Car and Driver: How We’d Spec It, Size Xtra Small: 2016 Smart Fortwo

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Don’t laugh—people actually buy Smart Fortwos, and the way Smart structures the car’s option sheet, those folks are encouraged to delve deep into the catalog of personalization accessories. Indeed, only the base-spec Fortwo Pure trim level offers any real limitations on optional goodies—you can still pick from a dizzying array of colors for the body panels and “Tridion” safety cage. At the recent launch event for the Fortwo cabriolet, the head of Smart mentioned that most Fortwos are purchased loaded or nearly loaded and that few trade hands for anything close to the listed $15,400 base price. Checking out Smart’s online Fortwo configurator for ourselves, we were surprised by just how individualized one can make a Fortwo, and naturally felt prompted to build one for ourselves.

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MODEL:

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Smart Fortwo Passion coupe (base price: $16,890)

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The Fortwo coupe is offered in four trim levels: Pure, Passion, Prime, and Proxy. The most expensive, the Proxy, is also the most polarizing, with only a searing blue-and-white interior color scheme and a $19,230 price tag; it’s also the only way to get the Fortwo’s first-ever five-speed manual option and the sport suspension. If you can dig that interior, we’d suggest it’s the way to go, but we can’t, so we set our sights lower, toward the heart of the Fortwo lineup. That landed us the Passion, which comes nicely equipped with automatic climate control, cruise control, 15-inch aluminum wheels, power heated side mirrors, map lights, a nifty center-console storage drawer, a cargo cover, and a leather wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. (The base Pure rides on steel wheels and does without everything listed above, while the next-level-up Prime adds leather seating surfaces, rain-sensing windshield wipers, a clear roof panel, fog lights, LED taillights, and heated seats.) For $16,890, the Fortwo Passion represents the strongest value in the Fortwo lineup—and we say that understanding that, overall, the Fortwo lineup lacks value given the cars’ extreme smallness and its price parity with larger, similarly equipped vehicles.

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OPTIONS:

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Titania grey matte body panels ($450)

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Black Tridium cell ($0)

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Fog lights ($110)

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Center armrest ($100)

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Lighting package ($400)

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Height-adjustable driver’s seat ($100)

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Panoramic roof ($350)

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Heated seats ($240)

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Orange and black cloth interior ($0)

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What’s most surprising about the Fortwo’s plethora of options for body panel colors, interior schemes, and various knick-knacks isn’t the breadth of choices—it’s that none of the extras we added cost more than $500. As a result, we had no qualms over adding seven (!) extra-cost items to flesh out our Passion coupe. Starting with the car’s exterior, we painted the exposed portion of the Fortwo’s Tridium safety cage a glossy black. For the body panels, we ordered up a butch-looking matte-grey hue; we’ve seen this combination in person and must say, it eliminates nearly all of the Smart’s inherent cuteness. Not that we’d be self-conscious behind the wheel of a Fortwo or anything.

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A $110 pair of fog lights for the front bumper and a $400 Lighting package (LED taillights and LED daytime running lights) added a dash of glitter to the headlights and taillights. We’d have ordered the $600 sport package for the nifty mini-Mercedes-AMG wheels and lowered suspension it includes, but Smart requires it be paired with the optional dual-clutch automatic transmission. Kind of a buzzkill for the car’s sportiness, no? To us, the five-speed manual is more important to the Fortwo’s fun factor, not to mention extracting the most from its 89-hp turbo three-cylinder engine.

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To add a pop of color to our Smart’s palette, we sprung for the no-cost orange-and-black cloth interior option. An all-black scheme and a seemingly dirt-seducing white-and-black arrangement are also choices. To brighten things up even further, we added the $350 clear panoramic roof. Comfort enhancers like heated seats (a steal at $240), a height-adjustable driver’s seat ($100), and a center armrest ($100) were easy and affordable additions.

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• 2017 Smart Fortwo Cabriolet First Drive: You Could See Yourself Driving One-
• 2015 Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop Tested: A Pricey Trinket-
• Smart Fortwo Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Photos, Reviews, and More‘-

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Our imaginary Smart Fortwo’s total MSRP will probably dredge up yet again the question of value, and at $18,640 our matte-grey city car is hardly cheap. Even so, treat the Fortwo as a fashion accessory, almost like an even smaller Mini Cooper (which offers an even wider array of personalization options), and keeping the minicar under $20,000 should be considered admirable. Fiat 500s and Minis are ubiquitous, not to mention priced well over $20K if equivalently equipped, and if you truly don’t need space for more than one passenger or live somewhere where parking is a real concern, the Smart isn’t such a dumb choice.

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