Smart Forfour

Smart Forfour at a glance

Both generations are listed in our Smart catalogue. The Forfour always sat next to the two-seat Fortwo, and the second generation shared most of its design with it.

Generations

First generation: W454 (2004-2006)

The first Forfour was built by NedCar in the Netherlands together with Mitsubishi and shared almost all of its components, including the chassis, suspension and MIVEC engines, with the 2003 Mitsubishi Colt. Customers could choose a five-speed manual or a six-speed automated manual called Softouch on most engines. ADAC's catalogue lists it from 2004 to 2007, reflecting the last cars on sale. Daimler dropped it in 2006 after slow sales, and the Forfour name was absent for eight years.

Second generation: W453 (2014-2021)

The second Forfour was co-developed with Renault and shares roughly 70 percent of its parts with the third-generation Renault Twingo. Unlike the first car, it has its engine under the boot floor and drives the rear wheels, and it keeps Smart's Tridion steel safety cell. ADAC lists the first versions from November 2014. Daimler ended petrol production in 2019 when all Smart combustion models were withdrawn, and the electric EQ forfour remained in production until 2021. After Geely became an equal partner in Smart in 2019, the larger electric Smart #1 crossover became the Forfour's successor.

Engines, transmissions and performance

W454 engines

The 1.0 and the Brabus came with a manual gearbox only. ADAC also lists a short-lived 1.5 "edition sportstyle" with 90 kW (122 PS) in 2004-2005.

W453 engines

All W453 petrol models were available with a five-speed manual or the six-speed twinamic dual-clutch transmission. The electric car uses a single-speed reduction gear.

Electric drive and EQ forfour

Smart started series production of the forfour electric drive in 2017 at Renault's Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia. Its 60 kW (82 PS) motor sits at the rear, and the 17.6 kWh battery (16.7 kWh usable, according to ADAC) gives an official range of 160 km on the old NEDC cycle and about 130 km on WLTP. In Autocar's real-world test it managed 109 km. In 2019 the car was facelifted and renamed EQ forfour.

ADAC's data for the facelifted EQ forfour (2020-2021) show 17.9 kWh/100 km, a top speed of 130 km/h and a kerb weight of 1,200 kg, about 225 kg more than the petrol car. Charging took around 7 hours at a household socket (2.3 kW) and about one hour with the optional 22 kW three-phase charger. Of the 248,856 W453 Forfours built, 32,326 were electric. The car is also listed in our electric cars section.

Dimensions, space and boot (W453)

With its short body and rear engine, the W453 has an 8.7 m turning circle, tight for a five-door car. The price is a small boot: 185 litres with the rear seats in use. The size comparison tool shows how it compares with other city cars.

Fuel economy and running costs

For the W453 0.9 turbo with a manual gearbox, ADAC lists WLTP combined consumption of 5.9 l/100 km and 133 g/km CO2. The W454's official combined figures ranged from 5.8 l/100 km for the 1.5 CDI diesels to 7.8 l/100 km for the 1.5 petrol.

Trims and prices

German list prices according to ADAC:

W453 trims were named passion, prime, proxy, perfect and later BRABUS Style; W454 trims were pure, pulse and passion.

Safety

Euro NCAP tested the W453 Forfour in late 2014 and awarded four stars (ADAC records the test date as 12/2014). For the W454, the source data cover only the Australian ANCAP test of 2003, which gave 11.99 of 16 points in the frontal offset test and 12.84 of 16 in the side impact test, with poor pedestrian protection; stability control was standard.

Reliability and known issues

ADAC's breakdown statistics for the W453 range from 26.6 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles for 2016 registrations to 20.4 for 2019 cars. The main recorded causes were the starter motor (2016), the alternator (2016-2017), the 12-volt starter battery (2016-2020) and the ignition lock (2016-2019). For 2021 cars, almost all of them electric, ADAC records 4.8 breakdowns per 1,000.

Rivals

The W453 competed with its own twin, the Renault Twingo, and with five-door city cars such as the Volkswagen up!, Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Fiat Panda and Toyota Aygo. The electric versions met the Volkswagen e-up! and Renault Twingo Electric. The comparison tool lines up their specifications.