I recently picked up a 2005 Smart ForTwo CDi that was imported from Winnipeg, Canada. As far as I know, it's one of only a handful in the US, and here's why: it can't pass emissions and I purchased it with a state grant for myself and 5 other students to tinker with. Our goal is to meet EPA Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions for diesels (it'd take too long to explain what that means so I won't bother) and to achieve 70+ mpg on the EPA's urban drive cycle that they use to test all vehicles. I just got the car this past Monday and have already pretty much stripped it to the bone and put everything back together (with the exception of the engine since I don't have a service manual yet, which makes it difficult to put back together properly). I also strapped it to the dyno tonight, but didn't get to make any runs because I had to update the software for the Mustang dyno at school which is a rather long process so I called it a night and will do dyno runs tomorrow. Even though it's got a turbo (the size of a mini-donut...) I'm not expecting any big numbers since the car is rated at 45 bhp and 61 ft-lb of torque new from the factory. I'll continue to update you guys as my group and I make progress!

Anyway, here are some pics I took of her tonight!









The group (one guy was MIA tonight):

btw, I'm the guy in the Hard Rock Cafe shirt.







If anybody has any questions, feel free to ask me. I'll answer them the best I can.

 

I can't belive Smarts are rare in the US, guess it's the same thing with the Mustang, we don't see them very often you see 1000 everyday.
Kind of funny, we have one for the company, very fun and for the city fast car.
Just don't use it on the freeway, this thing is ok from 0-60 but sucks when it needs to go faster. xD
Love mine so far, really cool little car for a awesome price!

 

Its not bad for a 20k go cart. I finally had a chance to take one for a real drive yesterday afternoon and the best part was the look on ppls faces taking off down a banked 180 degree onramp revving out each gear lol. Traction control is constantly nagging you and the shift lag is incredible, but I enjoyed the paddle shifters as much as I could and fact that its rwd. Listen to that tiny 3cyl go...wahooo

YouTube - Smart fortwo Test Drive - The Screaming Cow

 

The only reason mine is rare is because it's a CDi. The diesel version was never sold in the states, and the gasoline version has only started to be sold here within the last 6 months or so.

 

eshaun,

that Smart must be fully loaded. I don't think mine even has a radio anything. To be honest, I haven't driven it much and I was trying to run diagnostic tests on it so I guess I wasn't paying attention to whether it had one or not.

 

You know I love you Alex but that car is the most horrific, nasty little bucket in the world.

 

Cool, sounds like a fun project. I would be afraid to get hit in it though.

 

They are everywhere here in Miami.

I ordered a Brabus Edition Smart here, and so did my cousin. He is def going to get it, I may not. I love it though.

 

May as well pick out your tombstone. I'd never ride/drive in one of those.

 

I love the Smart, saw a Rossa Corsa painted Smarti fortwo with the brabus addons in Monaco. The car looks fantastic, I love it.