Should You Buy a SMART ROADSTER? (Test Drive & Review)

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Today I'm in this 2005 Smart Roadster. Let's see what it's like.
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[@56Gumball]

Fun fact: The roadster has two spark plugs per cyclinder (6 in total), has hill start, abs, anti skid, traction control and launch control. It was way ahead of its time and I thoroughly enjoyed mine back in the day, especially with an Evil Twin re-map which bought the power up to that of the Brabus version. Oh, and the gear box isn’t quite that bad, it just requires the user to adopt a different driving style. 😉

[@iandeakin4503]

Hey mat ,nobody can say you don't have variety in your car reviews, one day an Audi rs6 avant the next a smart car. That's why I look forward to your videos, thanks mat.🙏

[@robloxfan4271]

Those wheels though 🤮

[@phil8437]

Nearly bought one of these but ended up buying a Suzuki Cappuccino and never regretted it. The Suzuki is very well engineered, easy to service, rare and a blast to drive. Suzuki Cappuccino, 5 speed gearbox 0-60 in 8 seconds and top speed 90 mph.

[@kevinwall795]

Heather Mills....Very good!

[@garys7828]

Cool car 😎

[@MyBuddyValium]

That's a hard pass

[@DBCSgaming]

Brilliant video ...

[@vailydragon]

Excellent + fun.

[@apexmarbella]

Brilliant. 🚀🚀🚀

[@jhunt823]

If Paul McCarthy is watching this I'm sure he chuckled..I nearly pissed myself..cracking line !

[@Alexander_l322]

I used to enjoy looking at these when I was younger and they were current. I think if they’d put a manual box in them then they’d have been far better, especially in the Brabus.

[@tikkathreebarrels]

Cup holder exists: fold the passenger seat down and there it is in the middle of the seat back. Oh aye, the coupe gives a useful rear storage area above the tea tray.

[@DaveDVideoMaker]

The boot of the SMART Roadster is hilariously small.

[@pfftt11]

Thanks for adding the litres per / 100km bit when you mention fuel economy. Appreciated

[@marshahall69]

Hi Mat, decent enough generally well balanced review, nice to see. Roadsters came in two main variants, with either a black chassis, ( "Tridion" ), or silver which was a cost option ), Colours of the body panels, were "Jack black", "Shine yellow", ( as tested on your video), "Star blue", "Glance grey" and "Spice red" with "Speed silver' on the roadster only Speedsilver special edition of 2005. They were offered in both roadster and coupe for, with Brabus versions having a different engine with bigger turbo and charge cooler as well as suspension exhaust and styling differences and larger wheels amongst other minor differences. Generally they were sold however in the UK for a little longer than 2 years however, from 2003 to 2007. They came generally with an electric folding roof but could be spec'd with hardtop instead, ( gloss black or a matt "dimpled film" covered version. You could also buy a hardtop in a bag as an option with it's own carry bag but you also need the hardtop fitting kit. You were testing the basic "Light" version that only came in hardtop form with steel wheels no a/c dimpled steering wheel and base grey cloth seats. They also did other special editions, a "Speedsilver" in roadster form only non in coupe, in 2003/4 they produced the "Bluewave" in both coupe and roadster in Star blue with silver tridion only these had Brabus mono-bloc alloys Brabus twin exhaust and sport pack interior so and several versions including the Brabus variants as "Finale edition" which were 2006 to the end of production with colour coded body sections and fluted headlight covers. The rarest version was coupe only " Edition Red" that came with the Brabus style wheels and 3 spoke steering wheel but also had the quilted red diamond stitched seats and unique Ferrari red "Rosso Corsa" painted panels. It was however 80 not 101BHP spec. Coupes generally are worth around £1,000-£1,500 more than the standard roadster and are also rarer as less were made, Brabus versions are generally £1,500- 2,000 more than their equivalent standard versions. All standard cars could be spec'd with upgrades including "pack option", "Lux", "safety" and "sports", individually you could option, a/c electric mirrors, cruise control, auto-light, on board trip computer,3 spoke paddle shift steering wheel, sound pack etc. It was also for a while the case that you could also buy fitted genuine coupe and roadster waterproof vocoders from Mercedes Smart however they rapidly sold out ! A Full service for £200 !....with respect that seems remarkably cheap for a proper "c service" however so I assume it was just 6 plugs oil and filters done then and not a full service. All the engines it's with saying are cam chain not belt by the way and are different from the similar looking problematic 450 Fortwo engine. Price wise high mileage roadsters with average spec are around £2,500 to £4,000 for a sorted and decent example without issues, coupes from £3,500 to £6k currently. Low mileage examples that are mint can fetch a premium, but need to be properly sorted cars with preventative waterproofing works and gone through top to bottom. There are a lot of horrible examples around with worn suspension, rusty sumps, rusty abs rings, rusty turbo coolant pipes, water damaged SAM units, soaking wet carpets, damaged lights, noisy cam chains, leaking water pumps, iffy starter motors and alternators, ( which you have to be very careful getting a correct replacement ),...etc etc...and with no waterproofing work done. You certainly get what you pay for with them.£7,995 for the "Light" base car you have is also however, well a tad, optimistic to say the least, !, (despite the very low mileage),I really do wish you luck with that as although I see that more like tops £5k realistically at the moment, ...but ...if you get £7,995 that pushes the whole market up 25%+ ! ...(I imagine the owners clubs and forums will be in melt down however and trolling you about the price already, they normally do with any higher priced cars, not just Smarts though, the keyboard warriors love to slag of dealers ). Waterproofing work is generally straight forward to do and you did not mention this, sealing the wing mirrors and bulk head is as common fix. They are a cracking little car and the size is almost identical to an early 70's `Lotus Elan. Keep up the good work and best of luck selling your car.

[@bestfriendbayliss]

Refreshing to see an honest, positive review of one of these. I’ve had mine for two years now and love it.

[@andyb190]

Top review Mat. Loved the Aldi and Heather references. You have the ability 5o make me smile whilst considering buying a car the size of one of my slippers. 👌

[@Freeedy]

A friend lent me his Smart roadster for a week. I travelled all over the middle part of Vietnam in it. This car was great fun and so well built that it withstood every challenge I threw at it including speed and it coped just fine with the heat, humidity and the rough roads & hills. My wife & I packed our carry on wheely suitcase which just about fitted in the rear boot unfolded. The front boot was used for storing our shoes & other knick knacks. Well worth investing in one as a spare weekend plaything.

[@Gmh6477]

Gear shifts in these and the for2 can be massively improved by lifting off the throttle when changing gear.