on by
reducing all conventional fuel stations to only one state operated
central gas station per city or county. Now they even want to slow down
all the gas pumps from 20 litre per minute to 2 litre per minute...From
2027 on in the EU certain car spare parts will be banned too....as
exhaust systems, turbo chargers and even some engine and gearbox
oils...California and New York will do the same from 2027 on.... So no
investments should be done in oil burning cars any longer....They even
created a new kind of crime here, called emissions and smoke crime. Called Bundesabgasbespaßungsverordnung in German.... :-(((
😲
Wow, great disinformation you're trying to spread here. Let's hope nobody find out you made up all of that crap...
Indeed smart's gearboxes are the worst