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A Swabian Reverie.(Column)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Byline: Matt Davis
It had already been a surreal two weeks running madly and willingly from Italy to the United Kingdom to Austria and then to Germany for various ungodly good-drive experiences. My eyelids were feeling pasty due to lack of sleep, questionable eating habits and recirculated 737 air. Then the car's handler for this next episode looked at me and said, "Okay, are you ready for your drive?''
Sure. Hand 'em over.
This day's blessing came in the form of a Smart roadster coupe prototype created by Smart and development partner Brabus in 2003. This one has a masterpiece of a V6 engine with bi-turbo breathing assistance-essentially two of the standard 698-cc, three-cylinder turbocharged Smart motors welded together. Add the Brabus fairy dust and it hits 170 hp and a sub-six-second 0-to-60-mph time vs. the standard car's 81 hp and 10.6 seconds. I proceeded to tear it up in this 170-hp version, followed by the 101-hp, for-sale Smart-Brabus Roadster and the stock up-tuned 81-hp car. (There is also a base 60-hp edition for lazy days on the Riviera.)
I'd been summoned to the airfield at Malmsheim, west of Stuttgart. Just to the north over a couple of hills is Porsche's Weissach skunkworks. East of here is the beating heart of the DaimlerChrysler empire, to the southeast are the main Porsche offices, and due south the Smart campus. It seemed, however, that we were in the middle of a farmer's field far away from the bustling global economy.
As I threw the V6 bi-turbo tester left and right, making sure not to starve the engine of its oil, some guy in a 612 Scaglietti rolled up to the airfield course and asked me how long we would be there because he wanted to stretch the Ferrari's legs. "Indefinitely,'' I replied and then relaunched the roadster coupe for more free-run time.
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Source: HighBeam Research, A Swabian Reverie.(Column)(Product/Service Evaluation)