Smart Fortwo Coupe (2015 - 2019) practicality

This is a small, two-seater city car so Smart ForTwo practicality was never going to be anything other than adequate. The car itself has a maximum luggage capacity of 350 litres, but that’s spread around the cabin depending upon how the seats are arranged. You can fold the passenger seat flat, which unlocks maximum load area for longer items such as flat-pack furniture.

We’re not going to tell you the boot on the ForTwo is big. It isn’t. It’s very easily accessible though. We like the split tailgate - there’s a glass hatchback that you lift up, and then a metal tailgate which folds down to provide a flat loading surface into the boot. This ‘lip’ can support up to 100kg, so perching on it to tie your shoelaces shouldn’t pose too much problem for most.

There’s a pull-out tray and double cup-holders in the central console, while there are luggage hooks in the boot and pockets on the doors for maps and such like.

There isn’t a lot else to say really, other than your passenger will be happy with the amount of room he or she has if the seat is folded up.

There are several safety features on board every ForTwo, with plenty more to add either on higher trim levels or through optional extras.

Safety

Standard Smart ForTwo safety equipment includes five airbags, an alarm and immobiliser, a breakdown kit, central locking, automatic hazard warning lights in the event of a crash, crosswind assist (which stops the car veering when a sudden gust hits it), cruise control, automatic door locking, stability control, hill-start assist (to stop you rolling backwards when making off from a hill), ISOFIX child seat lashing point for passenger seat, a seatbelt reminder and a tyre pressure monitor.

Prime and Proxy models also get lane-keeping assist, which warns you if you’re drifting out of your lane without indicating.

Cars with the Premium package get rear parking sensors while the Premium Plus package gets you a rear-view parking camera and automatic lights and wipers.

The ForTwo has been crash-tested head-on against an S-Class, with both vehicles going 50mph, and thanks to the clever safety cell it survived very well indeed. The main structure was intact, the driver’s footwell undamaged and you could even open the driver’s door.

While the above is very impressive, we noted the lack of any sort of low-speed automatic braking system as seen on many new cars (such as the VW up, Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii) so we’re not sure how well the ForTwo will score when tested by Euro NCAP.