Smart upgrades 2010 Fortwo with more powerful diesel, hands-free system
2010 Smart Fortwo cdi - Click above for high-res image gallery
There are many adjectives that can be used to describe the Smart Fortwo cdi, but powerful isn't among them. Fortunately, Smart's German parents have just upped the horsepower quotient by a welcome 21 percent with a corresponding 18-percent increase in torque for 2010. Those extra ponies translates into a slightly less-slow 16.8-second blast to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph).
Best of all, thanks to revised gearing in third and fourth gears, that power injection doesn't hurt fuel economy from the small three-cylinder turbodiesel powerplant – the new 54-horsepower engine uses just 3.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, which translates to 69 mpg U.S. and 88 g/km of carbon dioxide emissions. Additionally, the Brabus-tuned Fortwo is now Euro V compliant. Before anyone asks, no – we're not aware of any new plans to import the diesel smart to the States.
Rounding out the changes for 2010 are a new hands-free system that includes Bluetooth connectivity, voice control and optional iPod connectivity. A wireless controller is included on the center console to make the system work. Check out our gallery below and click past the break for the official press release.
Gallery: 2010 Smart Fortwo cdi
PRESS RELEASE:
smart fortwo cdi: 21 percent more power for the CO2 champion
Stuttgart – For model year 2010 the smart fortwo cdi has been given a clear power boost, yet it remains just as economical and environmentally friendly as before. In future the state-of-the-art three-cylinder diesel engine will produce 21 percent more power and deliver approximately 18 percent more maximum torque. Although this extra power makes the popular two-seater car noticeably livelier, it does not affect its exemplary fuel consumption. As before, it consumes just 3.4 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres (NEDC). Furthermore, with CO2 emissions of 88 g/km it continues to assert its leading position as the CO2 champion. In addition, from model year 2010 all versions of the smart fortwo including the BRABUS variants will comply with the strict emission limits of the EU5 standard.
The smart fortwo enjoys the worldwide reputation of a car that is perfect for the times we live in. Thanks to its unique concept it takes up minimum road and parking space, boasts low fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions and combines mobility, ecology and joie de vivre in a unique way. For the new model year smart is uncompromisingly continuing its philosophy and making the smart fortwo even more environmentally friendly and attractive.
The most important change: the smart fortwo cdi with a length of 2.69 metres is redefining economy and driving fun. Its reengineered diesel engine now has an output of 40 kW/54 hp – seven kW or 21 percent more than its predecessor. Moreover, the new three-cylinder engine delivers maximum torque of 130 Newton metres (an increase of 18 percent). This makes the car that is brimming with lifestyle appeal even more agile and fun to drive. Thanks to the power boost it now sprints from 0 - 100 km/h in just 16.8 seconds. However, the increased liveliness does not affect the outstanding fuel consumption and emission figures of the trendy two-seater car. The combined fuel consumption still stands at 3.4 litres per 100 kilometres and the extremely low CO2 emissions of just 88 g/km mean that the smart fortwo cdi is still the CO2 world champion among all production cars with combustion engines.
The 21 percent power increase is primarily realised through modified pistons in conjunction with adjusted injection and charge pressure parameters. Furthermore, thanks to the increased torque it was also possible to lengthen the gear ratios of the third and fourth gears by ten and eleven percent respectively, and to lower the shifting points in the automatic programme. This reduces the rpm level in speed ranges used particularly frequently – with benefits in terms of fuel consumption and noise level. The smart fortwo cdi is equipped with a closed diesel particulate filter and emissions are below the limit values laid down in the EU5 standard.
Thanks to optimised engine and transmission management the petrol models of the popular two-seater car also comply with the demanding EU5 exhaust gas standard. Not only does this help the environment – in many countries it entails clear tax advantages.
New contrast components in shiny pearl black, which further upgrade the interior of the smart fortwo, and a new folding armrest available as an option, provide for increased comfort.
Further optional equipment includes the smart hands-free system with a colour display and extensive multimedia functions. It features the sassy design typical of the brand, a Bluetooth® interface, voice control and optional iPod® connection and is perfectly integrated in the vehicle electronics and the audio system. It is simple and safe to operate via a wireless controller on the centre console.
All updated smart fortwo variants can be ordered now. The prices for the petrol models are unchanged. In future the 40 kW/54 hp smart fortwo cdi will cost €11 790 as a coupé in the pure equipment line (German price incl. VAT).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jay 7:04PM (7/23/2009)
It will be interesting to see how these upgrades affect the bumpy transmission. Overall these upgrades are nothing too spectacular, which is good because I already own a 2008 smart. I am kind of envious of the hands free system, though.
Reply
downtoearth 7:23PM (7/23/2009)
ABG, please stop misleading Americans with this Euro driving cycle fuel economy!
Smart CDI real life fuel economy is 4,21 l/ 100 km = 55,87 mpg US diesel [1] OR 55,87 mpg / 1,12 ~= 50 mpg US of gasoline energy equivalent. So the Smart CDI diesel is just as ENERGY EFFICIENT as the 2010 Toyota Prius III.
As for the acceleration, please watch this. And have "fun".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJICDGT8G5A
0-60 in..... TWENTY SECONDS. T.W.E.N.T.Y! They say the new one does it in 16.5 seconds, but that's just like swapping a huge steaming pile of crap with a less steaming one but just as large.
If you want to overtake a big rig with the Smart diesel, you die in a head on accident.
Prius literally trounces the Smart with its 0-60 in 10 seconds. And then, the Smart CDI is a tiny little box for two people and no luggage. Prius is a fully functional family car, with its interior just a tiny little bit smaller than in Camry and with a large boot.
This genuinely demonstrates the power of hybrids and the failure of diesels. Lucky Americans are that they went with the first option.
[1] http://www.spritmonitor.de/de/uebersicht/32-Smart/296-Fortwo.html?fueltype=1
Reply
coyo t 7:47PM (7/23/2009)
Some day in the future (probably decades from now knowing the auto industry) we will have diesel hybrids capable of using biodiesel.
downtoearth 9:18PM (7/23/2009)
coyo t:
> Some day in the future (probably decades from
> now knowing the auto industry) we will have diesel
> hybrids capable of using biodiesel.
I'd much rather see the money needed to buy a diesel hybrid being invested into larger batteries in hybrid vehicles with a plug-in option.
And no biofuel please. We can produce clean energy to charge PHEVs with much higher EROEI using other sources like hydro, nuclear or biomass fired plants.
Remember that about half of biofuel energy is still fossil energy.
Lorena Palin 9:59PM (7/23/2009)
OK, down to earth, why do you hate diesels so much? They are nice and simple, still allow for more driver controll over the engine, and get damn good millage.
And I'd like you to take your prius around a corner and see how it compares to the smart. See I'd race that smart against a prius any day- smarts corner very nicely, and going around corners fast is way more of a thrill than going fast in a strait line. Any dumbass can go strait in a fast line, speed through corners feels like death. It's fun.
Also, you do not need insane acceleration for safety. For a good while I drove, and still drive from time to time, a half broken down subaru that dose 0-60 in 30 seconds if I shift at the redline and do full throttle (and ps, I have tried it, I used to drag race shitty cars) and I have never been in an acident with it, not in blizards, not in boston rush hour, nothing. You don't need assloads of power.
Now, my issues with the smart are...get the transmission quicker, make it a dual clutch or give us the option of a regular 5-6 speed manual, and make it lighter and cheaper. Yes, I know US drivers are pansies who want to be driving an abrhams tank, so they had to build that integrated steal cage or whatever, but with a lighter frame they could have shaved 1-200 lbs.
downtoearth 11:25PM (7/23/2009)
Lorena Palin:
> OK, down to earth, why do you hate diesels so much?
I come up with dozens of referenced facts and you then say that I "hate"? This is paranoid. I make clear which technology is superior and motivate this.
The only reasons I do it is because bloggers/authors fail to emphasize crucial hybrid advantages like
- unrivaled energy efficiency
- low emissions despite simple emission control system
- simplicity of the engine
- low maintenance and repair costs
- significantly lower emission around highly populated areas
- excellent engine downsizing (low power, high acceleration)
- simplest and most durable automatic gearbox in the world (just a single set of gears)
> They are nice and simple
Simple? 1982 Mercedes 300D was simple. Modern high precision diesels with injection, charging, emission control and NHV-reducing gear are anything but simple. This makes them a total cost of ownership trap.
> get damn good millage.
1. Hybrids are some 15-40% better.
2. Tiny cars need neither hybrid nor diesel propulsion.
3. Diesel works in heavy hauling/stationary/equipment applications only.
> And I'd like you to take your prius around a corner
> and see how it compares to the smart.
Poorly but it offers other values instead (like interior spaciousness). Something has to give.
> smarts corner very nicely, and going around
> corners fast is way more of a thrill than going fast
> in a strait line.
As every other car with wheels placed in four corners of a square.
> speed through corners feels like death. It's fun.
True. That's why Toyota fixed the Prius. The new one on 17' wheels drives well and feels planted.
> Also, you do not need insane acceleration for safety.
> For a good while I drove [...]
Exception does not make a rule. Power is needed to complete overtaking or any similar maneuvers quickly, in a word to be able to escape from dangerous conditions.
> You don't need assloads of power.
True but this is where hybrids excel even more. Previous Prius basic propulsion system - its engine - developed 78HP only. Yet the car did 0-60 in some 10.9 sec due to electric assistance for quick bursts. The Nissan Altima hybrid engine has some 150HP yet it does 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. No other cars of this size and so little primary power can achieve that. That's the beauty of temporary engine electric assist.
Marc-O 2:51AM (7/24/2009)
You don't say, Downtoearth ?!? A Prius is faster and most of the time more efficient than a Smart ? No way ! Next you'll tell us a Veyron is faster than a Subaru WRX...
The Smart was never created to be the most fuel efficient vehicle, it was created to be the smallest while remaining safe and usable, as a city car able to park in the smallest spaces. If you're trying to overtake a semi with a Smart, you're doing something wrong... While it does fine on the freeway, it was never meant to be in the fast lane - did I mention it's a city vehicle ? City ? Congestion... Parking issues... Tiny car to work around these ?
3PeaceSweet 8:20PM (7/23/2009)
Add the hybrid system from the Merc S400. A 20hp electric motor would cut that 0-60 time (perhaps in half) although it would add a large proportion to the cost of the car.
Would be a lot of fun though.
Reply
downtoearth 9:30PM (7/23/2009)
3PeaceSweet:
> although it would add a large proportion to the cost of the car.
And that's why creating a tiny cars as hybrids makes no sense. Even going diesel makes no sense in this case when you have to get emission and modern diesel standards right. You're just below diminishing returns level.
The only way to go is a tiny simple gasoline engine.
Proof:
As quoted above, Smart CDI diesel has pitiful 45HP and does 56 mpg or 50 mpg of gasoline energy equivalent while being lethally slow (0-60 in 17-20 seconds).
Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107 1.0 gasoline have 67HP and do 44,6 mpg US [1] (average fuel economy observed for the Citroen C1). They do 0-60 in the much better 13 seconds and can carry two adults and two children.
Cars, technically identical only differently badged, look like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Citroen_C1.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Toyota_Aygo_front.JPG
[1] http://www.spritmonitor.de/de/uebersicht/12-Citroen/680-C1.html?fueltype=2&power_e=55
JC 9:03PM (7/23/2009)
Why don't they improve the Smart in the U.S.? I test drove the Smart passion coupe and it was a horrendous experience mainly due to the slow shifting transmission that felt you were diving a car with a stick shift for the first time with all the sudden surges and rocking as the transmission was shifting gears - totally unacceptable for a modern day car. Yes the car is very slow but alright for city driving and running errands around town....I will never take it on the road with all those huge SUV's still driving around and slow acceleration. I drove by the dealer the other day and there were dozens of Smarts sitting on the lot...I guess the novelty wore off!
Reply
contact 12:16AM (7/24/2009)
A current US Spec Smart Fortwo with a TRADITIONAL manual transmission will cut it's 0-60mph time by 3+ seconds EASILY. Why this hasn't been done in the US is beyond me. I'd love a diesel with manual or dsg tranny but I won't even consider buying a Smart until it comes with a decent transmission.
Smart / Mercedes / Penske....pay attention. You aren't going to sell cars until you fix this.
Reply
EliPDX 2:13AM (7/24/2009)
The smart VS. Prius argument is odd but interesting to watch unfold. To me they appeal to different consumers, as evidenced by the distinct opinions.
Now for my most humble of opinions-
The Prius and similar hybrids deliver great interior space considering the MPG's. Excellent if one NEEDS a four door and four passenger capabibility, and plans on trading in within 4 years OR leasing. As a car you buy to drive for a LONG period of time, I'd go with even a modern diesel for sure. As complex as a modern diesel engine is compared to an electric engine, all of the extra computing, electronics, regen braking, batteries, transmission trickery, ad nauseum will surely cost more to maintain in the long run. If we were comparing a Prius with a VW Jetta TDI Wagon AFTER the warranty ran out, I'd put my cash in the Jetta. But that's not on topic I guess...
The smart... Oh dear... How did we compare them again? Oh yeah- the diesel we cant buy in the US. If one lives in a TRULY urban area and rarely carries more than one passenger, the smarts advantages shine in a way that suburban or rural drivers can't imagine. Narrow streets, heavey and TIGHT spaced traffic and parking impossible with any other car... It's easy to see the appeal. But the MPG's are NOT a trade off for the tiny size, and having driven both an early US smart AND a 2009 with the software update, the transmission IS truly awful for drivers of both automatic AND manual transmissions. The niche smart occupies IS tiny, but it could be sustainable if not for this substantial problem. And considering the size of the niche AND the car, the diesel engine makes far more sense. I want to LOVE the smart, and I DO LOVE the size, style and features, but it NEEDS to do better. The Scion IQ may very well devour it in the US.
Whew! Can someone remind me why we were comparing apples and oranges? I Plum forgot.
Reply
downtoearth 11:36AM (7/24/2009)
EliPDX:
> The smart VS. Prius argument is odd but interesting to watch unfold.
I was comparing them only to present efficiency difference. Naturally, those cars appeal to different target groups.
> If we were comparing a Prius with a VW Jetta TDI
> Wagon AFTER the warranty ran out, I'd put my cash
> in the Jetta. But that's not on topic I guess...
This is a common fallacy, based on two wrong assumptions:
- diesels are simple and reliable (old diesels were, modern are ultra complex and can easily suffer very expensive breakdowns; yet people still think modern diesels are like the old ones)
- hybrids are complex thus unreliable (truth is hybrids are ones of the simplest cars on roads today and therefore ones of the most reliable; the apparently complex Prius tops at least two reliability ranks, one of them being JDPower:
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings/dependability-ratings-by-category/compact-car/sortcolumn-1/ascending/page-#page-anchor )
Let's just get the facts straight:
1. 5-year real life total costs of ownership of a 2004 Prius are: $27,500
2. 5-year real life total costs of ownership of a 2004 Jetta 1.9 TDI are: $32,258; Almost $5,000 more.
3. Jetta repairs will cost $3,500
4. Prius repairs will cost $2,200
Sources:
edmunds.com/used/2004/toyota/prius/100326481/cto.html?setzip=10009&vdp=off
edmunds.com/used/2004/volkswagen/jetta/100352548/cto.html?setzip=10009&vdp=off
Now realize that the 1.9 TDI was one of the most dependable diesel engines ever made by the VW. New common rail 2.0 TDI is much more complex, both in terms of injection pressure as well as exhaust emission control. Just google for DPF failure. You'll find a lot of dedicated models forum threads about this issue.
Another thing to fail in a modern TDI diesel is its transmission. Did you know how many failures the DSG is suffering? http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeroforum?id=988
At the same time, the Prius planetary gearset transmission is virtually everlasting. It's just a single set of gears, like in a differential. Have you ever heard about a differential breaking down?
If you add in the likehood of turbo failure (clogged variable vanes, oil leaks triggering the "diesel runaway" threat), super high pressure fuel pump and precise injectors replacement costs (especially if you refuel the car with low quality diesel fuel), double mass flywheel fragility, you come up to a conclusion that the last thing you want is a second hand modern diesel with lost of miles clocked. It may easily turn into a cash sink.
At the same time, you have no clutch to fail in a full hybrid. Also, you have no clutch pads to wear. Break pads wear much slower. Transmission lasts forever. The engine is extremely simple (no turbo, no direct injection, no variable valve timing) so it will be very dependable too. That's the second, unknown power of hybrids - their simplicity.
Modern super complex diesels in passenger cars are the straight path to failure.
coyo t 12:02PM (7/24/2009)
downtoearth, you are a nutter. You said, "no biofuel please. We can produce clean energy to charge PHEVs with much higher EROEI using other sources like...biomass fired plants."
Also, you said, "about half of biofuel energy is still fossil energy" which is completely false. Now if you were to say something like much of corn based ethanol is entwined with fossil fuel then you would have a smidgen of truth in your comment, instead you paint everything with your idiot stick and that is not right.
All I can presume is that you are a neophyte to this topic.
Reply
WilliamInPDX 3:25PM (7/24/2009)
Downtoearth-
As I stated in my post, I was offering my OPINION and will stick to it. You never mention the cost of replacing a battery pack in a hybrid, which will be a little higher than the clutch you seem so worried about in a non-hybrid. You don't mention driving pleasure, which is not a strong suit of hybrids. You DO however pick apart everyones posts on a line by line basis, despite the fact that no one is bashing your prescious Prius (which IS a remakably efficient vehicle).
Here's a new opinion- You downtoearth are mean-spirited with no respect for the opinions of others (posters or Autoblog Green itself) and zero sense of humor. You desperately need to be "right" and feel the need to "educate" people reading the same blogs and info that you do. You love to argue and feel you are intellectually superior. I have no doubt you are very popular and great fun at parties, but please lighten up a bit.
"Down to earth" is something you are not.
Reply
Swede 7:40AM (7/26/2009)
Please ban downtoearth
Reply