Storage
Door panels include small bins to store such items as roadmaps and books. There's also a compact lockable glove box and a storage tray on top of the dashboard. Elsewhere, the center console features a pair of cupholders. With the coupe, the trunk is accessed by lifting the rear window up and folding the tailgate down. As for the fortwo cabriolet, you start by folding the tailgate and then you can load your suitcases more easily by lifting the soft top.

The fortwo coupe has a cargo capacity of 220 liters. However, if you've gone a bit crazy at your local Costco, you can increase the available room to 340 liters... provided that you stack your tissue boxes and toilet paper packages one on top of the other. With a colleague, we loaded our luggage, photo equipment and other small bags inside the trunk and we still had room to spare. Honestly, I would not hesitate to take the smart for a long weekend, maybe even a full week.

With a smart space optimization, you can load all your gear and then some.

Switching to gasoline
For 2008, the fortwo is making its official debut in the U.S., which explains why Mercedes-Benz (smart's parent company) made the switch from diesel to gasoline. In Canada, we'll get the same exact powertrain, namely a 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder Mitsubishi engine. Output is rated at 70 horsepower. Mercedes added its own 5-speed automatic transmission, which makes the smart slightly quicker. On the other hand, fuel economy is down about one liter per 100 kilometers.

The fuel tank capacity goes from 22 to 33 liters, a change that will increase the car's range by 150 kilometers (550 vs 400). Diesel fanatics will have to wait another 2-3 years before the CDI engine makes a return, unless our Southern neighbors ask for it in the meantime. It's all a matter of scale economies and manufacturing costs. While Mercedes-Benz has the technology, producing the clean Bluetec diesels is a fairly costly operation.

Performance
With the gas-powered mill, accelerations are far more convincing. According to the automaker, the smart sprints from 0 to 100 kph in 13.3 seconds -- 6.5 seconds faster than with the diesel engine. Unfortunately, I was unable to evaluate passing maneuvers since my tester was configured in miles per hour.

In terms of fuel economy, smart claims that the new fortwo achieves 5.9 L/100 km in the city and 4.8 L/100 km on the highway -- good for a 5.4 average. In my mind, actual mileage will be closer to, if not above, 6 L/100 km. Top speed is electronically limited at 145 kph.

The gasoline engine delivers a far more respectable performance than the diesel engine.