Smart Offering Free ForTwo Transmission Upgrade
When the Smart ForTwo debuted in the U.S., Cars.com's Kelsey Mays wasn’t alone in his disapproval of the car's shoddy transmission. Besides other journalists, consumers themselves didn't seem to like it, and the company took note. Now, Smart is sending letters to 24,622 of its 2008 ForTwo owners telling them they can bring their cars in for a transmission upgrade.
The upgrade is software-driven. One company spokesman described the problem with the old transmission as "a little hesitation between gears." Mays described it differently: "The transmission lurches through gear changes with the awkwardness of a 15-year-old learning stick on his brother's Corolla."
Mays also drove a 2009 ForTwo with the new transmission changes and said "it's noticeably improved, but it still has worlds to go."
Smart car offering to upgrade balky transmissions on 24,622 of last year's models (OpenRoad Blog)
2009|Smart|ForTwo
2008|Smart|ForTwo
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Wouldn't have been easier to just put a better transmission in it BEFORE the car was introduced? Probably would've saved them tons of money. Auto designers these days are getting slack.
Stellar, one thing you have to remember, this is a Smart car is European and the Europeans do look at their cars differently so maybe the transmission was fine for the Europeans but to us it was more choppy. Just my two cents.
Yes the SMART car really should have six forward gears if they are going to try to make do with a single dry clutch system.
That way the steps between gears are smaller, and hence can be quicker.
cute car...