Smart #1 Brabus… an “electric animal” with extra power

We start with numbers. 440 km in a single charge. 428 hp of maximum power. 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds. It’s effectively a compendium of data that shows how the small, not so small, Smart #1 Brabus can scare anyone who isn’t prepared. The car has style, power and results in a lot of excitement!

Smart #1 Brabus: measurements 440, 428, 48,000

Of course, we should have added the almost 50 thousand euros price to the numbers above. But it was already too much to pull on the emotion.

Looking at what Smart has launched to date, we can say that this is Smart #1 Brabus is the small one, the most powerful to date.

The Smart #1 represents the beginning of a radical new era for a company best known for those tiny two-seater city cars that find themselves taking advantage of impossibly small parking spaces.

A few years ago, Smart's original owner Mercedes signed a 50/50 partnership with Chinese car manufacturer Geely to reinvent the brand as an electric car specialist with an entirely new model line-up.

Smart #1 – which is supposed to be called “Smart Hashtag One” – is the first product from the joint venture. As you can see from the photographs, this is not just another small city car. In fact, this electric SUV is a similar size, for example, to the 100% electric Hyundai Kauai and the Jeep Avenger. Of course, this Jeep example immediately changes the modest concept of Smart's past in people's minds, right?

When we drove it, we were surprised by this small four-wheel drive electric SUV, we were often shaken violently by the 422 hp. Yes, the electric is very fast, especially due to its instantaneous torque. But potential buyers shouldn't come here looking for large amounts of dynamic refinement – or even relatively modest amounts of dynamic refinement.

Attention, this is not a critical kick. I had a lot of fun driving the Smart #1 Brabus, and it's hard not to like a car that looks so cool, but also threatens to overturn on dry roads. But it's fair to say that the balance between power and control is definitely not well achieved.

He sins for being similar to his more “humble” brother

The changes compared to the #1 with rear-wheel drive are slight. In addition to the 268 hp rear engine of the smaller car, the Brabus gains another, smaller, 154 hp engine on the front axle. Yes, this is the big news in mechanical terms.

Despite having all this additional power, the Brabus sits on the same 235/45 R19 tires as the rear-wheel drive car. According to Smart engineers, the suspension settings have also been revised just to take into account the extra mass at the front – the base configuration remains smooth and flexible.

Eco-quality rubber has difficulty combining cornering loads with longitudinal acceleration. Corner entry is soft and prone to understeer at low speeds, but the increase in power drastically inverts the chassis balance as rear torque takes control and the rear gains the unmistakable feeling of lightness that indicates imminent oversteer.

At this point – perhaps fortunately – the stability control system intervenes forcefully and more effort is directed forward to try to pull the car forward, leading to more understeer. It's certainly fast, but it's not very elegant.

Other Brabus-specific details are the different design of the alloy wheels and the emblem, as well as as a Brabus driving mode above the usual Sport mode. Calm down, after these truths, I have to say that it is a lot of fun, but it requires you not to lose your reason within the emotion...