Review: Smart ForTwo Passion Cabriolet

Smart has given the diminutive ForTwo a makeover that sends the iconic little city car two steps forward and one big step back.

The Lilliputian runabout has been a solid, if specialized, urban grocery-getter since its arrival stateside three years ago. It's quirky and cute, with enough virtues to make you overlook drawbacks like glacial acceleration. Smart freshened it up for 2011 with an updated interior, knee bolster airbags and options like cruise control, navi and surround sound.

Too bad that work is severely undermined by the world's worst transmission. Seriously. The gearbox in this car sucks. It's a shame, because the ForTwo is a capable commuter with a lot to like.

This car is almost comically small at 8.8 feet long. You feel like you should have oversized shoes and a big red nose before getting in. But even those over 6 feet tall can get comfy inside, and you can cram 7.8 cubic feet of stuff behind the seats — 12 if you pack it to the roof. The redesigned interior — fabric-covered dash, new instrument cluster, that sort of thing — looks sharp.

Much ink has been spilled over the all-electric Smart, but this is the gasoline-powered version — though "powered" may be the wrong word. A 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine mounted under the rear cargo floor makes a whopping 70 horsepower. That's nothing, even for a subcompact, which explains the ForTwo's 12.8-second sashay to 60.

Still, it's peppy around town and keeps up on the highway, even if it does top out at 90 mph. The engine in our car had a loud "whir" and vibrated like mad at start-up but behaved itself once underway. Smart is suitably stingy with gas, getting 33 mpg city, 41 highway and 36 combined.

With a wheelbase of just 73.5 inches, the Smart is go-kart nimble. It's got a turning radius roughly the size of a coffee table, and you can park anywhere. The suspension handles ruts and potholes with aplomb, but an 1,800-pound car is easily tossed around in a crosswind. Turning takes some muscle if you don't spend the $550 for power steering.

Don't let the tiny size fool you. The Smart is built by Mercedes-Benz, so it's packed with safety features. The coupe gets eight airbags while the cabriolet gets six. Antilock brakes, stability control and traction control are standard. It's also got hill-start assist so you don't roll backward coming away from a stop on inclines.

The car comes in two trim levels, Pure (which starts at $12,490) and Passion ($14,690). The Passion Cabriolet I drove runs $17,690. The Passion models get standard features like alloy wheels and power windows. Beyond that, Smart offers a laundry list of options. Frankly, some of them — the center storage bin, the center armrest, cruise control — ought to be standard. Smart can't be stingy, because it is competing against bigger, more practical cars with more features and excellent fuel economy. Our test car cost $19,620, yet lacked navi and a CD player.

Even if you keep it simple you'll want to drop $1,290 for the "Highline" audio system, unless you're happy with a glorified clock radio and one USB/Aux input. That's what our test car had, and it was lame. The upgrade adds CD, a 6.5-inch touchscreen, navi and Bluetooth. Another $490 buys surround sound and seven speakers.

Despite the Smart's tiny dimensions, it feels safe and solid. The doors are heavy, and they close with a reassuring thunk. The folding soft-top on the cabriolet works brilliantly. And I love the styling, which is somehow simultaneously cute and aggressive.

But some of the details fall short. There's a lot of plastic. Switches and controls feel cheap, and the leather-wrapped shift knob came off in my hand. And you've got almost no rearward visibility when the top is down.

Yet all of that pales compared to the automated five-speed manual "SmartShift" transmission. Put it in drive like a conventional slushbox, and it does the shifting for you — poorly. It's slow and clumsy and feels like you're riding with someone still learning to drive a stick. It's only marginally smoother in manual mode. Whoever designed it should be banished to a Yugo with a bad clutch.

WIRED As big inside as it is small outside. More airbags than Fox News. Park it anywhere. Excellent fuel economy.

TIRED Worst transmission ever. Too stingy with standard features — $80 for a center arm rest? Seriously? Heavy steering.

Photos courtesy of Smart USA

See Also:- Ice Road Truckin' in a Smart ForTwo

• Smart ForTwo Is a Blue-State City Car, Right? Guess Again
• ForTwo Makes Its Splashy U.S. Debut. Is It for You?
• So Smart: Electric ForTwo Arrives This Fall
• A 17-Foot Smart ForTwo – Wrong On So Many Levels