Actually, we've had the smart car here in Canada for three years and the sales (10,000 plus to date) surprised even those at Mercedes-Benz that now owns 100 per cent of the brand that started out a decade ago as a partnership with the Swatch watch company.
But Mercedes-Benz has now decided to import the smart into the United States, still the biggest single car market in the world and still the land where bigger means the same as better.
Coming to the U.S. is a very big step for smart and something they wouldn't have contemplated seriously four or even three years ago.
But times they are a-changing.
Smart figures that with parking space rentals in the U.S. starting to skyrocket, urban dwellers are rethinking what they really need. When you consider an inner city vehicle only travels an average of 29 km per day and sits idle 95 per cent of the time having a great, hulking Hummer downtown doesn't make a lot of sense.
Looking to save money
And with oil creeping up to $100 per barrel, even our American friends have started looking a ways to make their commuting dollar go further.
Ergo the second generation 2008 smart car and while it looks similar, much has changed. It's still called the fortwo (for two passengers), is still less than three metres long and it still has that cheeky, playful look about it that always makes people smile.
However, the changes for 2008 start with the engine and the big news is the turbo diesel of the first generation has been dropped in favour of gasoline. The power plant remains a diminutive three-cylinder but now it's 1.0-litres (999 cc actually versus 799 cc with the diesel) producing 70 hp and 68 lb/ft of torque. That's 30 more hp than the 40 hp of the previous engine. But the diesel had slightly more torque at 74 lb/ft.
That's enough to see the new smart go from 0-100 km/h in 13.3 seconds with a top speed limited to 145 km/h. Fuel consumption is listed at 5.9/4.8/5.4L/ 100 km city/highway/combined.
When Transport Canada releases its 2008 fuel efficiency guidelines, smart is certain the 2008 fortwo will qualify for the $2,000 federal rebate as well as provincial incentives.
Styling has been changed but only the trained eye would notice the character line sweeping up along the sides or the induction inlets on either side just aft of the door. Inside, it still has a funky look, but the pop-up air vents at either end of the dash looking like big frog's eyes have been replaced by more normal venting. The seats are big and wide and travel on a 230 mm track, meaning seven-footers can drive the smart comfortably.
I did miss a grab handle on the passenger side. I like to hold on to one when I'm a passenger; something my wife says she's never seen anyone but me do.
Driving along California's highway 101 from the San Jose area to San Francisco, the new fortwo felt spunkier off the line. Merging into highway traffic stills means a little give and take to pick your spot. With 68 lb/ft of torque in a car with a curb weight of 820 kg, it gets up to speed faster than you might expect because of the power-to-weight ratio.
What came as a surprise was, at full throttle, the twin induction vents feeding the engine give off the same kind of hollow howl as the Porsche Boxster. That's one of the things that make the Boxster so much fun to drive.
The smart can keep up with traffic, but because of the very short wheelbase of just 1,867 mm, side gusts are an irritant.
More of an issue is highways that have been scored for a new layer of asphalt. The wheels on the smart are 15-inches but the fronts are 155/60R15 that are narrow. They can be affected by the grooving in the road in a phenomenon called "tram lining", where the sidewalls tend to follow the groove like the wheels on a trolley car. Here the trick is to just slow down and the effect is minimized.
Five-speed automatic
The transmission is a five-speed automatic with manual shift mode. Like the previous smart fortwo, the car changes gears with a noticeable bump. With each change up, there is about a half-second lag as the next gear kicks in and the power comes up. It's a lot like the old Volkswagen Beetle in that you learn how to blend the power you've got with the number of gears you have. Once you get the hang of it, the fortwo, like the Beetle, will surprise you with its pace.
The 2008 smart is well equipped and that starts with traction control and electronic stability program (ESP) as standard as are power windows with express down and power heated mirrors. There are three trim levels starting with base model called the pure at $14,990. Like the car itself, smart doesn't use upper case for its model names. Next up is the passion at $18,250. Both the pure and passion are coupes and feature a full-length clear roof panel with sunshade. The third is the passion cabriolet or convertible at $21,250. The entire top slides back the length of the roof with the touch of the button and does so at any speed.
With its small size and huge open roof and the equally large side windows down, driving the cabriolet was more like riding in the open. Unlike a roadster where you sit low, in the smart the seats are set higher so you feel on top of the traffic around you.
Surprisingly the trunk (the engine is at the back below the cargo floor) can hold 220 litres of cargo, enough for the four travel bags of my co-driver and myself.
And then there's the issue of safety in a car that only takes up half of a normal parking space.
I'm satisfied that the smart can keep passengers safe in offset frontal crashes up to 64km/h and side impact up to 50 km/h against a SUV. But with the back bumper of the smart a matter of inches from the front seat, it is something I've never felt comfortable about. Yet I was shown footage of the smart taking a hit in the rear at 80 km/h with the passenger area intact.
I saw a smart on display at the press launch with the rear crash tested at 50 km/h with the cabin area intact. The chassis of the smart is like a big walnut with high-strength steel forming a ball-like safety cage.
But I must tell you, that cruising on California Highway 101 at 65 mph with a transport looming up behind still gave me cause to think and get out of the way.
The other thing I was curious about is how the switch to gasoline will affect the resale value of the more than 10,000 smarts already sold in Canada?
The answer, I was told, is there isn't that many used smarts on the market and the few that are seem to be in demand. In short, smart expects residual values of 60 per cent or better.
Mercedes-Benz Canada is expecting record sales of the 2008 fortwo from its 45 smart centres across this country.
But will the smart take over the United States and prove as popular as it has in Canada?
The answer is probably yes. The smart is not being marketed as an econocar although it is the most frugal non-hybrid on the road.
The smart is more a state of mind and a statement all at once. In fact smart describes potential buyers as "thought leaders", the kind of people who buy iPods and iPhones.
The smart, I think, will appeal to a breed of buyer (especially in the U.S.) who have seen that we all have an environmental responsibility where sustainable mobility can still be fun as well as "smart".
BODY STYLE: Two-seat coupe/convertible.
DRIVE METHOD: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive.
ENGINE: 1.0-litre (999 cc), inline, three-cylinder (70 hp, 68 lb/ft)
FUEL ECONOMY: 5.9/4.8/5.4K/100 km city/highway/combined.
PRICE: Base coupe, $14,990; passion coupe, $18,250, passion cabriolet, $21,250.
WEBSITE: smart.ca
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