Red-hot Smart ForFour hits Oz as first Brabus

THE first Brabus to be officially sold in Australia arrives in Smart showrooms this week priced at $39,900, following the arrival of the first limited shipment of the high-performance ForFour hatch Down Under.

The DaimlerChrysler micro-car brand hopes the Brabus-tuned ForFour will cash in "a considerable backorder of other hot hatches in Australia" – namely the Golf GTI – to carve a small but important niche for the Smart brand here.

Tuned by 25-year-old German performance house Brabus, the hottest Smart is powered by a 130kW/230Nm turbocharged four-cylinder that’s claimed to propel Smart’s hottest four-seater to 100km/h in just 6.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 221km/h – while containing fuel consumption to just 6.8L/100km.

The Brabus ForFour will come standard with features like leather trim, a panoramic glass roof, four airbags, sports suspension, five-speed manual transmission, Brabus alloy wheels, side skirts, front and rear aprons, rear spoiler and a sports muffler.

Further differentiating the only Mercedes Car Group-backed Brabus import are exclusive details like Brabus insignias on the head restraints, odometer, metallic door linings and floor mats.