Should You Buy a SMART ROADSTER? (Test Drive & Review) 

Fun fact: The roadster has two spark plugs per cyclinder (6 in total), has hill start, abs, anti skid, traction control and launch control. It was way ahead of its time and I thoroughly enjoyed mine back in the day, especially with an Evil Twin re-map which bought the power up to that of the Brabus version. Oh, and the gear box isn’t quite that bad, it just requires the user to adopt a different driving style. 😉

If Paul McCarthy is watching this I'm sure he chuckled..I nearly pissed myself..cracking line !

Hey mat ,nobody can say you don't have variety in your car reviews, one day an Audi rs6 avant the next a smart car. That's why I look forward to your videos, thanks mat.🙏

I used to enjoy looking at these when I was younger and they were current. I think if they’d put a manual box in them then they’d have been far better, especially in the Brabus.

Cup holder exists: fold the passenger seat down and there it is in the middle of the seat back. Oh aye, the coupe gives a useful rear storage area above the tea tray.

Hi Mat, decent enough generally well balanced review, nice to see. Roadsters came in two main variants, with either a black chassis, ( "Tridion" ), or silver which was a cost option ), Colours of the body panels, were "Jack black", "Shine yellow", ( as tested on your video), "Star blue", "Glance grey" and "Spice red" with "Speed silver' on the roadster only Speedsilver special edition of 2005. They were offered in both roadster and coupe for, with Brabus versions having a different engine with bigger turbo and charge cooler as well as suspension exhaust and styling differences and larger wheels amongst other minor differences. Generally they were sold however in the UK for a little longer than 2 years however, from 2003 to 2007. They came generally with an electric folding roof but could be spec'd with hardtop instead, ( gloss black or a matt "dimpled film" covered version. You could also buy a hardtop in a bag as an option with it's own carry bag but you also need the hardtop fitting kit. You were testing the basic "Light" version that only came in hardtop form with steel wheels no a/c dimpled steering wheel and base grey cloth seats. They also did other special editions, a "Speedsilver" in roadster form only non in coupe, in 2003/4 they produced the "Bluewave" in both coupe and roadster in Star blue with silver tridion only these had Brabus mono-bloc alloys Brabus twin exhaust and sport pack interior so and several versions including the Brabus variants as "Finale edition" which were 2006 to the end of production with colour coded body sections and fluted headlight covers. The rarest version was coupe only " Edition Red" that came with the Brabus style wheels and 3 spoke steering wheel but also had the quilted red diamond stitched seats and unique Ferrari red "Rosso Corsa" painted panels. It was however 80 not 101BHP spec. Coupes generally are worth around £1,000-£1,500 more than the standard roadster and are also rarer as less were made, Brabus versions are generally £1,500- 2,000 more than their equivalent standard versions. All standard cars could be spec'd with upgrades including "pack option", "Lux", "safety" and "sports", individually you could option, a/c electric mirrors, cruise control, auto-light, on board trip computer,3 spoke paddle shift steering wheel, sound pack etc. It was also for a while the case that you could also buy fitted genuine coupe and roadster waterproof vocoders from Mercedes Smart however they rapidly sold out ! A Full service for £200 !....with respect that seems remarkably cheap for a proper "c service" however so I assume it was just 6 plugs oil and filters done then and not a full service. All the engines it's with saying are cam chain not belt by the way and are different from the similar looking problematic 450 Fortwo engine. Price wise high mileage roadsters with average spec are around £2,500 to £4,000 for a sorted and decent example without issues, coupes from £3,500 to £6k currently. Low mileage examples that are mint can fetch a premium, but need to be properly sorted cars with preventative waterproofing works and gone through top to bottom. There are a lot of horrible examples around with worn suspension, rusty sumps, rusty abs rings, rusty turbo coolant pipes, water damaged SAM units, soaking wet carpets, damaged lights, noisy cam chains, leaking water pumps, iffy starter motors and alternators, ( which you have to be very careful getting a correct replacement ),...etc etc...and with no waterproofing work done. You certainly get what you pay for with them.£7,995 for the "Light" base car you have is also however, well a tad, optimistic to say the least, !, (despite the very low mileage),I really do wish you luck with that as although I see that more like tops £5k realistically at the moment, ...but ...if you get £7,995 that pushes the whole market up 25%+ ! ...(I imagine the owners clubs and forums will be in melt down however and trolling you about the price already, they normally do with any higher priced cars, not just Smarts though, the keyboard warriors love to slag of dealers ). Waterproofing work is generally straight forward to do and you did not mention this, sealing the wing mirrors and bulk head is as common fix. They are a cracking little car and the size is almost identical to an early 70's `Lotus Elan. Keep up the good work and best of luck selling your car.

Top review Mat. Loved the Aldi and Heather references. You have the ability 5o make me smile whilst considering buying a car the size of one of my slippers. 👌

I had one of these and loved it. So much fun. Light, and economical.

I owned one of these in this colour. Loved every minute of it, on country roads it was fantastic

Always really liked these. Not sure I'd want to own one, but I do crack a smile whenever I see one out and about. They just look really fun - too many cars take themselves too seriously.

Another great and witty review from you Matt. Always look forward to your reviews and always looking at what car stock you have. Keep up the excellent job and I think we car lovers would all love to see you as a presenter on one of the big shows !

Love this guy's sense of humor, and the vid was really informative too. I had to subscribe.

Thanks for adding the litres per / 100km bit when you mention fuel economy. Appreciated

Excellent review with just the right amount of humour. Good job!

Nearly bought one of these but ended up buying a Suzuki Cappuccino and never regretted it. The Suzuki is very well engineered, easy to service, rare and a blast to drive. Suzuki Cappuccino, 5 speed gearbox 0-60 in 8 seconds and top speed 90 mph.

You’ve just confirmed my thoughts about the roadster. Great little car

Heather Mills....Very good!

Always a pleasure watching your channel. Love your dry sense of humour and variety of cars. Keep it up !

Mate I love your car reviews no one puts it better great videos

A friend lent me his Smart roadster for a week. I travelled all over the middle part of Vietnam in it. This car was great fun and so well built that it withstood every challenge I threw at it including speed and it coped just fine with the heat, humidity and the rough roads & hills. My wife & I packed our carry on wheely suitcase which just about fitted in the rear boot unfolded. The front boot was used for storing our shoes & other knick knacks. Well worth investing in one as a spare weekend plaything.

Saw one of these in rural Wales this morning and then your video comes up.I didn't realize it was a Smart Roadster.

The boot of the SMART Roadster is hilariously small. Jeremy Clarkson says it's a baking tray above the engine.

Brilliant videos , love the variety of content 👍🏼👍🏼

I've got a roadster with the paddle gear shift - and I think the gearbox mapping has been updated - no gear change lag at all, and it's immense fun. I agree with you about getting in and out, though... I have to fall into it... and getting out is almost comedic... Love the car - brilliant on country roads.

i LOVE these and the Brabus is a proper future classic. it has a paddle change and genuinely feels quite quick.

Great review , and I love my smart , very quirky and not everyone,s cup of tea , but I exactly agree with you , if you have one of these always try and make sure you use a smart specialist for servicing and repairs , and yes they will increase in value over time . Thanks again 👍

The Heather Mills reference was pure class, do you prep your reviews if not you really have missed your calling. Keep up the excellent work.

Finally i understand the mpg figure! Thanks for the conversion to L/100km

Been looking forward for this review and totally agree with your comments after driving it my self

Thinking of getting one of these in January, lovely lil review

Refreshing to see an honest, positive review of one of these. I’ve had mine for two years now and love it. Points of note: 1. That gearbox - it actually doesn’t change any slower than a manual gearbox, we’re just conditioned to think a “tiptronic” type box should change instantly. Once you get that idea out of your head and approach changes as you would in a manual car it actually works very well. I never use mine in auto mode because it’s just bad and indecisive. Also worthy of note is that it’s a 3 speed box with overdrive on every gear, hence the 3rd to 4th change is fractionally slower than all the others. 2. Acceleration - The headline figures are hindered somewhat by the gearbox when pulling away as it slips the clutch a touch if you floor it, and hindered more by the change from 3rd to 4th at about 58mph. In gear acceleration is absolutely fine. 3. Motorway twitchiness - I’ve ditched the power steering in mine and it made a huge difference in that regard. I’ve also since fitted Eibach springs, Bilstein dampers and a stiffer ARB which improved things further, but removing the PAS is free and takes less than a minute so is well worthwhile. The steering is still lighter than on my X5 even with PAS removed as there’s very little weight over the front of the car. 4. Servicing - Dead easy, even removing the rear bumper to replace all six plugs isn’t a major chore. Important to have the clutch aligned though and this requires MB Star software so go to a specialist for that once a year. 5. Leaks - I have a hard and soft top for mine. The soft top doesn’t leak at all, the hardtop does leak. If anyone sees this and is thinking of buying one, PLEASE join the Evilution (not a typo) website and follow all the leak prevention guides, they’re invaluable, as is much of that site. 6. Reliability - Gearboxes are strong, engines are reliable if maintained. Mine is on 140,000 miles - the engine has never been opened up and it’s still on its original clutch, it’s been serviced every 6000 miles from new, mostly by the previous owner and me, and has been totally reliable save for a dry solder in the SAM unit that was causing it to cut out - fixed for free, by me, on my kitchen table.

Cool review of a rare car! Thank you very much for the video and all car variety, good fun👍😎

I was actually checking your website the other day and saw this car, i was thinking to my self, I would actually like to see this car in your reviews :D

It was my wife's first car, we had for about 4-5 years. It is a great fun car. Regarding the cup holder, there are 2 in the car. One of the CD tray has a rubber insert which is the cup holder and the other one, you need to fold the passenger seat.

Gear shifts in these and the for2 can be massively improved by lifting off the throttle when changing gear.

great video ! ive had the new shape smart forfour as my first car for a few months now and I love it! its the more powerful 89hp version and i think its really fun to drive ! it would be great if you did a video on one !

Thanks for providing us with such a varied feast.

Great video, love the yellow colour too!! I remember these from my youth.

Another great video, have been seriously considering swapping my GTV T.Spark for a Brabus Roaster for a while now

Hey Matt. Great review- very polished.. you’re costing me a fortune- every time I see one of your reviews.. off to Auto Trader .. Thanks for reviewing cars that nobody thinks or talks about ..

I owned two of these car, both coupes . Brilliant little things . The Brabus one is a great drive

Great presentation Matt as always.... always wondered if you prepare a script or it is all adlib straight off the cuff? Either way you have it nailed and have the perfect balance of knowledge, information and entertainment. Would be interesting to see a video of your camera set ups.

Always liked these, particularly the quirky looks, but I was always put off by the gearbox. Looks great in this colour!

Gotta be your best an most humorous review to date..I howled when you mentioned no where for your foot to go 🤣🤣 simply brilliant as ever

You've got me thinking now. I'm tempted

Great episode .. informative and genuinely funny . Thank you !

Had a Brabus example..101bhp, paddle gears etc. Fantastic car...really nippy and such good fun. Gearbox was remapped (making a huge difference), but the ride was shocking! I'd definitely have another!

The views/scenery in your videos are worth the viewing time alone 👍👍

Brilliant review as expected with lots of funny metaphors for good measure. You really should be on Top Gear!

We had two of these, the second one a Brabus. Fantastic car in every way, beautifully made. I never noticed the pedal problem - obviously it did not affect me. But a new tyre for the Brabus was £150!! Definitely a future classic but try to get the Brabus version. You soon get used to the gearbox.

The coupe is my choice (I’ve owned 5), and they are a hoot to drive. That hard-top is worth a fortune nowadays, yet used to be the poverty-spec option; if the SAM unit wasn’t so vulnerable and they didn’t leak so badly, they’d be perfect. Still an awesome car and glad to see you being enthusiastic about it. The gearbox ain’t that bad though!

Great script this week. Mat....... the Heather Mills gag had me gasping and slapping my desk.... hilarious! I haven't heard her referenced in years and the dead pan delivery was perfect. You are a talented presenter compared to the usual 'content providers in the RU-vid motoring universe. Keep it up.

Need the Peugeot 407 Coupé review, 2.0 HDI Diesel is just fantastic. Cheers and thanks for the videos as always

Very cool,, All the best from A.J. Arizona USA.. Congratulations on all your success , I recall the first review I watched, Not surprised of your viewership is always on the rise, Thank you for your interesting views and humorous Way we all look at buying, cars.. Kh

I have just seen this on your website about an hour and was surprised that you hadn't filmed with it... but you never let me down! Here I am

Yes! Got the Brabus Roadster coupe with twin roof panels. Gearbox is slow, but it's a pocket rocket given the power to weight.

I had a really nice Brabus Xclusive coupé for a couple of years. It was good fun and pretty quick having been remapped to about 120bhp with an aftermarket filter, ported throttle body and a forge dump valve. Flappy paddles were standard on the Brabus and mine also had a ridiculously expensive V6 Raid steering wheel which transformed the feel of the car. Gear change was actually pretty quick in my car and never bothered me though ride comfort was feckin harsh, akin to driving a skateboard with seats! The expensive monoblock alloys were prone to damage and had me constantly scanning the road for potholes which was tiresome. You are right about the specialist aspect which is a bit of a pita as the nearest to me was 25 miles away. As a result I never found it that cheap to run and hefty bills await even for mundane little jobs due to the access to the mechanicals. The clutch and turbo aren't a cheap fix either. I ran mine alongside a Eunos roadster which I still have. Ultimately the Mazda is a better drivers car, way more reliable and cheaper to maintain.

Glad you are making also other cars than SUVs and executive cars.

Learn and laugh! Great review with loads of useful information!

Good review - Recently bought one and agree with your conclusions. The gearbox is slow, but with practice, you can make reasonably smooth and quick manual changes - which is quite satisfying. The other water leak issue is when when the engine management computer (SAM) gets damaged. It's under the dash on the drivers side and the cars are prone to water leaks through the scuttle. This was one of the expensive warranty claims when new and most cars were re-sealed, but this was never a complete fix and they are getting old now, so something to watch out for.Mine has the canvas electric roof, which I prefer as it can be opened and closed at any speed and takes up less room than the hardtop.

One of my old bosses had a red one of these. He used to drive down from Northumberland to Leeds, stay over two or three nights for work, and then drive back. Must be interesting driving one of those things up and down the A1 for two hours at a time. He also owned a couple of old Discos, quite the contrast.

Well done Matt, great video as usual, you could make a labour politician sound interesting!! 👍👍

I wish they''d stuck with it! The principles of the Smart Roadster are still the way forward - lots of accessible fun in the real world. I've heard McLarens described as a Lotus turned up to 11, but what we actually need is a Lotus turned up to 7...Like this!

The Aldi special buy quip made me smile just as much as the Heather Mills one!

Heather Mills....brilliant! Wiping tea off my keyboard now

if their ever was a car that needed a remap its this one. car has soo much potential

Ahhh I sold my Brabus Coupe this year - drove it for 3 years, had THE most fun in it as a school run car. Sold it for the same money I bought it for. Build quality was not great but the styling on the outside made it a truly interesting and unique car to own. Why they didn't pursue the develop the platform is beyond me, the handling was amazing but the suspension was horrifically hard and speed bumps were something to make my blood run cold. Gearbox on mine was pretty good once you got used to it. Brabus alloys have to be the worst alloys every, as fragile as it gets.

Great review that nearly competes with Twin Cam! Rob

I've got one and they handle superbly.....flappy paddles are a must imo and you get used to gearbox n change gear a little earlier

I have 2 all black smart roadsters at the moment, I'm 18 and they were my first and second cars done about 30k miles between them and its safe to say I love em!

Hi m8 a have just bought myself a yellow smart roadster coupe 2004 one owner, love ❤ 😍 it ,remapped to 116bhp

Brilliant video ...

I recently took my SLK in for a service and the garage gave me a Smart car as a courtesy car. I can honestly say in my 40 plus years of driving it was the most frightening experience I’ve had driving a car . However it did start to grow on me and I can see the appeal of these little cars .

Hi! My dad owns one of these and I love it, so I clicked instantly. No, it would not make a great first car. I have continuously checked my insurance cost for it (before and after passing my test), and with a blackbox I was getting £2.2k - £2.7k, without a blackbox it was £3.2k-£4.6k. Even now, a year after passing my test, I’m looking to pay £2.1k without a blackbox. And trust me, there’s no point in owning one with a blackbox. No Jump starting either, it blows the ECU and it’s about a grand for a new one (don’t ask me how I know). Parts are rare and expensive at times too, so god forbid something goes wrong. First year of owning this car as a youngun would cost you probably around £5k, at least, depending on which model and what condition. But still, there is no car I want more.

I used to own one of these 13 years ago. It was so fun! Wish it had more HP though

Matt - I bought one, off the back of your recommendation. I have a bright red, silver retractable elec. roof version, with removable bars (under 45k miles). Thought my daughter would absolutely love It and the cheap insurance/running costs were a plus. I thought she'd be so excited. Sadly - I was so wrong. She wants a Fiat 500. She says she don't like being so low to the ground. Not happy but will probably give in, but preferably to a Toyota.

Best car channel by far

They do have a cupholder! I own one, good review and agree with other comments :)

Love these types of videos. No rush, but Suzuki Cappuccino next?

great fun to drive (felt like Michael Shoomacher with the flappy paddles), surprisingly practical if you had a coupe - but by god, it was riddled with electrical problems

Mrs has a 2005 Roadster (fabric roof) can open and close that at 80mph. We had a boot bag (off my SL) that made it an everyday tourer. Economical too.

" Heather Mills "🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 A Smart Specialist can play with the chip really smoothing out the hesitant gear changes. Great review thank you 👍

If you do an old skool Twingo, then you'll have covered my 2 favourite small cars

We had a 2000 reg Smart Passion diesel and found it a great fun car. Keep the turbo on low boost and could get 100 mpg - Sheffield to Skegvegas and back on 9 litres. Weston on Donkey and back on a tank. Talk about space, it's a tardis. My Mom used to go to Skeg for a couple of months and packed accordingly. Food, bedding (including pillows), curtains, basic gardening tools, suitcases, pans ..........., it all went in (with some creative packing lol). Only problem we had was when we took it to our local Merc/Smart agent for it's final warranty service. Charged us 2 hours at £75 per hour plus service items. Cost over £200 in 2003 and they didn't know how to service it. Yep, they told us Smart don't do a diesel and the service manager kept telling us we were wrong. It came out rattling like a tin can when we picked it up and they wanted to charge us to see what the problem was. I think you can guess what our reply was. Similar problems when we had a new Skoda. Never used a main dealer since and never will again. Specialists live or die by the quality of their work, main agents don't. Nice videos, keep up the good work.

This was on my list of convertibles to own. FYI, I chose the Tigra Twintop. ● Mazda MX5 ● Smart Roadster ● Merc SLK ● Vauxhall Tigra Twintop ● Renault (can't remember the name - not Megane) ● Ford Street Ka Each had their limitations but the Tigra ticked all the practicality boxes and so far, its lasted me for 14 years. It still runs today. 👍 /Discuss

After driving 1 of the first Smart cars to enter the UK (left hand drive) I would say 12 seconds to change gear is overly generous, plus I found when it did decide to change gear it was so jerky you nearly hit the windscreen when it disengaged a gear, then when it felt like engaging the next gear it would throw your head backwards. I believe the headrest was classed as a safety feature to stop whiplash every time it finally did change up or down a gear. Fun car to drive though.

my friend had one many years ago and it was great fun except for that horrendous gearbox. You are spot on that it just ruins the fun and was the only real let down on an otherwise superb little car. I just couldn't live with the lag in the gearbox on a day to day basis :-(

I persume it's a fantastic car! I owned a 2001 4two smart which is basically same car but squished along it;s length. Brilliant car. And I'd guess they would cost upwards of 40grand if they had a proper snappy manual box instead of that parliament. It takes ages to do a straightforward shift, but god forbid you roll out into a roundabout in third and it starts to debate whether downshift or stay in third when you realize that concrete mixer is going faster than you thought...

I loved these when they launched. But prefer the glassback version. Being 2m tall I can actually fit in it. I always thought these would be a future classic.

Great video matt I wouldn't mind a smart roadster but already got a smart fortwo 2010 and a bmw 730i e65 little and large lol know what you mean about the parked behind a rangerover happens to Me all the time lol

I had one of these when they first came out. Managed to get it sideways on the first corner. Good times

I once installed an alarm/remote start in one, I still remember the pain plus the high door sill digging into my side.

Thank you!

I previously owned the coupe version in blue for 3 years (as my only car). It was the BEST car I've ever owned (and I've had some good ones). I put 35 thousand miles on it and sold it for more than I bought it for! It never needed a single repair in three years just an MOT and servicing (not even tyres as it was so light!). They are so much fun in the corners. I had lots of fun in the peaks district bends and although it's not fast in a straight line it felt faster as you are basically sat on the floor! They can be pretty practical too. I went camping many times and had my mates in it that are well over 6 foot and they were really comfy. Wish I had never sold it.

For no reason at all l love these little cars , just look so cool. As you say ideal for a short commute to work in a city , sorry but l have to say it but Heather Mills will be hopping mad when she watches this vid 😏 yet another great review thanks Matt

A mate of mine had the Brabus Coupe which I loved. He ultimately had to get rid due to an engine fault that nobody, not even Smart could sort! Love the interesting content.

You've got to feature more 2 seat sports cars on the channel. How about the Honda S2000 or a different gen MX5?

My dads gonna buy one when i get my driving license because its affordable and i like how it looks :D 5 years left

“Tectonic plates are faster”.You made my day 😂.

I've had this car for the past two years as my only car. Thankfuly I live alone so I was able to get rid of the passenger seat and use the space as my storage area.