From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Smart Roadster
Smart Roadster
Smart Roadster velopment of a four-seat model, had not been far ad-
vanced.
Design and development
Under design director Jens Manske in autumn 1998,
Smart’s 14-strong design and engineering team began
to sketch possible future Smart cars. They soon realised
that the powertrain of the City Coupe was ideal for a
small sports car, with a compact turbo engine driving the
Manufacturer Smart GmbH rear wheels via a sequential 6 speed gearbox.
Production 2003–2006 Following Smart’s ‘reduce to the max’ philosophy and
general innovative approach, a concept for a super com-
Class Sports car pact, practical and pure sports car was generated. Two
Roadster
quarter-scale exterior and two quarter-scale interior
Body style 2-door roadster models were made in February 1999 with Volker Leutz’s
Layout Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout
exterior and Christoph Machinek’s interior proposals se-
lected for development into full-size development mod-
Transmission 6-speed semi-automatic transmission els. The design of the car had progressed considerably by
the time Michael Mauer officially arrived from Mercedes-
The Smart Roadster is a two-door sports car first intro- Benz’s Japan design center to take over Menske’s position
duced in 2003 by Smart GmbH. Sales of the Roadster and in May 1999. Mauer worked closely with the design team
Roadster Coupé met expectations, however warranty to quickly develop the roadster, with the intention now
claims resulted in a halt of production of both models in of producing a show car for the upcoming 1999 IAA mo-
November 2005 after 43,091 Roadsters were made. The tor show in Frankfurt.
last one now resides in the Mercedes-Benz Museum. By June the full size models of the roadster were
handed over to Stola in Italy for production of the show
History car model, which was produced in about three months
for the car’s debut at the Frankfurt show. The Roadster
At the 1998 Paris Motor Show, the two-seat, 2.5 m (98 in)- concept was well received at Frankfurt and helped to
long Smart City Coupe (later named Smart Fortwo) was convince management that the car should be developed
launched. This was the beginning of a new car brand and for production. At the same time a decision was made to
one of the more radical vehicle concepts to hit the Euro- develop Mauer’s idea for a coupe version as a concept car
pean market since the bubble cars of the 1950s. It was for Paris motor show a year later. As development of the
also the beginning of a difficult period for Smart. The coupe concept began, so the roadster show car was de-
City Coupe had stability problems that were discovered veloped over the following year with both exterior and
only immediately prior to launch. These forced a pack- interior designs completed by November 2000. However,
age of alterations to be made that were both expensive colour and trim design continued until a year later.
and compromised the car’s handling, ride and gear shift. By early 2000 the Smart City Coupe had finally started
Public concerns over the car’s stability, combined with to gain sales momentum, with its cabrio version making a
Smart’s elitist marketing and the sheer radicality of the significant addition to total Smart sales. In March Mauer
car’s design, proved damaging to initial sales. Production left Smart for Saab, succeeded by Hartmut Sinkwitz in
projections were slashed from 200,000 per year to 80,000, May. As the third design director of Smart during the
close to disastrous for a new brand with just one product. Roadster’s development, Sinkwitz had to bring the con-
Inside the company, the evangelical buzz surround- cept to production in a very short time. This task may
ing the launch of the radical City Coupe quickly evapo- have been made somewhat easier by the Roadster having
rated. With new management, new marketing initiatives been designed from the start to use existing powertrain
and continuing revisions to the car’s engineering to an- and other City Coupe components. Given some of the ad-
swer public concerns, future vehicle plans, including de- vanced design features, it is a credit to the design team
that so much of the concept car made it to production.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Smart Roadster
Concept car roof or an electrical Softtop. The Roadster is powered by
45 or 60 kW (61 or 82 PS) versions of the turbocharged
The ‘Roadster Coupe’ as shown at the 2000 Paris motor
698CC 3-cylinder Suprex engine in the rear, which is en-
show was already on its way to production form. It
gineered by Mercedes-Benz. The Roadster Coupé has on-
shared the design of the Roadster from the doors for-
ly the more powerful 82 PS (60 kW; 81 hp) engine. A
ward, but had a glass targa roof and rear structure resem-
steering wheel with Formula 1-style gearpaddles, to con-
bling a small shooting-brake in the same way as the BMW
trol the semi-automatic sequential transmission, is op-
Z3 coupe and the Saab 9X concept car developed under
tional. With weight as low as 790 kg (1,742 lb), it is meant
Mauer at Saab a few years later.
to provide the emotion of driving a sports car at an af-
Production versions of both Roadster and Roadster
fordable cost. Still, the Roadster’s price is not very far
Coupe debuted together at the 2002 Paris Motor Show
from that of a Mazda MX-5.
and were available to buy within a few months. Both cars
Both the Roadster and Roadster Coupé are available
were unique in the market, being significantly smaller
in Brabus-tuned versions with power increased to 74 kW
than the Toyota MR2, MG TF, Fiat Barchetta and Mazda
(101 PS). The Brabus versions have a different twin sports
MX-5, but offering similar performance and practicality
exhaust, lower suspension, polished six-spoke aluminum
to the base versions of these cars while significantly
alloy Monoblock VI 17" wheels (205/40/17 at the front
more fuel efficient.
and 225/35/17 at the rear), front spoiler, side skirts and
radiator grille. Exclusive Brabus (Xclusive) interior in-
Production cludes leather trimmed dashboard, alloy-effect accent
parts, instrument graphics, leather/aluminium gearknob
with Brabus labelled starter button, aluminium hand-
brake handle (which fouls the central armrest), alumini-
um pedals and Brabus labeled floor mats. The Brabus ver-
sion also features stronger clamping of the clutch plates
and a faster gearchange. The Monoblock wheels are
known to be very soft and as a result are very easy to
buckle. The lacquer on these wheels is also very poor, and
corrosion can occur very early in the life of the wheel.
Despite a projected break even of only 8-10,000 units
per year, first year sales almost doubled this estimate.
However, some Smart Roadsters leaked and production
ceased due to the warranty work and other costs reach-
Interior Smart Roadster. ing an average of €3000 per vehicle. While a critical suc-
cess, the Smart Roadster was, due to these costs, an eco-
nomic failure for the company. For those who have dri-
ven it, and fallen in love with it, it has proven to be an ex-
cellent driver’s car with fuel consumption in the high 40s
or low 50s miles per Imperial gallon. Running costs are
low and the car is one of the few true sports cars built in
the spirit of the 1950s classic British sports car. Influen-
tial British motoring television show and magazine Top
Gear praised the Roadster, awarding it Fun Car Of The
Year for 2005.
Chassis numbers go from 00,001 to around 43,400.
This doesn’t quite add up with the fact that 43,091 Road-
sters were built and put on the shop-fronts. The rest may
include those crash-tested or which had faults and were
A Smart Roadster Coupé convertible. retracted from commercial sale.
The Smart Roadster and Roadster Coupé were introduced Brabus V6 Bi-Turbo prototypes
in 2003, based on a stretched platform of the Fortwo
In 2003 German tuninghouse Brabus created a prototype
(full length is 3427 mm). The two variants are meant to
version of the Roadster Coupé with two merged
be reminiscent of the British roadster of yore, such as
3-cylinder engines to celebrate the 100th anniversary of
the Triumph Spitfire or the MG MGB. Both the Roadster
the Solituderennen. This V6 bi-turbo powerplant had a
and Roadster Coupé are available with a removable Targa
maximum power of 218 PS (160 kW; 215 hp) for a weight
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Smart Roadster
Smart Roadster Coupe Brabus.
Smart Roadster Collector’s Edition.
Brabus Coupe, rear
Smart Roadster Collector’s Edition.
of only 840 kg (1,852 lb), giving it the same power-to-
weight ratio as a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S. Smart claimed
the car could accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under front spoiler and side fenders. Of 50 planned cars only 30
five seconds. were made.
Since the twin-turbo V-6 occupies almost as much A limited edition Roadster Coupe Racing edition
space as their five-cylinder engines, the fuel tank had to (RCR) was released in 2005 in the UK. Only 50 in the
be relocated to the nose of the car, where a luggage com- world were made and featured all the Brabus trimmings
partment used to be. It comes in the form of a Formu- plus special black alcantara and leather seats with red di-
la 1-type foamrubber fuelbladder. The bigger engine also amond pattern stitching. The seats were not heated as
forced a change from separate coil springs and dampers they are in the main brabus model. The black alcantara
to concentric units to support the de Dion rear suspen- and red stitching also featured on the dash and door pan-
sion. els. Interior door handles and clock surrounds were fin-
Ten cars were built and presented at the Castle Soli- ished in red to match the exterior paintwork. Each comes
tude. They are not available for sale and are not even al- with a numbered plaque on the glovebox - stating the
lowed to be driven on the public roads in Germany. Some build number - RCR UK #/50. These cars were finished in
of Mercedes’ race drivers, like Markus Winkelhock, drove Ferrari Red with matching light surrounds and bumper
guests around the event’s race track. sections, the tridion safety cell being all silver. They were
made to look like the V6 bi turbo and came with a free
optional SB2 power upgrade kit for the engine, which
Special editions raised the standard 80 bhp (60 kW) to 90 bhp (67 kW).
In March 2006 Smart unveiled the final variant of the The reason they were not fitted with the 101 PS (74 kW;
Roadster at the Geneva Motorshow: a limited collector’s 100 hp) engine is because the cars came off the produc-
edition. tion line in 2004 as normal 80 PS (59 kW; 79 hp) engined
It was based on the top model Brabus Xclusive with roadsters before being given the Brabus makeover. The
101 PS (74 kW; 100 hp) and came with a satin brown- SB2 upgrade was optional to allow customers the option
metallic paint job. The interior had brown leather and for lower insurance and road tax/CO2 emissions. So some
higher quality materials were used extensively. It had RCRs did not have the SB2 upgrade carried out when new.
the new Runline aluminium wheels and Brabus exhaust, There were 50 right-handed cars (RCR 90) built especially
for the UK with the SB2 kit and 90 hp (67 kW). Addition-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Smart Roadster
ally BRABUS built 7 left-handed cars (RCR 90) for the rest
of Europe and only 12 cars of the RCR 101 were altogeth-
Knight and Day
er built left-handed by BRABUS with the real BRABUS 101 In the 2010 movie Knight and Day the Smart Roadster ap-
HP engine. One prototype and 11 numbered cars. pears in the final chase scene. The scene takes place in
An additional, UK and Sweden-only ’Finale Edition’ Spain during a bull run. The bad guy and his henchmen
was unveiled in April 2006. This model came in a variety are driving 5 or 6 Smart Roadsters chasing Tom Cruise
of colour combinations, including an exclusive speed sil- and Cameron Diaz on a Ducati Supermotard. These vehi-
ver and black tridion with 17-inch runline alloys and cles were retrofitted with engines from Suzuki GSXR mo-
’flow silver’ interior components. It also featured leather torcycles to improve power and throttle response. This
door and cockpit trim and a central arm rest. was done with a kit made by a British outfit called
"Smartzuki".
Project Kimber
Main article: Project Kimber
References
In 2006, David James initiated Project Kimber, an attempt [1] Nanjing in talks to sell MG Rover brand to bid rival
to restart production of the Smart Roadster in the United [2] AC Ace
Kingdom. Initially intended to be rebadged as an MG
model,[1] after an unsuccessful bid for the MG marque,
the revised Roadster was later referred to as the AC
External links
Ace.[2] However, as of 2009, the project appears to be dor- • smart (official UK community site)
mant. • Smart (official site)
• TheRoadster.net (smart Roadster owners enthusiast
website)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Roadster"
Categories: Smart vehicles, Microcars, Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive vehicles, 2000s automobiles, Vehicles intro-
duced in 2003, Roadsters
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