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By Jonathan Crouch

The ultimate smart #3 is this one, the BRABUS. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 32

The fastest BRABUS version of the smart #3 offers 422bhp, striking looks and a bespoke-feeling cabin. Whether all that's enough to justify its price and existence will be a very personal decision.

Backgroundword count: 132

BRABUS used to mean something rather different when it came to smart. For years, the German tuner's name was used on top versions of the little fortwo citycar that were hardly any more powerful than the standard models. But then came the Geely takeover of the brand and a new EV era that required the top sporting models to be properly differentiated. Which was when we got the 428hp smart #1 BRABUS. And then, in late 2023, the similarly-powered smart #3 BRABUS model we look at here. That's a pretty substantial power output for a car of this size, so you'd hope that more would have been done here than just simply installing the same potent electric motor. Whether a compact EV really needs to be this powerful is another question entirely.

Driving Experienceword count: 209

The BRABUS badge suggests a bespoke tuner's drivetrain but in fact the powerplant here is simply from the Geely parts bin (already used by the Volvo EX30 Twin Motor model that shares this car's same SEA Chinese-designed platform). The 422bhp dual motor system output of this top smart #3 (and the frantic 3.7s 0-62mph sprint time) are much the same as that Volvo, but the 258 mile EV range figure is a substantial 28 miles less. Thanks to the monstrous 543Nm torque figure, overtakes are of the 'see it and do it' instant variety. But while there's much more poise and cornering traction through the bends than the standard #3 (as you'd expect given this BRABUS model's dual motor system), the handling isn't as tactile as the kind of comparably-priced combustion super hot hatch (like say a Golf R) that Luddites might consider as an alternative. A lot of this is down to extra EV weight, but some of it can additionally be blamed on the slightly lifeless steering. It's also because little work has been done to re-tune the steering and reconfigure the tyres for this top version. To distract you from all this, smart provides an extra fiery 'BRABUS' drive mode and a rortier fake drivetrain note.

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