Smart ForFour review

Big brother to the new Smart ForTwo, and first cousin to the new Renault Twingo. The ForFour shares its hard points with Renault’s smartly packaged new city car, and is built at the French firm’s Slovenian plant. Like the Twingo, the ForFour is rear-engined and rear-wheel drive, while powerplants and transmissions are Twingo-spec, too: a 71bhp, 1.0-litre naturally aspirated three-cylinder, and a turbocharged 90bhp, 898cc unit of the same configuration.      

A five-speed manual is standard, with a Renault-sourced six-speed double-clutch transmission to follow. But Smart says 80 per cent of the ForFour’s exterior is unique and non-Renault, along with 30 per cent of the components beneath.