By far the smallest car currently for sale in America, the smart fortwo proves the largest and shiniest piece of metal doesn’t always get the most attention. Built in France by the same company that produces the Mercedes-Benz, the fortwo is definitely a classy car, with eclectic touches, safety, and high build quality all around.

Maneuvering the vehicle in the forward direction is about as simple as saying “I can drive”. The fortwo’s nimble size means you can easily whip into tight spots and slip through dense traffic. Be warned, as doing the latter will upset SUV drivers as they feel neutered and somewhat powerless for the first time.

The biggest gripe that “other sites” have with this car is its acceleration. But those who gripe about a microcar’s get-up-and-go have hairlines that are either too gray or too recessed to get the point of this car. We have also read numerous complaints about how slow this car is when changing gears; some sites have even gone as far as calling it a safety concern when merging onto highways. After having this vehicle for nearly a week, we at The College Driver can confidently tell you, “don’t believe the hype”. Though the shifts are not the quickest, you will definitely not find yourself searching for a warp drive button when getting on the highway.

We found a couple of tricks to getting the fortwo to shift a little faster when driving under heavy acceleration. The first is to simply take you foot off the gas right before each shift in automatic mode; this also is a great way to reduce the “nose-dive” in heavy shifting. The second is to put the vehicle into manual mode and do the shifting yourself. This will take a little practice (like five minutes) to master, but after you’ve learned the right rhythm we assure you that smooth shifts will be in your future.

As you might assume the smart fortwo is no performance champion, with 0 to 60 miles per hour coming in about 13 seconds. Again, with acceleration that slow we did not encounter any problems merging onto highways, no matter how overzealous the other drivers were. During the highway portion of the test, we were able to get the fortwo to cruise at about 90 miles per hour; but the time needed to get to that speed did require an appointment.

In the packed streets of Lower Manhattan was where this car shined, the engine provided enough torque to take us from a standstill to about 35 mile per hour without breaking a sweat. It is when driving the smart fortwo in metropolis that you realize you suddenly have star power. When getting in and out of this thing you’d swear you were Paris Hilton wearing a low-cut skirt. The abundance of people watching you and tourists snapping pictures immediately caused us to yearn for tinted windows and a security detail. All kidding aside, the smart fortwo is a great car for urban dwellers, though a tad expensive.

On the inside, occupants will find more head and legroom than almost any SUV on the road today. The seats are surprisingly comfortable with generous side bolstering to keep you and your best friend centered when riding over the bumpy bits. The white face gauges are backlit and have a simple look that is easy to read. On the passion trim line you also get two periscope style gauges (tachometer and clock) on the dashboard that are bordered by a body-colored ring. The smart fortwo coupe also gets a clear lexan roof that provides the same view you would get on a convertible with the added security of a hardtop. During the road test we found that the lexan roof could easily be scratched if you put your seatbelt on while the keys are in your hand. We also noticed that smart moved the ignition from the dash to the center console. This was done to reduce the severity of knee injuries in a frontal collision.

Driving the fortwo around town is not very different from that of an SUV. The high seating position combined with the high beltline not only gives the smart fortwo an impression of control but also one of safety. That being said, the fortwo is quite tall, meaning that it is liable to get on three or two wheels when pressed too hard through a tight turn. Thanks to the tall stance of the fortwo, we recommend that the driver keep both hands on the steering wheel. During the 600 mile highway portion of the road test we noted that when driving through crosswinds or over taking semi-trucks, the fortwo was literally pushed a third of the way out its lane.

The added expense does not go to fuel economy as the fortwo gets an EPA estimated fuel economy of 33 city 41 highway; during our road test we managed a combined 38 miles per gallon with mixed driving. This puts the fortwo at slight disadvantage since it it is difficult to compete with larger cars that have similar fuel economy rating. The smart fortwo is classified as an Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV), with an annual carbon footprint of 5.1 tons of CO2 emissions. The because of the smart fortwo’s marginally high fuel economy it has an environmental impact score of 9.5 barrels of oil a year.