Smart Roadster shed
Discussion
em177 said:
What are these like at 60/70mph motorway jaunts? Both in terms of how they deal with it and mpg?
Mine averages 50odd mpg, round town, country thrashes and motorway jaunts between 60 and 80mph. It's as comfortable as any other car at 85, but gets a lot noisier over 65, hence depends whether I'm trying to get somewhere on time or prefer to saunter along listening to music. Lots of wind noise, that's the only irritating thing at higher speeds.
One of the worst things of owning the Brabus was that I live down a long country road with loads of cow s
t etc and it was so nice and tidy that I feared for it. Also the chocolate wheels were a worry .
Also the engine management light was Allways coming on,I was also freaked out about water ingress on the ecu after reading all the horror stories.
I remember you from the coupe forum quite some years back I seem to remember you went onto a lotus?
My coupe is used just for track and hill climbs now and still going strong.
t etc and it was so nice and tidy that I feared for it. Also the chocolate wheels were a worry .Also the engine management light was Allways coming on,I was also freaked out about water ingress on the ecu after reading all the horror stories.
I remember you from the coupe forum quite some years back I seem to remember you went onto a lotus?
My coupe is used just for track and hill climbs now and still going strong.
magooagain said:
One of the worst things of owning the Brabus was that I live down a long country road with loads of cow st etc and it was so nice and tidy that I feared for it. Also the chocolate wheels were a worry .
Also the engine management light was Allways coming on,I was also freaked out about water ingress on the ecu after reading all the horror stories.
I remember you from the coupe forum quite some years back I seem to remember you went onto a lotus?
My coupe is used just for track and hill climbs now and still going strong.
Aaah did think I recognised your name but figured it must have been from here. Yeah, I kept ending up with £1500 bills for the Fiat so thought I'd give Lotus a try instead! t etc and it was so nice and tidy that I feared for it. Also the chocolate wheels were a worry .Also the engine management light was Allways coming on,I was also freaked out about water ingress on the ecu after reading all the horror stories.
I remember you from the coupe forum quite some years back I seem to remember you went onto a lotus?
My coupe is used just for track and hill climbs now and still going strong.
5 years and some 50-60k miles in the first Elise, should have hung onto it really. Been looking for another car I get on with ever since.
I guess there's a different level of paranoia depending on price - at shed money I don't really worry about my Roadster, I'd probably be a lot more precious if it was already pristine (not dragging the back of it across the drive in the pissing rain on my own for starters, haha!).
Definitely lots of horror stories, but figured I can do most things myself if it breaks. We shall see!
Fiat looks good for a track car - looks stripped out, how much does it weigh?
Yes it's stripped out with the various mods to bring up to about 325 hp along with other handling mods etc.
Gets along well.
I imagine it weighs about the same as a standard coupe with me and the mrs in it.
There are a few smart roadster forums about where parts can be bought if you don't know allready.
I'm enjoying reading your posts about the roadster.
Gets along well.
I imagine it weighs about the same as a standard coupe with me and the mrs in it.
There are a few smart roadster forums about where parts can be bought if you don't know allready.
I'm enjoying reading your posts about the roadster.
magooagain said:
Yes it's stripped out with the various mods to bring up to about 325 hp along with other handling mods etc.
Gets along well.
I imagine it weighs about the same as a standard coupe with me and the mrs in it.
There are a few smart roadster forums about where parts can be bought if you don't know allready.
I'm enjoying reading your posts about the roadster.
Yeah, I can imagine that being fun. I liked my Coupe, just didn't trust it and the running costs were a different order of magnitude to the MR2 I had before it. The naivety of youth!! Gets along well.
I imagine it weighs about the same as a standard coupe with me and the mrs in it.
There are a few smart roadster forums about where parts can be bought if you don't know allready.
I'm enjoying reading your posts about the roadster.
Any particular forums you recommend? Have signed up to one for DIY advice, can't remember the name but was also mentioned on here by somebody else, seems like there's quite a bit of support for them.
Thanks - it's nice to share my experiences with it, all the other threads I've read seem to be either incredibly biased for or against it, so wanted to post what it's actually like to live with.
irocfan said:
Coupe definitely looks better. I think my ideal Roadster is probably your car with my wheels and a Brabus engine! Have got rather attached to my particular car now though so can't imagine swapping in the future unless somebody kills it.
They are also surprisingly practical little cars.
No other news to report.
pthelazyjourno said:
irocfan said:
Coupe definitely looks better. I think my ideal Roadster is probably your car with my wheels and a Brabus engine! Have got rather attached to my particular car now though so can't imagine swapping in the future unless somebody kills it.
They are also surprisingly practical little cars.
No other news to report.
I'll give it another month or two to see if things improve...
pthelazyjourno said:
Took Roadster to Brands this month. Watched multiple cars and friends getting stuck in muddy field, didn't have any issues in Smart, few more k covered.
Also washed it for the first time in about 12,000 miles!
Still going well, nothing has fallen off!
This thread makes me miss mine so much! In so many ways mine was the worst car I've ever owned, yet I've never owned a car with so much character and sense of fun.Also washed it for the first time in about 12,000 miles!
Still going well, nothing has fallen off!
Had one from new for 2 years (in fact picked up nearly 14 years ago to the day), so my experience is probably irrelvant now.
Loved the car regards what it was, though it was a real pain.
Great to throw around b roads, fun tricking the esp to throw the back end out before it pulled you back in.
Things that went wrong:
The key is like something from Fisher Price (huge). If the lock/ unlock button was pressed a number of times whilst out of range it became 'unsynced' with the car. As I found just by sitting in a restaurant with it in my pocket. Took the dealer a week to sort!
Leaks as well known - went to the dealers 3 times for new seals (only fitted once). At the time the Mercedes dealer said the warranty claims and problems were the reasons for stopping production after just 3 years.
Gearbox software jumped out of calibration twice, both when performing an emergency stop whilst the gearbox was dropping down a gear. Three bars on dash, incapacitated car, though there is a secret sequence of brake pedal and gear stick moves to bring it back to live.
Oh and it ate lightbulbs like nothing else.
It was collected by MB with 22k on the clock - 12 years later the MOT check shows it's done less than 25k and is currently sorn.
Loved the car regards what it was, though it was a real pain.
Great to throw around b roads, fun tricking the esp to throw the back end out before it pulled you back in.
Things that went wrong:
The key is like something from Fisher Price (huge). If the lock/ unlock button was pressed a number of times whilst out of range it became 'unsynced' with the car. As I found just by sitting in a restaurant with it in my pocket. Took the dealer a week to sort!
Leaks as well known - went to the dealers 3 times for new seals (only fitted once). At the time the Mercedes dealer said the warranty claims and problems were the reasons for stopping production after just 3 years.
Gearbox software jumped out of calibration twice, both when performing an emergency stop whilst the gearbox was dropping down a gear. Three bars on dash, incapacitated car, though there is a secret sequence of brake pedal and gear stick moves to bring it back to live.
Oh and it ate lightbulbs like nothing else.
It was collected by MB with 22k on the clock - 12 years later the MOT check shows it's done less than 25k and is currently sorn.
Very similar to my old one (excuse the 2015 camera phone image!) but since moved over to an Mx5. Really liked how 'different' it was, once you got the knack of driving it (in the main better anticipating the auto change!) was great fun and always got comments, has aged really well too I think.
Nice post!
My cars come and go, but my smart roadster coupe stays!
I bought it for a reasonable price from Sixt in 2005 with only 4000miles in the clock. It was my first car, I always lusted for BMW's, I wanted to buy a Z3 or a M3, but then I remembered the IAA 1999 in Frankfurt, when the concept was presented first. I said: "If the car is going into production like that, I'll get one."
So before buying a BMW, I just wanted to test drive one. I still remember the drive, I had only 30 minutes of time to drive it, it was already sunset and the Mercedes dealer was about to close. The car was a standard car on steelies and in black color.
But the handling of the car on a twisty road made me to forget about BMW's.
Some months later I found mine in Berlin and bought it there. It was a long, but fun drive back home!
Since then I had a lot of fun in it, many trackdays 2007-2010 too. The car never let me down.
In the meantime I had an Elise MK2, imported from UK, many smart 42 and other cars like Porsche 997 Carrera S, 997 Carrera S automatic, Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW 650i Convertible, Volkswagen Caddy Ecofuel and SUbaru Outback, Alfa Romeo Super Giulia 1978 and so on.
Cars are coming and going, but the smart Roadster stays, as the most fun car for the bug! An Elise is 10% more fun, but totally impractical and more expensive to run.
A friend killed his Nissan Skyline in 2015, a superb 650HP build. He was struggling to find a reasonable successor. I went for a business trip and gave him my smart roadster for two weeks.
No one really was interested in my smart, until they drove it.
Some weeks later he bought his own and infected other friends. Now we are like back as Teenagers, driving fast around the countryside in small fun cars and debating who has the best.
Meanwhile my Porsches, the Alfa and the Subaru are in the garage and asking themselves what is wrong with me...
Regards,
Robert
My cars come and go, but my smart roadster coupe stays!
I bought it for a reasonable price from Sixt in 2005 with only 4000miles in the clock. It was my first car, I always lusted for BMW's, I wanted to buy a Z3 or a M3, but then I remembered the IAA 1999 in Frankfurt, when the concept was presented first. I said: "If the car is going into production like that, I'll get one."
So before buying a BMW, I just wanted to test drive one. I still remember the drive, I had only 30 minutes of time to drive it, it was already sunset and the Mercedes dealer was about to close. The car was a standard car on steelies and in black color.
But the handling of the car on a twisty road made me to forget about BMW's.
Some months later I found mine in Berlin and bought it there. It was a long, but fun drive back home!
Since then I had a lot of fun in it, many trackdays 2007-2010 too. The car never let me down.
In the meantime I had an Elise MK2, imported from UK, many smart 42 and other cars like Porsche 997 Carrera S, 997 Carrera S automatic, Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW 650i Convertible, Volkswagen Caddy Ecofuel and SUbaru Outback, Alfa Romeo Super Giulia 1978 and so on.
Cars are coming and going, but the smart Roadster stays, as the most fun car for the bug! An Elise is 10% more fun, but totally impractical and more expensive to run.
A friend killed his Nissan Skyline in 2015, a superb 650HP build. He was struggling to find a reasonable successor. I went for a business trip and gave him my smart roadster for two weeks.
No one really was interested in my smart, until they drove it.
Some weeks later he bought his own and infected other friends. Now we are like back as Teenagers, driving fast around the countryside in small fun cars and debating who has the best.
Meanwhile my Porsches, the Alfa and the Subaru are in the garage and asking themselves what is wrong with me...
Regards,
Robert
Nice post!
My cars come and go, but my smart roadster coupe stays!
I bought it for a reasonable price from Sixt in 2005 with only 4000miles in the clock. It was my first car, I always lusted for BMW's, I wanted to buy a Z3 or a M3, but then I remembered the IAA 1999 in Frankfurt, when the concept was presented first. I said: "If the car is going into production like that, I'll get one."
So before buying a BMW, I just wanted to test drive one. I still remember the drive, I had only 30 minutes of time to drive it, it was already sunset and the Mercedes dealer was about to close. The car was a standard car on steelies and in black color.
But the handling of the car on a twisty road made me to forget about BMW's.
Some months later I found mine in Berlin and bought it there. It was a long, but fun drive back home!
Since then I had a lot of fun in it, many trackdays 2007-2010 too. The car never let me down.
In the meantime I had an Elise MK2, imported from UK, many smart 42 and other cars like Porsche 997 Carrera S, 997 Carrera S automatic, Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW 650i Convertible, Volkswagen Caddy Ecofuel and SUbaru Outback, Alfa Romeo Super Giulia 1978 and so on.
Cars are coming and going, but the smart Roadster stays, as the most fun car for the bug! An Elise is 10% more fun, but totally impractical and more expensive to run.
A friend killed his Nissan Skyline in 2015, a superb 650HP build. He was struggling to find a reasonable successor. I went for a business trip and gave him my smart roadster for two weeks.
No one really was interested in my smart, until they drove it.
Some weeks later he bought his own and infected other friends. Now we are like back as Teenagers, driving fast around the countryside in small fun cars and debating who has the best.
Meanwhile my Porsches, the Alfa and the Subaru are in the garage and asking themselves what is wrong with me...
Regards,
Robert
My cars come and go, but my smart roadster coupe stays!
I bought it for a reasonable price from Sixt in 2005 with only 4000miles in the clock. It was my first car, I always lusted for BMW's, I wanted to buy a Z3 or a M3, but then I remembered the IAA 1999 in Frankfurt, when the concept was presented first. I said: "If the car is going into production like that, I'll get one."
So before buying a BMW, I just wanted to test drive one. I still remember the drive, I had only 30 minutes of time to drive it, it was already sunset and the Mercedes dealer was about to close. The car was a standard car on steelies and in black color.
But the handling of the car on a twisty road made me to forget about BMW's.
Some months later I found mine in Berlin and bought it there. It was a long, but fun drive back home!
Since then I had a lot of fun in it, many trackdays 2007-2010 too. The car never let me down.
In the meantime I had an Elise MK2, imported from UK, many smart 42 and other cars like Porsche 997 Carrera S, 997 Carrera S automatic, Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW 650i Convertible, Volkswagen Caddy Ecofuel and SUbaru Outback, Alfa Romeo Super Giulia 1978 and so on.
Cars are coming and going, but the smart Roadster stays, as the most fun car for the bug! An Elise is 10% more fun, but totally impractical and more expensive to run.
A friend killed his Nissan Skyline in 2015, a superb 650HP build. He was struggling to find a reasonable successor. I went for a business trip and gave him my smart roadster for two weeks.
No one really was interested in my smart, until they drove it.
Some weeks later he bought his own and infected other friends. Now we are like back as Teenagers, driving fast around the countryside in small fun cars and debating who has the best.
Meanwhile my Porsches, the Alfa and the Subaru are in the garage and asking themselves what is wrong with me...
Regards,
Robert
I owned a early build Coupe version for a couple of years. It was a second car but I used it often for commuting as well as using it as weekend toy.
Like many others, I really liked even with all its flaws - and there were many - I also loved the styling of the Coupe version.
It leaked - really leaked. It wasn't uncommon to find the door cards and speaker grills dripping with water. It seems to be coming in from the door mirror area. It was an inconvenience but never caused any other problems.
The wheels corroded - replaced under warranty.
The fuel gauge packed in (the sensor was repaired by Mercedes in the most botched way - leaving it with dents in the fuel tank area and a smell of petrol so bad the next day I refused to drive it until they sorted it properly).
The gearbox was always a bit of pain - but you get around the problems and learning to get the best out of a tricky car is (for me anyway) always fun. Having steering wheel paddles fitted helped a bit. With lots of throttle control and blips when changing down you could almost make it smooth. Well timed upshifts could be almost smooth too. Auto Mode (leaving it Drive), for me, was terrible - incredibly jerky - almost banging into and out of gear. Oddly this could be improved a bit by turning on the ignition, then turning it off again, then starting the car, so clearly some sort of software problem.
I finally sold it after a driver's day in it at Prescott Hillclimb Circuit. I shouldn't really of expected much from it, but it was so hopeless at this sort of thing - the gearbox just decided to have a mind of its own - " for this fast hairpin, you don't want 2nd... you want... 1st, no 3rd, no wait.... you want Neutral" and no amount of throttle or manual changes did anything for it. I suspect it was overheated - but I decided I wanted to go back to a manual box for a while (MX5).
I do have such a lot of happy memories with it though - great engine, nice handling (apart from the super slow steering) ahead of its time in other ways and a good convertible with little wind buffeting due to the rear window.
I currently drive a VW Scirocco TSI with DSG - I do like this gearbox.. I can't help but think how a gearbox like this would have transformed the Smart Roadster.
Good thread!
Like many others, I really liked even with all its flaws - and there were many - I also loved the styling of the Coupe version.
It leaked - really leaked. It wasn't uncommon to find the door cards and speaker grills dripping with water. It seems to be coming in from the door mirror area. It was an inconvenience but never caused any other problems.
The wheels corroded - replaced under warranty.
The fuel gauge packed in (the sensor was repaired by Mercedes in the most botched way - leaving it with dents in the fuel tank area and a smell of petrol so bad the next day I refused to drive it until they sorted it properly).
The gearbox was always a bit of pain - but you get around the problems and learning to get the best out of a tricky car is (for me anyway) always fun. Having steering wheel paddles fitted helped a bit. With lots of throttle control and blips when changing down you could almost make it smooth. Well timed upshifts could be almost smooth too. Auto Mode (leaving it Drive), for me, was terrible - incredibly jerky - almost banging into and out of gear. Oddly this could be improved a bit by turning on the ignition, then turning it off again, then starting the car, so clearly some sort of software problem.
I finally sold it after a driver's day in it at Prescott Hillclimb Circuit. I shouldn't really of expected much from it, but it was so hopeless at this sort of thing - the gearbox just decided to have a mind of its own - " for this fast hairpin, you don't want 2nd... you want... 1st, no 3rd, no wait.... you want Neutral" and no amount of throttle or manual changes did anything for it. I suspect it was overheated - but I decided I wanted to go back to a manual box for a while (MX5).
I do have such a lot of happy memories with it though - great engine, nice handling (apart from the super slow steering) ahead of its time in other ways and a good convertible with little wind buffeting due to the rear window.
I currently drive a VW Scirocco TSI with DSG - I do like this gearbox.. I can't help but think how a gearbox like this would have transformed the Smart Roadster.
Good thread!
Great car op.
I've had my brabus coupe for 7 months and 8,000 miles. '54 plate now on just over 80k.
Have had it remapped (115bhp ish, it had 104bhp stock, not a huge change in pace but has increased driveability a lot).
It's been horrendously unreliable. Had the 3 lines on dash and loss of a gear around 10 times now. Left me stranded in all sorts of places.
However I completely love it. It's my only car having had an '00 Jaguar Xjr for a while and M135i before that. Lovely and narrow, can put the top up and down on the motorway, great economy and makes a journey an experience. It tends towards understeer but the grip is fairly prodigious so you've got to be relatively committed to experience it.
I think most of its issues have now been dealt with. It has been faultless for 1,000 miles now, a huge record.
I've had my brabus coupe for 7 months and 8,000 miles. '54 plate now on just over 80k.
Have had it remapped (115bhp ish, it had 104bhp stock, not a huge change in pace but has increased driveability a lot).
It's been horrendously unreliable. Had the 3 lines on dash and loss of a gear around 10 times now. Left me stranded in all sorts of places.
However I completely love it. It's my only car having had an '00 Jaguar Xjr for a while and M135i before that. Lovely and narrow, can put the top up and down on the motorway, great economy and makes a journey an experience. It tends towards understeer but the grip is fairly prodigious so you've got to be relatively committed to experience it.
I think most of its issues have now been dealt with. It has been faultless for 1,000 miles now, a huge record.
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