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Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
1998. - 2002.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2007.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

2500 mm
1515 mm
1529 mm
150 liters
479 liters
22 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
3433 mm
1630 mm
1423 mm
168 liters
1095 liters
40 liters
1998 Smart City-Coupe
1998 Renault Twingo

Engine

Petrol
3 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
599 cc
70 hp
100 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Renault
1.2 D4F 732
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1149 cc
75 hp
107 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
805 kg
11.7 s
168 km/h
7.6 l/100km
4.8 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
138 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
720 kg
16.9 s
135 km/h
6.3 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
5.1 l/100km
122 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
810 kg
13.3 s
168 km/h
7.6 l/100km
4.8 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
135 g/km

Expenses

600 EUR
Price from
700 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 3-door hatchback body style within the same 'Micro car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Smart and front in the case of the Renault). The first one has a Smart-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 3-cylinder, 6-valves 70hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 75hp engine designed by Renault.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the micro car segment, which is generally a misfortune safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the French car offers a considerable difference of 12% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Smart with an average rating of 3.9, and models under the Renault badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank City-Coupe as average reliability-wise, and Twingo is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.4 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Renault is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 5.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 168 kilometers per hour, 33km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 5.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (55 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 14% difference compared to the French car.


Verdict

Renault is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the French car offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. It all continues in the same direction, with Renault outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Renault. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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