Car review: Smart Forfour Brabus Xclusive

Smart Forfourflawed, more like

(Photography by Smart)

So there I was with Emily Thornberry (Shadow Foreign Secretary) in the new Smart Forfour Brabus and her banging on about the importance of getting “access to” the EU single market, and could I get her to shut up? No I could not. I tried everything. Eventually I gave up and got out, locked the car and left her blathering away into an empty space.

Well, of course it wasn’t your actual Emily Thornberry as my guest in the front seat, but Emily as a guest on BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour, but the anguish was just as great. Even though I switched the radio off, and then switched the car off, and then tried every possible permutation of ignition, locking and fiddling with the radio, the volume could be neither adjusted nor muted. So I parked the car round the corner, where it wouldn’t disturb the neighbours, and left her to get on with it. I went out again later to see if Ms Thornberry was still explaining Labour’s stance on Brexit and, greatly to my relief, there was nothing but diplomatic silence coming from the Smart. Thus the risk that the battery would be flattened and me immobilised was ended. The Smart’s software had cut in to prevent such a catastrophe.

An astonishingly tight turning circle is the result of its engine being in the back (Smart)

This was all doubly unfortunate because it is the second time I’ve had to park a Smart Forfour press vehicle round the corner for fear of embarrassment, the previous occasion being when some sort of compressor in the rear-mounted engine just wouldn’t stop. That was a lot more unpleasant and noisy than Ms Thornberry. I never did quite work out what had happened.

The spec

Smart Forfour Brabus Xclusive

Price: £20,250

Engine capacity: 0.9litre petrol 3cyl, 6-speed auto

Power output (hp): 109

Top speed (mph): 96

0-60mph (seconds):  10.5

Fuel economy (mpg): 67.3

Co2 emissions (g/km):  104

Thus I do find myself reluctant to recommend the car, even though with both faults, to be fair, it sort of fixed itself after a time. Next time, though? That would be the worry. Unlike its even littler sibling the Smart Fortwo, the Forfour (as the name implies with four doors and four seats) does have direct competition, and quite substantial and able rivals, too. I discount, immediately, the technically identical Renault Twingo which shares a production line with the Smart, but I do unreservedly mention such value-for-money small wonders as the Kia Picanto, the Suzuki Ignis and the Vauxhall Viva, as a few of the many alternatives that seem to me to give little away to the Smart, to say the least. With its engine in the back the Smart Forfour does have the great advantage of an astonishingly tight turning circle, and its snub bonnet also means excellent manoeuvrability and parkability, all pluses for urbanites. This is a Brabus version, Brabus being one of the performance badges Smart’s owners Daimler use to denote something a little special, like AMG on Mercedes-Benz, also part of Daimler. The Smart Brabus can be pushed quite hard without it getting you into any kind of trouble, such is the sophistication of its suspension. The days of a car with an engine in the back getting you into a ditch are, I hope, over. Even so, the actual performance figures are much more mindset than the badging and sporty look of the car might suggest. A bit more show than go going on here, you see.

Modern interior – just beware the volume knob with a mind of its own (Smart)

Indoors, the Forfour is stylish and modern, with fine detailing and, in this Xclusive level of trim, excellent equipment levels. It’s mostly a refined ride, though I did notice some wind noise as I approached the national speed limit; whether this was a faulty door seal or just turbulence because its boxy shape I could not tell. I did find that, in blustery weather, the lightweight and slightly slab-sided Forfour got buffeted a little too easily.

It’s all a bit of a pity really, as the Smart concept is well, smart, and most of the quality is impeccable. Yet this Smart variant is definitely flawed, and I cannot believe it is just me who has been so randomly unlucky with it. It has a nice sort of face, but that’s never been a reliable guide to true character, has it?