Beijing 2016 – Brabus To Launch Latest Tuned Smart

There have been exceptions, notably the sought-after Brabus Smart Roadster, but nothing to write home about recently. That’s about to change with a whole family of hotted-up Brabus Smarts touching down in the UK from the summer. The original city car just got some muscle.

Okay, they get only 109hp but it’s more than before, more even than the old Roadster had. It’s enough to make the new models, announced today (25 April) at the Beijing Motor Show, the most powerful production Smarts ever offered. It sounds like an oxymoron, but here are Smart cars with Race Start mode!

Three models are available, the 2.69m-long ForTwo and ForTwo Cabrio, and the longer five-door ForFour, all siblings with the jointly developed Renault Twingo. All share the same 900cc three-pot engine, a turbo ensuring no lack of low-down torque: 125 lb ft from just 2,000rpm.

All also share a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox – this is a good transmission, shared by Renault, and not to be confused with Smart’s slow-witted auto of old. For the Brabus versions, the ratios are shorter and response times quicker.

Push the Race Start button (it’s a type of launch control) and the cars hit 62mph from standstill in a smartish 9.5 seconds, with top speeds past 100mph. The Brabus babes should also go around corers. All get 20 per cent stiffer springs and dampers, meatier front anti-roll bar, and more direct sports steering.

And they also get the one thing you can rely on them having: all the Brabus trimmings – special wheels, body kit, sports seats (heated, and in perforated nappa leather no less) and sportier instruments. All good stuff, but it’s nice to have a little Brabus substance behind the Brabus style for once.

Prices are announced in July and first UK deliveries will be from September.