22 June 2009 - 11:00
Smart ED: now with more noise
Smart has today announced that it will put the all-electric ForTwo into limited production in the UK, with the first cars reaching the road early next year.
If they've managed to sort out the range problems - when we road-tested the ED, despite a quoted 60 mile range, it ran out of battery after less than 30 miles - this could be good news: unlike most all-electric city cars (obviously we're naming no names here), the Smart has airbags. And ABS. And an actual safety cell. So you're not risking your nearest and dearest on every morning school run.
Because it's all-electric, the ED emits no carbon dioxide, monoxide or, er, anything at all, in fact (at least not directly, though of course it depends where you're getting your electricity from), and Smart says it will manage the equivalent of 300mpg.
It's not as painfully slow as most electric vehicles, either - the ED will hit 30mph in 6.5 seconds, which is just about tolerable for city driving.
But here's the problem. It's silent. That's what electric vehicles do, y'see. Enter Brabus, the Mercedes tuning firm which has just unveiled this, a blinged-up version of the ED... featuring a ‘noise generator'.
Yes, flick the under-dash switch and the Smart will impersonate a muscle car, a standard petrol ForTwo (can't see why you'd do that, but still), or just about any other vehicle you'd like it to mimic, from an external loudspeaker mounted at the front of the car.
As we've said before, we want ours to sound like a Star Wars Tie Fighter. What noise do you want from yours?
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A F1 car!! Yeah!! You didn't expect that noise coming out of a smart now didn't you?!
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er... no thanks. electric cars are terrible. full stop
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Ha! The TIE fighter scream would be epic.
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A jet engine noise would do nicely.
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I know what it could play... Bon Jovi - Livin On A Prayer You would actually fall over laughing.
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That's a stupid clown car, even by both Smart's AND Brabus's standards combined. And isn't putting a V8 noise on it like fitting a huge exhaust to a pathetic 1.1 Euro-hatch? That said, the- well, I hesitate to say song, but the one that goes "Mooove b1tch! Get out the way! Get out the way! Get out the way!" would go with this silliness just fine. And why on Earth is it coloured like soap?
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What a piece of tat. A useless p.o.s with a p.o.s electric motor and a p.o.s speaker for those with small man syndrome. I normally respect Brabus, but for this they deserve a fine so big it would blast them off the face of the earth.
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I want it to sound like a spitfire. Make my ears feel good all the time.
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"Get out of the way Peasants!" on a loop would probably do for most Merc drivers. Personally I'd go with a selection of scifi sounds (Warp Swoosh for example) and only use them when driving in residential areas - gets pedestrians to spot you quick enough.
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hahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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A police/fire/ambulnce siren, its so small people cant see it so will get out the way!
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I want mine to sound like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSJ-HzNWJGM&feature=PlayList&p=DFD5C3D44CDA9066&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=42
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moonkeh commented on this article
22 June 2009
I'd play the Benny Hill theme.
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