MOTORING show Top Gear's hosts have rubbished a Cairns Regional Council decision to buy up to four Mercedes Smart cars, calling it an unjustifiable "green flag waving" exercise.
Australian lead presenter Warren Brown, and former Sydney Morning Herald motoring editor and Top Gear editorial producer Josh Dowling, have both recently had lengthy stints behind the wheel of the tiny two seaters.
Both cast doubts on the logic of the purchase and the vehicle’s proclaimed economy rate of 4.4L per 100km, saying the cheaper three-door Toyota Yaris is just as efficient in the real world and would have been a smarter buy.
"Councils are notorious for making the wrong decisions, they are not the right place to look for sound motoring advice," Brown said.
Dowling, a fan of the Smart where parking is a problem, recently drove a new model from Sydney to Perth but could get nowhere near the claimed fuel consumption figure.
He said the best he could achieve on the drive where he averaged about 100km/h and struck some strong winds was between 7-8 litre per 100km.
"The 1.3 litre Yaris in everyday use is probably just as economical as the Smart, seats five and has a full size spare," he said.
"This sounds like public image gone mad on behalf of the Cairns Regional Council."
The council paid about $22,000 each for two Smart cars whereas the Yaris is advertised as $15,990 drive away, with each 10,000km service capped at $120.
Smart car service costs average $465 every 15,000km.
The Green House Rating for the Smart is 8.5 and the Yaris 7.5 and claimed fuel consumption per 100km is 4.4 and 6.1 respectively.
The council claims it will save $900 a year in fuel on each Smart but has compared consumption with Holden Commodores and Toyota Camrys in its fleet.
Cr Schier said the Federal Government's Green Vehicle Guide rated Smart cars as producing the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in Australia.
Cr Schier said the council aimed to go for smaller options and replace all its larger passenger fleet vehicles with hybrids and diesel-powered models.
Watch Brown and colleague Steve Pizzati put a Smart Car and Fiat 500 through their paces in the outback on SBS at 7.30pm on 22 June.
