smart cabrio BRABUS Review
Published: 30th December 2003
smart cabrio BRABUS
How It Drove - Performance
The smart cabrio BRABUS's turbo charged engine is tuned to 74 bhp, has a 0-62 mph time of 12.3 seconds and is exclusive to the BRABUS range. By combining the ESP (electronic stability program) and standard 175/50 R 16 wide tyres smart have been able to increase the top speed of the BRABUS by 10mph over the standard smart and it is electronically limited to 94 mph.
The BRABUS was just as nimble around town as its more passive siblings although progress was more rapid. It's exhaust note was noticeably throatier and it has been tuned for more torque and when you need that extra power, this car delivers.
The innovative SOFTOUCH (automatic mode) and SOFTIP transmission is still evident but the BRABUS also has a steering wheel mounted paddle gearshift as found on F1 cars. The SOFTOUCH option allows you to drive in a fully automatic mode which is excellent around town although the gear changes can be jerky. The new kickdown function enables you to spontaneously change down a gear or two with the accelerator pedal. The smart also features as standard a rev counter and a digital gear display which recommends when to shift up and down the gears.
On the open road the SOFTIP sequential 6-speed transmission is intuitive, simply knock the gear lever forward to change up and backwards to change down. If you do get carried away and forget to change up a gear, the transmission will automatically shift up / down a gear for you.
The standard paddle gearshift enables you to change up and down the gears by pulling the paddles towards the steering wheel without taking your hands off the wheel and we found that it resulted in smoother gear changes than the SOFTOUCH automatic mode.
The BRABUS smart is extremely capable on 'A' roads and its performance is not hampered by its small size. It certainly gave drivers of larger and faster vehicles a few surprises.
