Under the elongated elegant bonnet, the cabriolet shelters a 3.5 - liter V8, coupled with a 4 - speed floor - mounted automatic gearbox that would proudly keep it on
the road at decent speeds even compared to today's standards.
Not exact matches
Despite turbocharging, the Smart's throttle response is
decent and the outright performance feels perfectly respectable
at normal
road speeds.
Furthermore, the
road noise seeps into the cabin
at high
speeds and rides quality is
decent.
However ride quality is good on
decent roads and the EcoSport remains well composed
at high
speeds too.
Steering is nicely weighted
at speed, with a progressive, predictable turn - in rate and a
decent amount of communication from the
road, even if it feels a little dead on - center.
The light class which is really good
at hugging the
road and handling rough terrain (think a dune buggy), the medium class which would be similar to a stereotypical race car which grips the
road well, and has a
decent amount of
speed and acceleration, and finally the heavy class which it lacks in suspension and acceleration but makes up for it in
speed and grip.