Stuttgart, Germany - The diesel-powered version of the Smart Fortwo cabriolet is Germany's slowest when it comes to accelerating from zero to 100km/h.
More accustomed to tracking the quickest on the block, Auto Motor and Sport magazine, which tests hundreds of cars a year, delved into its 2015 archive to reveal the most sluggish cars on sale in domestic showrooms.
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The list of 25 slowcoaches is topped by the diesel Smart which takes 20.9 seconds to reach a three-figure speed.
Testers put this down to a modest engine of only 800cc, offering 40kW and what they called a “miserably slow” gearbox. The magazine said the diesel Smart was the slowest off the mark of any it had tested since 2006.
The five most sluggardly cars in the list all hail from German manufacturers and include several other Smart models and the 1.2-litre version of the Volkswagen Polo.
Introduced only two years ago, it needs 18.4 seconds to top 100km/h. The Opel Corsa also fared badly, with the 1-litre variant taking 19.7 seconds to top the ton.
IT COULD BE WORSE
A Citroen 2CV 6 Special from the 1970s needed 35 seconds before the speedometer showed 100 km/h. Admittedly it had only 21kW under the bonnet.
To keep up in modern traffic conditions, some experts say a modern car should not take much longer than 12 seconds to dash from zero to 100 km/h. Some high-powered sports cars boast breathtaking acceleration times of less than four seconds.
DPA