Not many cars leave me this curious long before I even had the chance to drive them. But the smart #1 did just that. Its refreshing design, zippy performance and a striking coat of matte paint left quite the impact on me.

Despite making a splash on the local automotive scene, smart isn’t one to rest on its laurels, and the #3 was launched in mid September, together with the new smart showroom at the Mercedes-Benz Centre along Alexandra Road. 

Despite the obvious exterior differences, there is much on the inside that both the #1 and #3 share. So how is this new model going to differentiate itself? In a way it does best, which is to leave an impression from the get go.

Similar Bones, Different Clothes

The whole point of an SUV or crossover is its practicality. Which is why I’ve never really understood coupé SUVs/crossovers. You give up a ton of practicality for looks, and, truth be told, many manufacturers don’t even conjure up that good a coupé SUV in the first place

Thankfully, the #3 is actually a rather appealing looking vehicle. To me, it has something to do with the rear-end treatment. Instead of swooping down and disrupting the natural bodylines of the vehicle, the roof is kept in a higher position while still gently tapering down, giving the visual impression of a lower slung styling while still retaining interior headroom. 

As it sports the same design language as the #1 (they are both built atop the same Sustainable Experience Architecture platform), there are undeniably some similarities, between the two cars. However, the #3 is noticeably longer, and also features a more low-slung, perhaps a slightly more aerodynamic look too. The windscreen on the #3 is also more raked, adding to the sleeker overall dimensions.

And if the styling wasn’t eye-catching enough, the paint finish on this press car adds an additional layer of sheen, shine and attention. This colour, called Photon Orange Metallic, has plenty of metallic flakes in the paint, which shimmers not unlike a disco ball in direct sunlight, helping to showcase the various body lines more intently. 

Swathes of Alcantara, and Then Some

If you are familiar with the #1’s interior, you’d feel right at home in this car. It adheres to the new smart design language to a tee. For the ‘Brabus’ edition, you’ll find alcantara on the steering wheel and parts of the seats. It feels excellent in the hand, and has the added benefit of being more heat-resistant than leather or other lesser fabrics.

Unique to the #3 is its semi-bucket seats. There are cutouts on the backrests, which house the #3’s ambient lighting for the second row. When illuminated, it forms an oval shaped halo, adding a glow to the cabin in a variety of colours, all easily configured through the 12.8-inch infotainment screen. This ambient lighting also extends to the 13-speaker Beats sound system, which kept the music constantly thumping throughout my time with the #3. 

The gauge cluster itself is a slim 9.2-inch screen, displaying all information pertaining to driving. This is further complimented by a heads-up display, putting speed, direction and adaptive cruise control information directly in the driver’s line of sight. 

Where the #1 has a fox for the car’s mascot, the #3 has a cheetah instead. Always situated in the bottom left corner of the infotainment screen, double tapping it activates the voice search function. It’s a small touch, but a cute one at that. And should you not want to utilise the native UI, Android Auto and Apple Carplay connect wirelessly and seamlessly. 

It’s Bigger, Yet It’s Faster

The #3 Brabus is a slightly bigger car dimensions wise, but it reaches 100 km/h faster than the #1 does. How fast? Uh, 3.7 seconds, which is 0.1 seconds quicker. Hey, like Dominic Toretto said in The Fast and The Furious, “It don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning’s winning”. Can’t argue with that logic.

The #3 Brabus is powered by a pair of electric motors that drive all four wheels. Power is rated at 422 bhp and 543 Nm of torque, good for a top speed of 180 km/h. A 66 kWh battery pack provides all of the electrons the car needs, with the car accepting DC charges at up to 150 kW. On an AC charger, it’ll take up to 22 kW, and 3 hours to charge up. I tested this personally – with the car plugged in to a DC 150 kW charger, it charged from 20% to 45% in just seven minutes, giving me an additional 90 kilometres of range. All in the time it took me to make a call and get a drink. 

There are four driving modes – Eco, Comfort, Sport, Brabus. Comfort calms the throttle down for city driving, and more oomph can be accessed through the ‘Sport’ and ‘Brabus’ settings. In either of the aforementioned modes, you can utilise Rocket Launch, which is essentially launch control. This primes the car for a single burst of hard acceleration, and it doesn’t taper off until speeds where you’ll lose your licence. Is it gimmicky? Slightly. But is it fun? Very much so. 

The #3 feels more composed in the corners than the #1, perhaps a result of the marginally longer wheelbase. However, there’s little to no difference to the steering feel regardless of the car’s setting, even though you can toggle its steering weight between Light, Medium and Heavy.

The smart Offering To Get

With the #5 already announced and expected to be released in Singapore next year, the smart range is set to expand to three offerings soon enough. But to me, the #3 is the sweet spot in the range, and is the one to get, even if it does have a rather small 370 litre boot, not unlike the #1 (further expandable to 1160 litres with the rear seats down). 

With its youthful designs and bold colour choices, it is obvious which market demographic smart is targeting, and it is my sincere hope that smart will continue down this path of spritely aesthetics and “look at me” colour choices.

The automotive industry could always use that one brand that knows what it wants and isn’t afraid to design its cars to go after it. And it looks safe to say that smart is definitely the brand to do just that, and the #3 is the car that could very well be the key to that whole plan. 

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