Smart ForTwo Brabus

By Tim Pollard

Motor Shows

09 March 2007 11:31

Smart ForTwo Brabus: the lowdown

With a third more power than the outgoing Brabus, the new ForTwo looks set to be quite a pocket rocket. The newcomer, unveiled at Geneva, packs a punchy 98bhp and has a sprightly 780kg to carry around, so Smart is promising warm-hatch performance for the first time in a ForTwo. Okay, so it won't trouble the GTI brigade, but the new Brabus will crack 62mph in 9.9sec and is so fast they've had to limit it to 155. (That's kph, or 97mph, mind).

The Brabus, which goes on sale in autumn 2007, is marked out by new alloy wheels, wider rear wheelarches, a sports exhaust and foglamps; it's not all cosmetic, either - the suspension is firmer and lowered by 15mm. If you want more luxury, a Brabus Xclusive is on offer now, packing leather seats and trim and a swollen kit count. It should be an economical runaround, too, thanks to a 53mpg average thirst and CO2 emissions of just 126g/km. Not quite as low as the 88g/km of the new diesel Smart, though...

By Tim Pollard