smart is coming

Press Release

Up to 60 miles per gallon

Extremely low fuel consumption and lots of driving pleasure

All cars made by smart are characterized by extremely low fuel consumption. This clearly shows just how much all models made by smart benefit from the affiliation with the Mercedes Car Group. Here are a few figures: Despite the powerful engines which deliver 74 hp @ 6000 rpm, 94 hg @ 4200 rpm and 107 hp @ 3000 rpm, the gas-engine variants of the smart forfour perform between 39 mpg and 43 mpg combined.

The consumption figures for the smart fortwo, smart roadster and roadster-coup?????????????????? are equally impressive: With engine power of 60 hp @5250 rpm, 80 hp @5250 rpm, 99 hp @5250 rpm, the smart roadster and roadster-coup?????????????????? perform between 44.5 and 49 mpg. The gas-engine smart fortwos make around 50 mpg.

Intelligent: Up to 60 miles per gallon

The consumption of the diesel versions of the smart fortwo is even better at over 60 mpg. As this was achieved without additional expensive, weight-reducing measures and materials, not only the running costs, but also the price, are comparatively low. These advantages are reflected in the sales figures: In excess of 100,000 models have been registered for European roads since the market launch in December 1999. The smart fortwo cdi is thus the only car that meets the requirements pertaining to ???????????????????????????????????three liter???????????????????????????????? status in Germany i.e. applying to cars consuming less than 4 liters of fuel over 100 km ??????????????????????????????????????? and the economy and environment- friendliness of this model account for its popularity with customers.

Low weight is equivalent to additional engine power

Practical: The low vehicle weight is a major factor contributing to the enormous driving pleasure with which all smart models have been endowed.

The smart fortwo weighs a mere 1610 lbs, and the lightest smart roadster and roadster-coup?????????????????? weigh just 1742 lbs. These results in a weight/power ratio creating dynamic performance that would require much more engine power from conventional cars that often weigh twice as much.

The smart forfour offers equally impressive figures, and is one of the few vehicles in its class to feature a curb weight of 2128 lbs. With a 1.5 liter engine and 107 hp @3000 rpm this results in a weight/power ratio that characterized sports cars not so long ago. A BRABUS version of the smart forfour offering extremely attractive performance will go on sale in the spring of 2005 and will be premiered at the Geneva Motor Show.

Proven safety of the highest standard

The smart fortwo is one of the safest cars in its segment

The active and passive safety features of smart vehicles are important aspects that benefit from the company??????????????????????????????????????s affiliation with DaimlerChrysler and the Mercedes Car Group. Pioneering safety elements, that is only available for an additional charge ??????????????????????????????????????? if they are available at all - in other vehicles in the respective segment, come as standard in the smart fortwo, roadster and roadster-coup??????????????????. Intelligently coordinated electronic control systems monitor directional stability, reliable tracking on all kinds of road surfaces and controlled braking maneuvers ??????????????????????????????????????? even in extreme situations. The combined action of these control systems, together with the stability of the tridion safety cell, ensures vehicle safety of the highest standard.

Electronic stability program as standard in all models

The most important feature in this respect is the electronic stability program (esp) that has been a standard feature in all models made by smart since 2003. esp makes a major contribution to active safety and ensures that the vehicles always follow the direction in which the driver steers, even at the stability limit of driving dynamics. In addition to closing the throttle valve and opening the clutch, esp also offers brake intervention acting on individual wheels. This ensures directional stability and road adhesion when accelerating, braking and coasting.

Within the given physical limits, esp ensures that during fast cornering cars neither pushes outwards with the rear end (oversteering) nor pushes over the front axle (understeering). In the event of oversteering, esp specifically breaks the front wheel on the outside of the bend ??????????????????????????????????????? regardless of whether the driver is braking, rolling or accelerating. The braking torque applied against the rolling direction around the vertical axis of the car prevents the rear end from breaking away. esp balances understeering by braking the rear wheel on the inside of the bend; this steers the car to the desired course in the bend. The electronics also cause the throttle valve to close. If the drive wheels lose traction, the drive torque is reduced and the brake system applies force to the wheel with the most traction slip. In this way, esp realizes the function of a differential lock by means of braking torque intervention which enables traction even on extremely slippery terrain, when there is different coefficient of friction on the right and left drive wheels, and on hills. This greatly improves the car??????????????????????????????????????s hill-climbing ability.

Safety features that cannot be taken for granted in the vehicle segment

The four disk brakes that come as standard on the smart forfour are a further example of the extensive safety features that cannot be taken for granted in this vehicle segment. A hydraulic brake assist makes a further, decisive contribution to driving safety on this model and the other smart models. It automatically initiates controlled emergency braking when the driver steps on the pedal very fast, but not hard enough. The system automatically generates locking pressure in order to induce the integrated anti-lock braking system (abs) to regulate. The control variable for this purpose is the speed at which the driver steps on the brake pedal. The ability of esp to act on individual wheel brakes creates the basis for a further safety function of abs: cornering brake control.

During extreme cornering, the strain on the wheel which is located on the inside during cornering is reduced and the cornering brake control function ensures that this wheel does not block. If the driver steps on the brake in such a situation, esp senses that more braking power can be transferred from the other wheels than from the wheel with a reduced load. In this way, unnecessary activation of the abs control function and the attendant pulsation of the pedal are avoided.

To make driving off on a hill as comfortable as in cars with automatic transmission and a torque converter, the smart fortwo, smart roadster and smart roadster-coup?????????????????? have a hill start assist function. After releasing the brake pedal when stationary, hill start assist keeps the wheels braked for 0.7 seconds. This leaves the driver enough time to move his or her foot from the brake to the accelerator pedal without the car rolling forwards or backwards on account of the disengaged clutch. If the driver accelerates, the brake pressure is immediately reduced. The fact that the car is prevented from rolling backwards additionally protects the clutch and makes it possible to drive off without the assistance of the hand brake, even on steep slopes. However if the driver prefers to drive off in the conventional way with the help of the hand brake, the switch on the hand brake deactivates hill start assist.

Outstanding passive safety

Thanks to their unique crash management system based on the stability of the tridion safety cell, all models made by smart are among the safest cars in their respective vehicle segments. Their top position as regards passive safety has been confirmed by crash tests carried out by smart in accordance with the standards of the Mercedes Car Group, and also by the results of independent accident simulations. There are numerous examples of this: Shortly after the market launch in October 1998 the German motoring magazine ???????????????????????????????????Autobild????????????????????????????????, in cooperation with the technical inspection agency T?????????????????????V Rhineland, carried out a crash test with five small cars. They came to the conclusion that passengers traveling in a smart fortwo are by far the safest. Further specialist journals and independent organizations have carried out additional tests including several so-called ???????????????????????????????????car-to-car crashes????????????????????????????????, and have come to the same clear conclusion.

The reasons for this are easy to understand. As regards occupant safety, the smart fortwo does not only comply with all statutory safety requirements for passengers in passenger vehicles; it also fulfils the much more stringent DaimlerChrysler standards. Decisive for this is the safety package specially designed for cars made by smart which consists of several elements. The core element of the crash management system is the high-strength tridion safety cell, which affords reliable protection against intrusions.

Whereas the ???????????????????????????????????hard shell???????????????????????????????? protects the survival space, energy-absorbing safety features reduce the force applied on the occupants. These are short, but nonetheless extremely efficient deformation zones at the front and rear of the car. In addition, perfectly coordinated restraint systems ensure that in the event of a frontal impact the occupants are held safely in place in the space available for forward travel.

Split-second activation of the belt tensioners in conjunction with belt-force limiters and full-size airbags (plus standard side airbags and optional window bags in the smart forfour) prevents dangerous load peaks. In this way, the restraint systems make the best possible use of the ???????????????????????????????????braking distance???????????????????????????????? inside the vehicle. On the driver??????????????????????????????????????s side, the steering column, which collapses under energy absorption, greatly increases this interior braking distance.

Outstanding results in all crash tests

In the in-house safety tests carried out, the smart models achieved outstanding results in all different kinds of accident situations. The crash tests included the following: Frontal crash at 40 mph against a deformable barrier, rear-end crash at 34 mph, side crash at 31 mph and the so-called car-to-car crash where a smart fortwo and an upper standard-size car (Mercedes-Benz E-class = mass ratio of 1:2) collided at a speed of 31 mph and with 50% overlap.

In the latter test even the front windscreen of the smart fortwo remained intact after the impact ??????????????????????????????????????? which might seem surprising in view of the short deformation zone. This is due to the extremely high strength of the metal body frame ??????????????????????????????????????? the tridion safety cell. In all cases the rigid and robust design of the tridion safety cell ensured maximum occupant safety, and the values measured were below all internationally recognized limit values, in some cases a long way below them. This holds particularly true in the case of a collision with a larger and heavier vehicle ??????????????????????????????????????? for example a crash with a Mercedes-Benz E-class.