Smart ForTwo Pure

Want your pennies to go furthest in the new car market? You’d better get Smart. We have calculated that no other new car on sale in the UK is as cheap to run as the ForTwo.

Pick the entry-level Pure coupé, and you’ll be forking out only 19 pence for every mile you travel – that’s less than the price of a Curly Wurly chocolate bar!

So, is this sweet deal simply too good to be true? At £6,950, the tiny Smart isn’t the cheapest model on the market, and it can be undercut by rivals seating four. After the initial outlay, however, it starts to make sense. Thanks to its tiny 999cc three-cylinder motor, official fuel returns are impressive, with a combined economy figure of just over 60mpg. Because it emits 112g/km of CO2, the ForTwo sits in road tax band B, which means owners will pay £35 annually.

Better still, the Smart holds its value better than some models from premium brands. If you sell your ForTwo after three years, it will be worth £3,675 – or 52 per cent of its price new. Sadly, that’s as close to being prestige as the car gets. Climb aboard and the surroundings make it clear this is a bargain-basement model.

A CD player and central locking are included, but that’s about it. Creature comforts which most buyers expect to find as standard these days – such as electric windows, air-conditioning and power-steering – appear on the options list. You’ll even be asked to pay an extra £20 if you want a glovebox!

At least the cabin is roomy. Despite being only 2,695mm long, the Smart seats two comfortably, providing plenty of leg and headroom for both occupants. The FourTwo is surprisingly safe, too – the strong Tridion structure earns it a four-star Euro NCAP crash test rating.

Those compact dimensions really come to the fore when you head into town. Weave through the cut-and-thrust of city traffic and the little car feels right at home. Its diminutive size enables the driver to manoeuvre confidently into small spaces. What’s more, visibility is excellent and the characterful 61bhp three-cylinder powerplant provides decent low-speed acceleration.

The compromise for all that urban agility becomes apparent when you head for the open road. The small engine soon runs out of urge as the speed of traffic increases to the motorway limit; ride comfort quickly deteriorates over big bumps and the skinny front tyres give limited grip in sharp corners.

Worse still is the sluggish five-speed semi-automatic transmission, as each slow-witted gearchange causes the car to lurch uncomfortably. Stick within urban limits, though, and the Smart makes more sense. If your daily commute is limited to a crawl across town, the ForTwo is a viable, good-value alternative to public transport. And for another three pence per mile, you could get the Passion flagship (pictured), complete with 71bhp and air-con.

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WHY: At 19ppm, tiny Smart has the lowest running costs of any new car on sale in the UK.