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Pros: Fast, fun, upmarket.
Cons: Expensive, small boot, busy touchscreen.
Smart #1 Brabus Design
Smart’s battery powered pocket rocket looks the part with the sportiest styling of the entire #1 range. The trendy crossover is available in a few solid and bi-tone colours including the Brabus-exclusive red roof and black body combo. Aggressive vents spice up the Smart’s cute looks, as does the front splitter with red trim. Sporty 19-inch alloy wheels with red brake calipers peeking through complete the go-faster look. Just like other models in the range, the Brabus gets a charismatic Y-shaped light bar at the front and rear with a special light-up sequence that adds a premium touch.
Smart #1 Brabus Interior
The Smart has an upmarket cabin finish with a strong influence from the brand’s co-owner Mercedes-Benz. The Brabus dials up the heat with gorgeous suede seats with red trim, red seatbelts and an Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel. Other highlights include the 64-colour ambient lighting. A 12.8-inch touchscreen sits in the centre of the dash with quirky graphics and a cute Fox avatar that acts as a personal assistant. There’s a general busyness to the screen with a multitude of different icons and menus to navigate. It’s a colourful system but takes a while to get used to.
Other features include a slim digital driver display, head-up display, Beats sound system, heated front seats with power adjustment, 360 camera, wireless smartphone charging and a panoramic glass roof with powered cover.
The rear seating is surprisingly spacious for such a compact car. Built on a pure electric vehicle platform, there’s plenty of kneeroom and headroom. The rear bench can split fold 60:40 and even slide forward and back to create more boot space. In the standard set up it’s quite small – just 273 litres - though there is a handy underfloor storage space for charging cables and a 15-litre storage compartment under the bonnet.
Smart #1 Brabus Performance & Drive
The Smart #1 Brabus is fast and fun to drive. Using a 66kWh battery to power a motor on both the front and rear axle, the Brabus pushes out 428hp and 584Nm of torque, which is good for 0-100km/h in a blistering 3.9 seconds. The only mechanical update is a sports suspension but it’s taut enough to give the Smart a sense of urgency and athleticism that makes it an absolute hoot to drive. The body control and grip is excellent, while the steering is quick and precise. The Brabus strikes the right balance between sport and comfort, never feeling too brittle or uncomfortable for such a sporty little number. It’s also impressively refined. All in all, it’s a quality car.
Smart quote up to 400 kilometre range (WLTP) for the Brabus, though in real world driving we saw closer to 330-350 kilometres - still respectable for such a high-performance machine. With fast charging ability up to 150kW, you can get back to 80% battery in 30 minutes if you have to stop on the motorway. There's also 22kW AC charging as standard.
Smart #1 Brabus Pricing
The Brabus sits at the very top of the Smart #1 range with a list price of €54,170.
Carzone Verdict
The Smart #1 Brabus is one of the most fun small crossovers on sale. It’s heaving with power and performance, and it looks the part too. It’s an expensive car and it’s not exactly massive but if you’re in the market for something fun and fabulous, then this might be the car for you.