Review of the new smart fortwo cabrio Range

Smart's take on city centre motoring is at its cutest in open-top fortwo cabio guise. It's almost as nippy as a bike, yet as trendy as the priciest convertible. If you're town-bound, here's a car with few rivals that it's hard not to like.

If the best thing about smart is the little fortwo, the best thing about the fortwo is this cute cabrio model. While its fixed-top stablemate struggles to justify its existence in a market filled with cheaper, more practical superminis, the cabrio is almost unique in offering fashionable, open-top city centre motoring at an affordable price. Small wonder that a third of all smart buyers choose it.

Without this variant keeping fortwo sales afloat, smart itself would probably cease to exist. With a model range that expanded too fast too soon in the early years of this century, the Mercedes-owned brand came close to collapse before a second generation fortwo, this model, launched in 2007, set things back upon an even keel. More than ever before perhaps, this is a car of our times.

Roof open on a sunny day, your designer shopping bags on the seat beside you, it takes a special kind of urban traffic jam to dent your general good humour if you're a smart cabrio driver. The electric fabric roof retracts at the touch of a button and because the car itself is so short, it's quick enough to do at the lights if you're hit by a sudden cloudburst. Otherwise of course, the recipe is exactly as it would be in a fixed-top fortwo, which means that most buyers will end up behind the wheel of the second generation version's 1.0-litre Mitsubishi-sourced three-cylinder engine, in a range of different states of tune. As an alternative though, dedicated urban dwellers might also want to consider the 44bhp 800cc cdi diesel model.

True, it's pretty painfully slow - sixty from rest takes twenty seconds - but come on, be real here: when was the last time you went 60mph in the middle of town, this smart's intended operating environment? It matches the flow of traffic, which is pretty much all you need, while returning significantly better fuel and CO2 returns than you'll get from the entry-level 61 and 71bhp petrol models we'd recommend it over. Not everyone who works in town lives there of course and should your smart cabrio need a slightly wider scope of urban and open road functionality (where the MK2 model's longer wheelbase and wider track gives it a bit more composure), we'd suggest you look at the more lively 84bhp turbocharged petrol version. You could even go for an even faster 102bhp BRABUS Exclusive variant, though that car's price tag might make you think twice.

"This car represents a clever idea, cleverly executed.."

The second generation fortwo cabrio has been improved in recent times - but you'd need to be an enthusiast of the marque to really notice it. The front and rear aprons, side skirts and filler cap are now finished in body colour as standard, there are some smarter alloy wheel designs and some brighter colours - and that's about it.

The cabriolet's folding fabric roof is easily operated at any speed at the touch of a button. It retreats backwards in the manner of a conventional sun roof revealing a big slice of sky overhead but drivers wanting to go fully convert their smart will need to stop and get out. Removable side roof bars unclip and can be stowed in a special compartment in the tailgate while the rear roof section, once released, drops down to sit on top of the boot.

At the wheel, if you owned an early MK2 model, you might notice that this one has a smarter upper dashboard design and appreciate the harmonious styling of the full fabric-covered instrument panel, which houses restyled dials. Otherwise, it's as before. The fact that there is a boot to speak of hints at the way this fortwo cabrio has grown-up in its current generation guise. Owners get a respectable 220-litre luggage capacity in the back, there's a glass rear window to improve visibility and on the inside, the fortwo now feels like part of the Mercedes-Benz family, rather than the scruffy stepchild that smart's prestigious parent company would rather forget.

List prices start some way above those of the fixed-top fortwo but you should still be able to get one of these on your driveway for under £11,000. Compared to a more conventional cabrio, that's ridiculously cheap, though of course you'll need to be prepared to trade longer distance capability and practical versatility for the smart's city centre nippyness. Basically, you're looking at a premium of around £2,000 to own one of these over the standard model, with list prices ranging all the way up to £16,500 if you want BRABUS bling. And rivals? Well, right off the cuff, I really can't think of any.

The complete fortwo cabrio range starts with the econobasic 61bhp model but it really is worth finding £300 more to get the 71bhp power unit or better still, the turbocharged 84bhp engine that's uprated in the flagship BRABUS Xclusive model to 102bhp. Standard equipment depends of course on your choice of spec but more important than the niceties are the safety touches you'll want to know about in a car as small and potentially vulnerable as this one. The MK1 model's tough safety cell (emphasised by these visible dark-painted structural elements) remains, as does the ESP stability control that's necessary in a tall, short-wheelbase car like this. There's also ABS with brake assist and twin front airbags - plus we'd go for the optional side 'bags too, which could be life-savers.

The introduction of mhd (micro hybrid drive) in more recent second generation fortwo models has made a big difference to fuel consumption, with improvements of nearly 30% around town where the system's start/stop function disables the engine at traffic lights or in urban queues. Further recent tweaks have now meant that the popular 71bhp micro hybrid drive petrol unit fitted with softip transmission now emits just 97g/km CO2 - an improvement of 6g/km - and manages over 65mpg on the combined cycle. This development means the most popular petrol and diesel engines in the smart range now fall below 100g/km CO2. The emissions of the top Xclusive version are also lowered to 119g/km. The whole smart range now emits less than 120g/km CO2, which makes all models exempt from the cost of the annual road fund licence for at least the first year from registration.

You can't beat a diesel of course when it comes to running costs and the cdi manages an astonishing 85.6mpg on the combined cycle, whilst outputting just 86g/km of CO2. Clip-on, clip-off plastic panels help with cheap insurance groups which for mainstream models vary between 2-3, while residual values are amongst the best in class.

It's often the way that a model which pioneers a market sector fails to capitalise on its visionary design. Copycat rivals are usually quick to emerge which do it all a little bit better. Although the original smart was certainly groundbreaking and remained the only city car to be seen in around our cities' fashionable districts, it never felt like the complete package. The latest fortwo cabrio model is a far more sophisticated prospect, at home doing far more than parking or creeping along in traffic.

This car represents a clever idea, cleverly executed. If you like the idea of an open-top and space is not important, then the latest fortwo cabio is worth a look, as long as you can afford the rather high price tag. Provided you don't mind being stared at of course.

TOP 5 FORTWO CABRIO DEALS

The results below show the top FORTWO CABRIO deals on buyacar

Smart Fortwo Cabrio Passion mhd 2dr Softouch Auto [Luxury Pack] [2010]
Price £11,682 Read Fortwo Cabrio Reviews	Save £788
Smart Fortwo Cabrio Passion 2dr Softouch Auto 84 [Luxury Pack] [2010]
Price £12,152 Read Fortwo Cabrio Reviews	Save £818
Smart Fortwo Cabrio Passion mhd 2dr Softouch Auto [2010]
Price £11,005 Read Fortwo Cabrio Reviews	Save £745
Smart Fortwo Cabrio Pulse mhd 2dr Softouch Auto [2010]
Price £10,253 Read Fortwo Cabrio Reviews	Save £697
Smart Fortwo Cabrio CDI Passion 2dr Softouch Auto [2010] Fortwo diesel cabrio
Price £12,133 Read Fortwo Cabrio Reviews	Save £817
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