Issue 5
December 2005
the columns that support thesmartclub web site ... be part of the world's largest club for all things smart
Welcome to the 5th Issue of our newsletter, 4site. I am delighted to see that as Membership of thesmartclub continues to grow, our September 2005 issue of 4site attracted over 22,000 downloads in addition to those people viewing the HTML version online. My thank you to everyone for their continued support and interest in thesmartclub - I am sure you all know that we are also UK's second largest car club1 of any automotive manufacturer! 2005 has been an immensely busy year for everyone involved in running thesmartclub and although we had to postpone our 2005 Track and Drive day, the number of local, national and international events organised throughout the year has meant a constant stream of planning, logistics and reviews to ensure we can provide even more facilities, events and attractions next year. The launch of our new MessageBoard service in July has proved a great move and in the middle of the year we launched a brand new service for our Dealerships and Advertisers - this new 'Always On' service provides participating companies with their own dedicated area of our web site where they can upload details of cars and or events, promotions or special offers directly on to our site. It is available 24 hours/day, 7 days per week and the number of participating companies is quickly growing. 2006 will see us launch an additional range of online services designed to bring you the very latest news from the world of smart - we will also be launching a number of additional technical and specialist areas where you can have direct access to the subject matter you seek with minimal effort but maximum effectiveness. More on this early in 2006. I hope you find the content of this issue of 4site equally inspiring and on behalf of everyone involved with thesmartclub, I wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous and smart filled 2006. Al Young Chairman & Managing Director thesmartclub Ltd In this issue you have a 4site into:
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A Message from Anders Sundt Jensen, Vice President Marketing and Sales, smart GmbH Review of 2005 Major Events • London to Brighton • Brabus Bottrop visit (article by Mike Baguley) Forthcoming 2006 Events • Hambach 2006 • Austria 2006 • Trackand Drive Day • London to Brighton News & Information • Membership statistics - who has what • smart of Hertford • smarts-R-us • Smart Parts Direct • New Photo Gallery Service to launch • Full Monte Carlo Rally Report thesmartclub Insurance Scheme Our Privilege Card Scheme New Online Shop
FEATURE Message to thesmartclub from Anders Sundt Jensen Vice President Marketing & Sales, smart GmbH Dear members of thesmartclub, When I was asked to write some words for thesmartclub newsletter I wondered which topic may be the most interesting to write about. Enthusiasm about the smart brand would be an inexhaustible one. Or could the astonishing engagement of all members on the island across the channel be my topic? At last it was easy: it´s a "Cheers!" to all members. Why? In June we had a smart club meeting in Stuttgart and on the spot far from his Scottish home I met Al, you all know as the Chairman of thesmartclub. Al told me about thesmartclub, the 22.000 members and left me with my mouth wide open. I was totally astonished. The many smartclub events – especially the London-to-Brighton-Run - are awesome. Also your participation in the Rallye Monte Carlo event was raised and that story carried me along. I told my friends and some colleagues at DaimlerChrysler and got some backslapping and compliments. Mercedes-Benz is more than 100 years ahead in history and has many enthusiasts. But fans like you are contributing largely to turn smart into a success story of its own and to get smart into the people's hearts. Thus all the compliments from my colleagues belong to you – thesmartclub members with un-resting energy for their favourite brand smart. Thank you. It will be a pleasure to have you with us all along! We – smart – and you – via thesmartclub - will stay in close contact and I am sure that we will meet again. Keep it up! That is my message to you. You are a great crew with an outstanding dedication to the brand smart. We at smart wish you a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year! Sincerely Yours Anders Sundt Jensen
MAJOR EVENT REVIEW London to Brighton 2005 Our thanks to everyone involved with the 2005 London to Brighton run which again saw over 1000 smart cars arriving at the finish venue, Brighton Racecourse on September 25th 2005. The weather held good and with a great turn-out from third party traders and suppliers plus a range of attractions provided by DaimlerChryslerUK, the feedback we have received following the event has been the most enthusiastic yet. Early in 2006 we will be publishing an online questionnaire seeking your input on the format for the 2006 London to Brighton event and at that time, we'll also advise the confirmed date for the 2006 run.
Smart-Brabus Technology Centre Visit or High-tech Cars and Half Term (report by Mike Baguley) After many months of planning and the trip having been postponed once already behind the scenes, it was a very excited bunch of people who gathered at the Travel Inn Ashford in late October in readiness for ‘thesmartclub’ trip to Bottrop in Germany and the smart-Brabus Technology Centre. Most of the group arrived at Ashford during the early evening of Saturday 23rd October and for some, it was an opportunity to clean their car again. Geoff Walker’s fortwo gleamed, surrounded by suds……… no wonder!, he used Travel Inn shower gel in his borrowed bucket of water! After an evening in the adjacent French Connection restaurant, the group retired, but not before admiring Alan Manton’s transport for the trip. A smart you would have thought ....wrong! A Honda Goldwing, resplendent with silver ‘Brabus 2005’ stickers! Sunday morning dawned, dull and foggy. The car park was lit with the lights of a dozen smarts, fortwos, roadsters and a couple of forfours, drivers and passengers preparing for the journey ahead. Just after 7:30 am, the group with motorcycle outrider, headed for the Eurotunnel Terminal at Folkestone. Despite it being half term school holidays, the traffic was fairly light and the journey to the terminal was completed ahead of schedule. All of the group cleared check-in, passport control and security and loaded onto the earlier train for the tunnel, bar one!!! Jenny and Roger Broom attracted the attention of the security staff and had their car searched for controlled substances. Alas the delay meant Roger and Jenny were loaded onto the following train….. For some of the group, this was their first trip through the channel tunnel, a marvel of modern engineering and a great way to avoid the vagaries of the autumn weather conditions in the English Channel!! Graham, Bubski to his friends, appeared most impressed. Once disembarked the group took a short break at the petrol station just after the exit form the tunnel, whilst Jenny and Rog caught up. We were heading for Dunkerque and the first decent service area for a breakfast halt. Replete with breakfast the group headed through Belgium towards Holland and hopefully a rendezvous with Fergus Hannah who had sailed from Hull and Jari and Annukka who were joining us en route from Holland. Jari cruised into a service area just outside of Eindhoven and joined the group. Fergus on the other hand was uncontactable and there was considerable concern over whether he had made his ferry. The convoy (okay Jenny, Tube), made reasonable progress and arrived in Bottrop in the late afternoon. The group parked up in the underground car park and made their way to reception. Any concerns over Fergus soon evaporated when he was spotted in the bar, with Ernie and Shona, tucking into a generous lunch and a fine German beer! If you have ever attended a Hambach or Trackday event, you will know Al Young always takes the opportunity to give a little speech on these occasions, updating members on progress with the club and forthcoming events and features. In the case of the Brabus trip, he was unable to attend and I had joked with him for some time that he should provide a speech for me to read on his behalf. So imagine my surprise when a four page fax arrived at the hotel on the Sunday evening from Al Young!!! Yep, he never misses an opportunity. I delivered his speech before the excellent dinner at the Courtyard Hotel. After dinner the group relaxed in the hotel lounge and waited for the arrival of Paul Maskens, aka Wombat, who was joining us from Hockenheim, where he had enjoyed a weekend of DTM motor racing. It was at this point we had a call from Paul saying he would not make it as the car had broken down and would not start. Then, just when we were cancelling his accommodation, another call to say he was actually on his way. On this occasion, smart were not to blame, it was Angie’s brand new Peugeot giving them grief!!
The accommodation at the Courtyard Bottrop was excellent with well appointed comfortable rooms, a good restaurant and the all important wireless internet access. Breakfast in the hotel catered for all tastes with both typical cooked food and the more traditional continental style food. At 8:30 am the group assembled outside the hotel for the short drive to Brabus, less than ten minutes from the hotel. We turned off the main road and saw the familiar Brabus complex and pulled into the car park. This unfortunately was a bit of a mistake, as the all new smart-Brabus Technology Centre is a couple of miles further down the road! Redirected by the staff we arrived outside the very impressive new facility and were greeted by Christian Kink who was to look after us during our stay. The smart-Brabus facility is substantial, featuring a very large showroom and reception displaying a range of modified and bespoke Brabus smarts, offices for design and logistics, workshops, cleaning bays, a large warehouse and rolling roads and test beds for engines. Christian started our tour with a warm welcome to members of thesmartclub and gave an introduction to smart-Brabus, covering the recent history and availability of exclusive Brabus cars via smart dealers across Europe. We then moved upstairs to the offices, where marketing, logistics and design are based. Christian passed us over to one of the designers at Brabus who gave a very interesting talk on the computer aided design techniques used, together with on screen demonstrations of how they design parts and build the cars in 3D before starting with the real thing. Our tour continued with visits to the workshops, warehouse, dyno rooms and rolling road, before what for many was the highlight on the trip, stepping into a room full of Brabus Roadster V6 models and one or two other very special cars. It was no surprise to see Wombat camera at the ready, all over and under the cars! Of the ten Roadster V6 cars build, four remain in Bottrop with the other six kept at Boblingen, where the head office of smart is located. The group were able to view and indeed sit in the V6 roadsters, a rare treat for a smart enthusiast. Also located in this room was a bright yellow roadster coupe, which at first glance looked like a fairly standard Brabus model. Closer examination revealed all round disc brakes and remarkably a conventional gear lever! This car is a one off manual roadster with a smart forfour manual gearbox mated onto the standard smart 700cc engine. Alas with the announcement of the end of roadster production, this car will remain unique. The other car located in this room causing a great deal of excitement, particularly for Tony Williams, was a rather special forfour. Stripped out in the style of a rally car with full roll cage, Recaro seats and a huge bonnet mounted intercooler scoop. Whilst we were able to view the car, we were asked not to publish any photographs on the web site. All became clear when this car was launched as a Brabus concept car at the Essen Motor Show some weeks later. At midday we returned to the heart of Bottrop and a typical Bavarian restaurant for an excellent lunch. During lunch I heard all about the Brabus sound upgrade for the roadster, including footwell mounted sub, A pillar tweeters and amp mounted behind the passenger seat. Christian had fitted this to his own car, a DIY job taking just two hours! Naturally when offered a lift back in his car, it was a chance not to miss. Given the kit is designed specifically for the car, it was to say the least stunning. However, the price is expensive, but I would suggest worth it for a purpose made kit matched to the car. On returning to Brabus we visited the original site, which the club first visited in 2002. This site is exclusively for Mercedes, with a small side showroom for Chrysler products under the Startech banner. The main showroom gleams with what must be millions of pounds of superb cars, including a Mercedes McLaren SLR!! Our tour on this site took us firstly to the workshops, where customers cars were serviced alongside the build of bespoke models. As we walked into the huge glass atrium, there was a look of surprise on a number of faces to see large numbers of Japanese 4x4’s being worked on. Under its CRD GmbH banner, (Car Research and Development), a service similar to that provided for Mercedes and Chrysler is provided for models from Kia and Hyundai, producing batches of cars with superb interior, exterior and performance modifications. Of considerable interest was the engine shop, where brand new Mercedes engines were stripped to the bare engine block and re-machined to larger capacities and given huge performance increases, ready to go back into the revamped cars. After touring the remaining Mercedes facilities, we moved around the building to the Startech showroom to see a range of highly modified Chrysler vehicles. At this point we did risk loosing one or two smart owners to the Chrysler brand, as the Brabus (Startech) version of the Chrysler Crossfire was actually cheaper than the equivalent Brabus roadster!!! Having completed the tour of both smart-Brabus Technology Centre and the main Brabus facility, all that remained was to
visit the Brabus shop in the main showroom, where many, including myself purchased from the excellent range of clothes and merchandise on sale. Over dinner the group buzzed with excitement following the trip and judging by the feedback, thoroughly enjoyed the day at Brabus. With the formal part of the trip completed, some prepared to return home on the Tuesday, whilst others took advantage of some extra days in Germany shopping and sightseeing. As ever, thesmartclub, is very grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality extended by Brabus, smart-Brabus and the Courtyard Hotel in Bottrop and looks forward to taking them up on the offer of another visit soon. To the members who attended the trip, my thanks for supporting this event and your great company.
Mike Baguley Major Events Coordinator thesmartclub ltd
Forthcoming 2006 Events Hambach 2006 Planning for next year's visit to the heart of smart in Hambach France is already underway and dates are likely to be midend May 2006. As with all previous years, the trip will be a total packaged solution providing you with UK accommodation (where required) prior to departure, cross channel ferry, accommodation in Saarbrucken, factory visit and tour, full comprehensive Road Books for the complete return journey and much more. Application forms are likely to launch in January 2006 as soon as we have dates and logistics finalised with Hambach, France. As ever, it's a trip that is sure to be popular, over-booked and great fun ... we already have around half the people who went in 2005 expressing an interest to return in 2006! We'll post details as they are known and you can be certain that you will have ample advance notice of any application forms going live.
smart of Austria (previously Klagenfurt) meeting DATE and VENUE change NEW DATES: 25th to 27th August 2006 As mentioned in our August issue of 4site, the annual European major smart Event, organised by smart of Austria, is scheduled to take place in August 2006. New dates have been chosen for this event and the venue will no longer be Klagenfurt, Austria. Details of the new location will be published January 2006. The Event is commercially run by 'smart of Austria' and involves dozens of smart car clubs from across Europe travelling to Austria for a long weekend of highly professionally organised fun, driving, partying and a bunch of smart related activities. Like many other European clubs, thesmartclub is pulling together a 2006 package to visit this Event although thesmartclub package includes a number of additional nights and attractions. We are working closely with the organisers and you can be certain that this will be a meeting and smart experience not to be missed.
DATES
The 2006 Event is scheduled to take place August 25th to August 27th 2006 and we'll be one of over 20 car clubs attending.
EVENT FORMAT A fully integrated range of online booking facilities will be made available early next year and you can find initial details about thesmartclub's total package in our August 2005 newsletter. We have just returned from a research trip for this event and now have Hotels organised for the journey to and from the smart of Austria meeting. In addition, and as summarised earlier, thesmartclub total package will provide additional nights accommodation, features and attractions prior to and post the smart of Austria meeting - a total of seven nights accommodation for the full event. Details of the Event itself will be published in January 2006 with online booking forms being live first quarter 2006.
TrackDay 2006 We are already looking forward to hosting another Track and Drive Day at Bruntingthorpe Proving ground, Leicestershire, UK. To those of you unfamiliar with this Event, it offers you and your smart the chance to experience a number of driving experiences utilising the tight handling area of the circuit in addition to a full 2 mile runway to maximise your speed on this straight. The event is open ONLY to smart cars and only to thesmartclub ltd - as such we have the full venue for the entire day and it's a great chance to participate in non competitive open lapping sessions without the fear of hidden speed cameras. Full details will be published early in 2006 along with online application forms.
London to Brighton 2006 We'll be publishing the date for this Event early in January along with launching an online form to gather some input from you.
NEWS & INFORMATION Membership information - who is who and who has what .... From time to time, there are a number of polls running on thesmartclub MessageBoard regarding models of smart, colours, age of drivers and more. We thought it would be interesting to trawl our Membership database and pull together some high level statistics and charts to provide you with an overview of some key pieces of information - at least you could always use some of the data in a New year trivia quiz if nothing else! When Members join thesmartclub we make the majority of information on the Application Form optional and as such, the statistical percentages shown below are based on answers supplied for each of the categories. Please note that as with all content of thesmartclub ltd and '4site', this information is the intellectual property of thesmartclub ltd and subject to copyright. No material may be reproduced or extracted without the prior consent of thesmartclub ltd. For details of our Privacy statement see our homepage at www.thesmartclub.com. For contact details, select the 'Contact Us' menu option from our homepage.
Sex of owner Firstly, let's look at the Male/Female split for owners - there has long been a perception that it's a 50/50 split but our Membership data reflects a slightly different picture
Age of owner This is a key bit of information especially when one looks at some of the generic smart Marketing material that is being used, some of which is targeted at the younger end of the age spectrum. Again, our Membership data shows that the 18 to 25 year old segment only accounts for 18% of our owners:
Model of smart The following data is extracted from our Membership database and taken from the declared ownership information at the time of applying for Membership of thesmartclub.
Estimated Annual Mileage We have analysed the estimated mileages Members state at the time of application - although these can be provided in either miles or kilometres, we have converted the latter to provide a combined estimate shown below:
Panel Colours Finally we have analysed the colours of panels on your smart cars. Including all models of smart, the following colours are the most popular:
smart of Hertford SIMON SAYS GIVE SMART A TRY After two years' paternity leave, it's something else that is cute, small and full of fun that has tempted Simon Whitby back into the motor industry! Simon has been appointed sales specialist at smart of Hertford, where he is being reunited with the iconic brand he helped to launch five years ago. The 32-year-old, who has more than 10 years' motor industry experience, has made a welcome return to the showroom after taking time out from his career to care for his son Jake, who is now 20-months-old. And he is no stranger to the smart brand having worked at one of the UK's first retail centres when the first left-hand drive models arrived in 2000. "I was based at the Snowdome in Milton Keynes and, because the smart concept had not been seen before, I spent most of my time changing panels on the cars and taking shoppers for test drives," recalled Simon, who has also worked for Peugeot and MINI. "Back then, people only paid lip service to smart but it's taken much more seriously now," he added. "I've watched its progress with interest, kept up-to-date with developments and test driven new models such as the roadster and forfour when they were launched. "I suppose I've always been a smart enthusiast at heart, so this is a great opportunity to work with a product that I
genuinely believe in." Visitors to smart of Hertford are assured of greater levels of service and support when they visit the Foxholes Business Park site, which the retailer shares with its sister Mercedes-Benz operation. That's because Simon's colleagues from the Mercedes-Benz of Hertford sales team can also assist with smart enquiries as well as those relating to models bearing the famous three-pointed star. Simon concluded: "I'm delighted to be working as part of such an experienced team and I'm looking forward to playing my part in developing the business and raising awareness about the smart range throughout Hertfordshire." For further information please contact: Heidi Thorpe, Regional Marketing Executive, smart of Hertford Tel: 01992 514444
Smarts-R-Us Smarts-R-us are proud to announce the opening of a new site to cater for Smart owners living in the South east of England. Smarts-R-us 2 is located in the beautiful village of Box in Wiltshire which is conveniently situated 6 miles from Bath and therefore close to the M4 and M5 arterial roads. A wide range of services will be offered by the new branch which is being operated by the lovely Kate Wallis with Gavin Wylde as head technician. As well as a comprehensive stock of tuning parts and accessories, Smarts-R-us2 will mirror Smarts-R-us in Nottingham by having a courtesy Smart available for service customers. Servicing will be to warrantee standard although expect big savings over main dealer prices. Smart Club Privilege Card holders will be entitled to a 10% discount on tuning and servicing and servicing will commence on 3rd Jan 2006. For further information please call Kate on 01225 743625 or send an email to sales@smartsrus2.com Smarts-R-us2 is currently building it's own website www.smartsrus2.com which will keep you up to date with it's services and stock of smart cars. See you in the New Year, SRUS team.
Smart Parts Direct Smart-Parts-Direct offer genuine smart parts at reduced prices. We have many parts in stock, and can get most other things within 14 days. In exceptional cases upmarket part versions are made available at reduced price to fill a gap, e.g. Roadster top instruments. We cannot deal with body panels, since shipping costs and storage are too difficult. We have introduced a number of aftermarket parts, to improve the range. We are competitive in the extreme. We have had to explain, to other traders, how we cannot reduce prices for them, since we have adopted the innovative approach to sell to the public at, or below, considered "trade". We have some products which are unavailable in UK from any other source. Thanks to all our customers in just 6 months of 2005. If you've not been a customer, we will be delighted to serve you. We wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all
New Photo Gallery Service to launch We are pleased to announce the forthcoming launch of a photo gallery service for thesmartclub ltd. This dedicated are of our site will launch late January 2006 and will provide a range of professionally taken photographs from local, national and international Events and smart meetings. Low resolution images will be able to be downloaded free of charge and professional prints can be ordered directly from thesmartclub if required. An upload facility will also be offered for consideration for inclusion in this online service. More details early in January 2006
New smart Centres to our Dealer Car Schemes We are delighted to advise that smart of Ipswich have joined our Dealer Car Advertising Scheme. This 'Always On' service allows Dealerships to constantly update their car listings and also bring you news and information about special events, weekends and offers. In addition, we welcome B-smart of Milton Keynes, Smartarse Design Ltd and Wellsmart Ltd to our growing range of advertisers and supporting companies ensuring that our Members and Visitors have access to the widest range of smart related services and products.
Monte Carlo Sports Car Challenge - Full Rally Report Background The decision was taken to enter our smart Roadster for the 2005 Monte Carlo Sports Challenge – a 2000km, 4 day event starting on 17th September that would start and finish in Reims, France looping through the Alps to Monaco and including a stage on Europe’s highest road. The rally regulations indicated that the event was open to an impressive range of cars namely: • • • • •
Non-production sports cars built as a one off, historic low volume sports cars and specials sports cars supplied by a manufacturer in component form for self-assembly period sports cars and replicas and, importantly production sports cars supplied by a manufacturer. This latter category included cars such as TVR, Lotus, Vauxhall VX220, Marcos, Scimitar, Morgan and the Smart Roadster. Entering our Roadster seemed a fitting celebration of thesmartclub’s 5th Anniversary, five years of the smart brand in the UK and an equally fitting tribute to the car given the decision taken earlier this year to cease Roadster production at the end of 2005. The plan was to aim for at least a finish (!) and show to spectators and other competitors that the Roadster really is a capable sports car. All cars entered for the rally were grouped into classes based on engine capacity with cars up to 1000cc in Class A, running up to Class E for cars with engine capacity over 2000cc – this included an entry from a 5.7 litre V8 Cobra! Out the forty-two entries, the average engine capacity for the entire field was just under 1900cc and as such, we knew that at 699 turbo charged smart Roadster had its work cut out if it was to both finish and get a meaningful result.
Out the eight cars comprising Class A, Richard Winter (Europe Engineering) had entered their Brabus Roadster Coupe co-driven by Nick Pakes and John Reeve entered his Roadster Coupe co-driven by Howard Blackwell, everyone with significant motor sport experience.
Preparation First, there was the car to sort out – a number of event regulations meant some safety changes to the car and I took the decision that it was better to ensure that we had a car that not only complied with all the regulations but exceeded them in some areas thus ensuring that, should we ever decide to enter the car for any other event, 99% of the work had been done. Some initial work had already been done on the car with revised Bilstein suspension being supplied through smarts-R-us and the brakes had been replaced with grooved EBC discs and competition pads. A battery isolator switch then had to be fitted and rather than use the more conventional mechanical switch (which uses space and high current cables to and from the switch, we installed a digital isolator system from Armtech Motorsport – this allowed a small push button to be fitted externally in front of the windscreen and two (go/stop) switches to be installed within the driver/passenger compartment. The isolator unit was mounted on a bespoke bracket and the battery rotated through 180 degrees to minimise cable runs. Next the car went to smart of Milton Keynes – here the car was effectively stripped back, seals and welds checked and sorted where relevant and the digital isolator wiring completed. A Brantz Laser3 trip computer was installed and although the feed for these units is normally taken from a wheel sensor, an alternative circuit was installed which took the pulses from the speed sensor feed to the rear of the radio in the smart – at the same time the radio unit itself was replaced with a smart satellite navigation system. The team at smart Milton Keynes were already doing a superb job on the car and the time, effort and skills they displayed in providing some superb and innovative solutions to a range of technical challenges had to be seen to be believed. Next were the seats – the car, as standard had full heated leather seats with airbags etc and whilst this may seem the ideal solution for cold Alpine roads, they did not lend themselves to an ideal setup for the twisting fast hairpins that we were sure to encounter. As such, it was back to smarts-R-us who, liaising with Michelak Design in Germany, were able to supply is with a set of Recaro seats and mounts – these seats not only provided the support and safety we required but also ensured that the full Sparco competition harness could be fed through the relevant places in the seats. A range of discussions between Brabus Germany, smarts-R-Us and smart of Milton Keynes then ensured that the rear harness points were fitted according to FIA regulations and the car was now reaching its final phase of preparation. A Lifeline fire extinguishing system was installed, a small change made to the engine management software and smart of Milton Keynes designed and installed a revised storage bin in the front of the Roadster – this latter item not only provided a range of pockets and storage areas but a cut-away section was provided to enable instant access to the brake fluid reservoir. Now completed, the car was ready for testing and calibration of the Brantz trip computer. This process required the use of a measured mile or half mile – although these were common sights many years ago, it had been some time since I had seen one in the Edinburgh area so I decided to email Lothian and Borders Police and seek their help (assuring them that it was for calibration, not speed purposes…). It is a credit to them that I received a response in less than one hour not only advising me of a suitable testing location but even offering me the use of a police escort during this process! A genuine thank you to all involved.
The Event I decided that we would trailer our Roadster to the start venue in Reims and leave the main car and trailer at the finish hotel – this meant that in the event of mechanical breakdown or other similar disaster, we only needed to recover the car back to Reims rather than the UK. The start venue in Reims on the Friday night saw the car going through scrutineering followed by signing-on. We were delighted to see that we had been given number 1 as our competition number – all good from a PR perspective but it did mean that we would be the first car to leave the start of Stage 1 in Reims at a cold and dark 0701hrs on Saturday morning. A drivers briefing on the Friday night was followed by the issuing of our 156 page road books – a mass of tulip diagrams, distances, target times and more. Day 1 – 551km – 14 stages As predicted, it was cold and dark and we were the first car to leave at 0701hrs – Day1, Stage 1 and no idea what lay ahead. The first couple of stages took us to the wonderful old motor racing circuit at Reims and, unusually, this was followed by a timed hill climb – a target time of 2 minutes to complete the hill which we did in around 1 minute 51 seconds. The remaining stages on day 1 seemed fairly straight forward with quick long tarmac sections and not too much in the way of treacherous mountain roads. the overnight halt at the end of day one saw us in, a sleepy French town now buzzing with the arrival of the cars into the secure parking area which was hosted by a French motor club who specialised in old cars and motor bikes. This club could not have been more hospitable to the competitors – not only did they have full garage facilities made available to us (which were use by some competitors until 2am, but they also provided champagne, wine, cheese and nibbles for those fortunate enough to have minimal remedial work to carry out on their cars after the first day. We were advised that we were lying 1st in Class and an impressive 5th overall. Day 2 – 600km – 14 stages The route took us from St Claude up through the Alps and down in to Nice. This was a very different day from day 1 with single track mountain roads that were a series of hairpins with equally impressive vertical drops off either side. Although out-powered by some of the highly impressive Caterhams, the Roadster’s cornering capabilities were proving their worth and we continued to return good stage times throughout the day. It was 12 hour day of hard and high revving driving working the engine hard to remain competitive but it was worth the effort with us retaining our lead in Class A and retaining 5th overall at the overnight halt in Nice. Day 3 – 475 km – 12 stages Everyone was looking forward to this section of the event – Departing from Nice we would head to Monaco and complete the full Monaco Grand Prix circuit loop before heading back up into the Alps to the overnight halt in Aix Les Bains. The plan was good but unfortunately the Monaco International Yacht Show was also being prepared and the centre of Monaco had ground to a standstill – very scenic and picturesque but not good when one is losing stage time. By the time we got out of the centre, we were over our maximum time at the next control and decided to throw caution to the wind and make up for lost time toward the lunch halt. The roads however on Day 3 were equally challenging – very tight, twisty and rocky sections around the mountains and heading up to Europe’s highest road. We pressed on at 10/10ths (maybe 11/10ths at times) and were clawing back lost minutes – mid morning having cut a corner I also met a large rock (or was it part of a mountain) which hit the offside and launched the car into the air. Although still mobile, the rear of the car was now handling badly and a bent wheel was the least damage I expected – this was just as we were about to climb to over 2700m along a road with no edges, no walls and vertical drops .. all against the clock … and yes, were in thick cloud with about 50m visibility. We made the lunch halt and had about 40 minutes to quickly remove and check wheels and suspension – a decision was made to press on for the rest of the afternoon and we reached the overnight halt at the end of Day 3 still an impressive 1st in class but slipping to 6th overall. Some excellent assistance from Richard Winter with some precision hammering with a large hammer and wood saw our wheel bent back into a near circular shape and my thanks to Malcolm and Andrew Carruthers (Va-Va-Voom team) for their help in removing and checking more of our suspension that night. Day 4 – 575km - 13 stages At last, starting to head back to Reims – we had got this far and now every kilometre was a step nearer to getting a finish – a choice to be made .. Push for the finish and a good result or take it slowly, skip down the leader board but keep the car safe .. Decision made .. Push for the finish. Although still vibrating badly from the rear, we found that once going (and OK our 0-100km/h figure had increased from 9 seconds to about 20 seconds due to vibration) the car was quick and stable and a lunchtime check again proved that little on the car was about to fail. We continued to push hard for the rest
of the afternoon successfully arriving at the finish in Reims, 2000km and 4 days after we started. Richard in the Brabus Roadster unfortunately locked his brakes up and headed into an embankment but despite damaging his front end and twisting his nearside suspension, still managed an impressive finish.
The Results It had been an immensely tough event on both crew and cars. It’s fair to say that many of the Caterham, Lotus and other owners may not have taken the smart Roadsters seriously before we started but the performance, durability and handling of the Roadsters soon changed those views. We finished 1st in Class and, having pushed hard on Day 4 climbed to a very impressive 3rd overall. Richard and Nick finished 2nd in Class and 10th overall with John and Howard, 3rd in Class and 11th overall. It is a hugely significant result for smart and the smart Roadster taking the top three places in their class with two cars finishing on the top 10 overall against some fierce opposition. Our thanks must go to our sponsors, smart of Milton Keynes especially Tim Brown and Ryan Birch, smarts-R-us and Bantam Trailers for their support and also to Stanley Young BSc FIMechE FIEE for his technical consultation work prior to the event. What next? The Roadster performed brilliantly (much to the bemusement of other non Roadster competitors) and I am confident, it will be entered for another event next year. There are actually minimal changes that we would make to the car for any future event – the most important move would be to have increased cooling on the brakes (we totally cooked the existing setup) with air ducting at the front, vented discs and larger brake callipers. In addition, a move to fully adjustable suspension would be a worthwhile move. Importantly however, all three Roadsters ran 100% faultlessly – absolutely no electrical, mechanical or other problems arose in any of the three cars other than those caused by driver error! All three Roadsters that started, finished the event and all three took the top three positions in their Class. It was a fitting tribute to the car, thesmartclub’s 5th anniversary and the smart brand overall. For further details on the Event or the car’s preparation, email al@thesmartclub.com
Al Young Chairman & Managing Director thesmartclub ltd
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND SERVICES thesmartclub Car Insurance Scheme thesmartclub is pleased to provide a dedicated important and valuable new service for its Privilege Card holders as follows: Adrian Flux Insurance Services are pleased to be able to offer Privilege Card members up to 15% discount on their motor policies. In addition Adrian Flux welcome young drivers, modified cars and drivers with convictions.
As the country's leading intermediary for specialist Motor Insurance, Adrian Flux has become synonymous with competitive quotations and providing an excellent service. Their personable, highly trained staff is on hand to help with any queries you have. As a company, Adrian Flux have been providing policies to the UK's drivers for over 30 years. We have established a dedicated phone number uniquely for thesmartclub Privilege Card Members to use for all their smart insurance requirements: The service is live NOW and available on thesmartclub hotline by dialling
+44 (0) 1553 845 939 and quoting your Privilege Card number
Our Privilege Card New companies and service providers continue to join thesmartclub Privilege Card Scheme. We already have over 20 UK smart centres offering discounts on parts, accessories and servicing and 8 centres offering discounts on new and used smarts. In addition you should check our Dealer Cars menu option for additional deals and savings on a range of forfours. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Aberdeen Beaconsfield, Birmingham, Bournemouth Coventry Derby Edinburgh Gatwick Harrogate, Hertford, Hull Liverpool Manchester, Macclesfield, Maidstone, Milton Keynes Northampton Nottingham Oxford Perth Sheffield Tonbridge Wolverhampton
Additional companies and service providers bring you discounts on a range of performance parts and accessories, trailers, Vehicle Rescue & Recovery from the AA (which also has a range of additional benefits such as trailer recovery, pit/paddock recovery, no lower age limit and a dedicated phone number, insurance and travel). In addition, savings on ALL application costs for our 2006 Major Events are also available to Privilege Card holders. All these services and benefits are available for only 10.00 GBP per annum. If you have not already done so, apply for your Privilege Card via the Privilege Card menu option on our homepage. You can see the full list of participating companies by selecting the Privilege Card Benefits option
Our Online Shop
Our new Online Shop launched late 2005 bringing a new range of merchandise. The Online Shop is now 100% based on our own secure server and offers significant savings for our Privilege Card holders. 2006 will see us launch an exciting new range of branded merchandise and some special offers for you and your smart.
Club information and contacts Full contact details for thesmartclub team are shown under the ‘Contact Us’ Menu Option on our main home page together with background details for thesmartclub. thesmartclub is now the UK's second largest Car Club1 and remains proud to be the world's largest independent club for smart car owners and enthusiasts with Members in 51 countries around the world. ‘4site’ is a publication of thesmartclub and is published to support information and services contained on thesmartclub’s website at http://www.thsmartclub.com. All content © thesmartclub 2006. No text or images may be reproduced without the consent of thesmartclub – email 4site@thesmartclub.com thesmartclub is a brand of thesmartclub Ltd, Company Number SC259434, Registered in Scotland, UK 1
Based on independent research and AutoExpress research November 2004
Anders Sundt Jensen image courtesy of visavis.de