My Weird Want Of The Day Is This Smart Forfour Brabus
Thanks to it being related to the Renault Twingo, the current Smart Forfour uses the same rear-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration as the smaller Fortwo. The common genes go further than that too, but this wasn’t the case with the last Forfour - that thing was a completely different car to the original Fortwo.
Compared to its dinky sibling, it was a lot more conventional due to the decision to lazily base it on the Mitsubishi Colt. It wasn’t particularly well received at the time, and was only in production for a couple years. It’s a car I care little for, but one version stands out: the Brabus.
Why, you ask? Because a Mitsubishi 4G15 1.5-litre turbo engine under the bonnet gives this particular version of the Forfour a respectable 177bhp to play with. 0-62mph takes 6.9 seconds - not a bad figure at all, and a damn sight quicker than the new Smart Brabus which takes over 10 seconds to manage the same.
Sounds like a tempting prospect, but few buyers were convinced enough to lay down the high £17,195 asking price at the time. As a result, the final figure for Brabus Forfours sold in the UK is a rather hilarious 284.
It’s that rarity that makes these tempting, especially when there examples like this one kicking around for just over £3000. Still not convinced? Apparently a simple remap can bump the power output to around 200bhp.
Tempted?
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
my classmates dad has one. it sounds pretty good and it doesnt look that bad at all.
I was just looking at a Brabus Smart Roadster the other day
XD
I had no idea these were the same as the Colt under the skin
How I felt reading the post.
“Small And Furious” XD
When I first read it, I thought it was powered by 4G63 LOL
Swap it
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My dad used to have a Brabus Roadster. It was always going wrong. The roof would not go back into position, it wouldn’t start when it was cold, it leaked, it constantly cut out then the wheels buckled. Paid £7500 and it had only done 32K miles.
I’d prefer to spend my £3,000 on a BMW 330Ci M-sport. It’s quicker, better looking, has a nicer interior, will be much better to drive and when people ask what you’re driving you won’t have to say “A Smart” and then explain that it’s a Brabus with 177bhp and it does 0-60 in 6.9 secs.
Oh, I get it. It’s called a Smart because it’s glasses make it look like it has four eyes. Rude Germans. No wonder it ended it’s life early and everyone hated it. If you only got to know it you’d realize that it’s not as bad as the cool kids say it is.