It was always going to be tough keeping up the momentum
with a brand like Smart, which relies on innovative design and says “open
your mind”. Nargess Shahmanesh-Banks finds out if its new four-seater,
the Forfour, manages to do so.
The Forfour is Smart’s vision of what a small city compact car should look like |
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Smart felt it was aiming at too small a customer base with only two-seater
cars. The Forfour aims to change that. Chief designer Hertmut Sinkwitz
says the customer for this car is sympathetic to the Smart brand’s
youthfulness and freshness, but is in need of more seats. Someone very
different from a Fortwo buyer and, says Sinkwitz, perhaps more mainstream.
The main idea was to make an emotional and sporty car that was also practical.
And like the Mini, it needed to be fun to drive. Most important, the car
had to have strong road presence. Sinkwitz explains that there is more
to Smart than being economical. The brand is about enjoying life and the
pleasure of driving.
The Forfour has the same general architecture as its predecessors, the
Fortwo and the Roadster. For instance, the idea of rear lights that show
each individual function was taken from the Fortwo. “It was a nice
challenge and really interesting to work alongside these limitations,” says Sinkwitz.
“The front end of the Smart is very upright, which we took over
to the Forfour design. There is no added volume for the bumper because
everything is in plastic and this creates a sporty look that can also
have associations with sports cars,” he says.
Contrary to current trends, the design team avoided adding too much height
to the car as they didn't want it to look boxy. “We wanted to show
there is an engine below the bonnet,” says Sinkwitz. “There
is therefore a floating line that runs from the hood to the A-pillar and
which is very sporty, flat and horizontal.”
Five engine versions are available on the Forfour. A four-cylinder 1.3
litre that generates a power output of 95 ps (70 kW) and a 1.5 litre with
an output of 109 ps (80 kW) are available at launch. A small 1.1 litre
petrol engine with three cylinders and a power output of 75 ps (55 kW)
and two diesel options, with a capacity of 1.5 litres, three cylinders
and a power output of 68 ps (50 kW) and 95 ps (70 kW) respectively, will
come later in the year.
The petrol engined cars accelerate from 0–100 km in between 9.8
and 13.4 seconds, reaching maximum speed of 165 km/h, 180 km/h and 190
km/h (102, 111 and 118 mph) respectively. More importantly, they run on
less than six litres of fuel per 100km — that’s better than
47 mpg.
The new family of petrol engines was produced especially for this car
by a joint venture between Smart’s parent, DaimlerChrysler, and
Mitsubishi, at the MDC power engine factory in Kölleda, eastern Germany.
The diesels are the work of DaimlerChrysler’s Stuttgart plant.
Standard equipment includes an electronic stability programme (ESP), disc
brakes front and rear, electronic power steering and a five-speed manual
transmission. There is an optional automatic six-speed softouch available.
Providing occupant safety is the tridion safety cell, seen on the earlier
models — an extremely rigid safety cage that is able to protect
in collision.
Smart expects the age range of Forfour users to be quite wide, up to 60-somethings. “Not everyone goes to college,” says Sinkwitz, “so people
who become professional in their twenties may want a car like this.”
It may also appeal to families that want a second car that’s an
all-rounder and a practical alternative for city driving.
But will it, like the original City Coupe, become a gadget for those who
can afford a Mercedes-Benz as their main car, or for the children of those
Mercedes-Benz owners?
The original small city car, first named the Smart, then the City Coupe
and now the more descriptive Fortwo, spoke a new and modern design language.
The Forfour, on the other hand, though smart, stylish and practical, refuses
to challenge any of the city compact car traditions seen on the roads
today. To “open our eyes”, perhaps a hybrid version would
have been more appropriate.
Smart has created a unique brand identity and, as a result, has set a
benchmark for its own products. In the case of the Forfour, says Sinkwitz, “this is our statement to how a modern compact car that has no history
should look.” |
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