New smart fortwo better in every way

UPDATED IMAGE LIBRARY November 12, 2006 The new smart fortwo has finally arrived: what began with the idealistic vision of a hybrid engined, cheap-to-manufacture, economical two seater with a low environmental footprint by Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek in the early nineties, has finally seen its second edition. It’s our bet that Hayek will be judged as visionary albeit naive a century from now, as the automotive industry is a fraught with danger for the inexperienced, and by the time the car found a permanent home in the form of Daimler Chrysler, it was most of the things originally envisaged but cheap. As luck would have it, all of those strengths are becoming more important by the day, and the high tech, high cost intelligent decisions made a decade ago by a fledgling car company have now been reworked by masters of the art and the second generation smart fortwo is improved in every way. The smart fortwo coupé and smart fortwo cabrio were unveiled to more than 550 international journalists yesterday evening in Stuttgart for the very first time. The location was unusual, but nonetheless very fitting for the smart fortwo: in the middle of the city, on the roof of a multi-storey car park. In addition, there were presentations on comfort, agility, safety and environmental friendliness. After all, the new smart fortwo can do everything that its predecessor can do – but even better. This means that the new smart fortwo, despite looking almost identical to the untrained eye, is even more comfortable, even more agile, even safer and even more environmentally friendly than its predecessor.

The comfort of a car depends on more than just its seats. Nonetheless, the seats have been further improved in the new smart fortwo.

The smart fortwo has always offered lots of driving pleasure and the new smart fortwo will be even more fun to drive. Apart from this, the vehicle concept is highly practical - especially for people who live in cities or urban areas. Because on most journeys a car carries just a single occupant, and because people make faster progress through the city in a smart fortwo. And because they don't have to search for a parking space, they find one right away.

The new petrol engines pack a far more powerful punch: The three cylinder engine has ca-pacity of one litre and comes in ratings of 45 kW, 52 kW or 62 kW (61 bhp, 71 bhp or 84 bhp). The engine power of the smart fortwo cdi has increased by ten percent and now stands at 33 kW (45 bhp).

All engines are linked to an automated manual five-speed transmission that has also been reengineered. The petrol variants now have a maximum speed of 145 km/h – 10 km/h more than the predecessor model.

The high level of passive safety has been further improved. As the new smart fortwo will be sold in the USA from 2008, it also complies with the strict American crash regulations as well as the high standards of the Mercedes Car Group.

Likewise, new regulations concerning pedestrian protection have been implemented in the front section. Furthermore, new head/thorax side airbags, offering extensive protection in the event of a side crash, are available as an option.

Despite the greater engine power, the standard consumption of the petrol variants is less than five litres of fuel. The new smart fortwo cdi consumes even less fuel. In accordance with the New European Driving Cycle, its consumption is less than 3.5 litres per 100 kilometres.

The diesel variant of the previous model already boasted the lowest consumption in its class. With an emission of just 90 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, the new smart fortwo cdi achieves “three litre” status.

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