Hot Smart #3 Brabus ups the attitude with a sleek styling kit
Brabus upgrades include new wheels and trim, plus interior tweaks to elevate EV’s aesthetic
German tuning expert Brabus is no stranger to tweaking cars from the Smart brand. Its latest upgrades aren’t for a two-seat city car, low-slung roadster or energetic hot hatchback though, but instead a series of parts for the Smart #3 SUV.
If you’re reading between the lines, you’ll note no mention of extra power there. That’s because there’s already a Brabus variant of the Smart #3, and it already makes a hefty 422bhp – the kind of output you might have seen from some of the brand’s Autobahn-storming tuned Mercedes back in the day.
Instead, this is simply a package of upgrades for the existing Brabus-badged car, giving the #3 more visual attitude to go with its ample (0-62mph in 3.7 seconds) performance.
Working from front to back, Brabus adds a lower lip spoiler to the existing front bumper, claimed to reduce high-speed lift, and a couple of trim elements to the side grilles. The side skirts are unchanged, but Brabus has always been a proponent of an eye-catching alloy wheel, and offers either 20-inch or 21-inch ‘Monoblock Z’ designs, in place of the standard 20-inch alloys. The 21-inch versions are forged and have a racing-style centre-lock cover for the hubs. Both wheel options get a choice of Continental, Hankook, or Yokohama tyres.
Brabus also fits sports suspension which lowers the ride height by 35mm, while around the back there’s a new tailgate spoiler, and a diffuser element for the rear bumper. The overall effect, in pictures at least, is quite convincing – from some angles you could almost kid yourself it’s a slick-looking hot hatchback, rather than a portly 1,800kg SUV.
The Brabus upgrades continue inside, with backlit Brabus scuff plates in each door sill, black floor mats, a velour boot liner, aluminium pedals, and embroidered Brabus logos and red piping as far as the eye can see.
The #3’s upgrades join a package of similar visual tweaks for the shorter Smart #1. All prices for the Brabus parts are ‘on request’, while the standard Smart Brabus #3 currently starts at £45,450 on the road.
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