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Brabus 125R makes the Smart Fortwo Cabrio much cooler

Merc tuner Brabus gets its hands on Smart’s tiny drop-top

Brabus 125R Smart Fortwo Cabrio cooler
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Brabus has done it again, but this time it’s not an unhinged Merc limo or and AMG E63 S with tyre-frying outputs. It’s a Smart Fortwo Cabrio, known as the Brabus 125R.

Where the tiny turbocharged 898cc three-pot used to make 66kW and 135Nm, Brabus has upped the game to 92kW and 200Nm.

If you think that’s not enough to have fun with, remember that the original MX-5 only had 85kW and 135Nm, not that we think either are particularly fast.

 Brabus’ 0-100km/h claim for the Brabus 125R comes in at 9.2 seconds, which suggests the car has put on a few kilos during Brabus’ fiddling – the aforementioned Roadster takes only 8.8sec, and the Brabus is based on a car which only weighed 995kg, or 25kg more.

But a sprint time like that is irrelevant in a car like this, a miniature rear-drive hatch should focus on its composure, so Brabus has sport springs which lower the ride by 30 millimetres, tailored specifically to the wheel and tyre dimensions.

Brabus' 577kW '800 GT' four-door coupe!

Furthering the Brabus 125R’s appeal is the stainless-steel active sport exhaust system, which features three central tailpipes, as well as Brabus’ aggressive visual styling – a large departure from the mostly unremarkable Fortwo.

Brabus 125 R Smart Fortwo Cabrio Rear Jpg
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Brabus’ eagerness to portray this car as ‘sporty’ might have gone a step too far however, as in the press material sent to outlset, it describes the dual-clutch gearbox as being able to shift “either automatically or manually like in Formula 1 racing.”

We’d struggle to compare a Smart Fortwo to an F1 car, but that’s just us.

The Brabus 125R is unavailable in Australia, and sell for an RRP of €39,900.

Chris Thompson
Contributor

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