We Bought 3 Mid-Engined Convertible Sports Cars To Find Out Which Is Best!

Рет қаралды 17,174

Жыл бұрын

This week on Buckle Up, three mid-engined convertible sports cars go head to head in the beautiful surroundings of the North Yorkshire Dales.
Which will end up on top? The Smart Roadster, the Porsche Boxster or the Lotus Elise Club Racer. Three very different ways of making the same recipe, and three very different prices.
Buckle up, because this is going to be a good one!
Small sports cars are special we only wished we could have compared all of them including the Toyota MR-2, MG TF, Alpine A110, Alfa Romeo 4C, Fiat X1/9, Vauxhall VX220, Honda Beat, Autozam AZ1, MGF, Porsche Cayman, Noble M12 and Tesla Roadster alongside their more conventional front engined rivals like the Mazda MX-5, BMW Z4, Mercedes Benz SLK, Abarth 124 Spider, Audi TT, Caterham Seven, Chrysler Crossfire, Ford Mustang, Toyota Supra, Honda S2000, Jaguar F-Type, Morgan Plus Four, Nissan 370z, BMW Z3, Mazda Miata and Nissan 350z.
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#BuckleUp #Automotive #Roadster
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Пікірлер: 139

@valiyzf600 Жыл бұрын

Gordon Murray, the guy that designed so many F1 cars, racing cars and the Mclaren F1 etc, who owns an amazing car collection of light nimble sport cars, including Lotus cars, chose to drive the Roadster 82hp as his daily car for over a decade and still has it in his collection. He now uses an Alpine a110 as a daily. That should tell you guys something.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

That Gordon Murray is too tall to fit in an Elise?

@valiyzf600 Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow that isn't it, but it was funny.

@Grahame59 2 ай бұрын

Yes, and all his employees had Smart Roadsters back then too. He was quoted as saying that you don't actually need any more power than the Smart's.

@BuckleUpShow 2 ай бұрын

Yes, which is why he has now designed and built his own 660hp V12 supercar

@stevendonohue5519 Жыл бұрын

Roadsters a great tourer. Managed 411 miles circa 59mpg on a tank with spare fuel to go. Cheap and fun

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

It put on a good show against the big boys

@omallezo Жыл бұрын

I’m not sure that this test was fair, it really should have been the Brabus Smart and it might have won some more noise points 😅

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

The Roadster was mapped to the same level of performance as the Brabus, and had a non-standard, fruity exhaust on it. The exhaust probably wasn't as good as the Brabus one would be, but still was a chunk behind the other cars. And I can say that as it was my car 😂

@planetepiston Жыл бұрын

Nice test guys! I am the owner of a Smart Roadster and a Lotus Exige. In terms of performance it's the day and the night but I have a lot of fun at the wheel of both cars. I live my roadster as much as I love my Exige. Of course they are light cars and for that, they gave a lot of sensations and pleasure!

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Both very good, but there could only be one winner on this test

@joerith00 Жыл бұрын

Is a smart roadster useable as a daily that stays outside all the time? Or would this not be a smart idea because of possible leak issues (and does the hardtop help with that)?

@planetepiston Жыл бұрын

@@joerith00 I use mine everyday to go to work. And it's been 3 years that the car sleeps outside. It doesn't like rain a lot and the water get into the car by the mirrors, so the hardtop is not a necessity. I think if you drive it everyday you can easily dry the inside of the car with the heater and don't have much issues

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Every roadster will leak, but some will leak more than others. Most can live outside, but if they leak quite a bit, it's best to ensure they are covered when it rains. Mine, for example, was outside for most of the 2 years I owned it, but it had a rain cover on it for most of that time, just in case.

@aketza7395 Жыл бұрын

Just because it's a smart, it does not mean that it's shit. From the beggining of the video, it's clearly seen the disrespectfull things that are said. We have to respect all cars.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Even the Pontiac Aztek?

@aketza7395 Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow bruh.....I think that ot is not a very good car... But I know that thrra is people who love it. RESPECT ALL BUILDS 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@BryTee Жыл бұрын

21:32 I think it was unfair test for the Smart on closing/opening the top. If it were fixed, then comparing when it works you could beat the Lotus.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

We’ve tested it previously (when the Smart’s roof worked) and the Lotus is still quicker I’m afraid.

@abaird1234 Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow Ah yes but you can put the Roadster's roof up and down even when driving on the motorway ! Jesper, get that roof fixed and enjoy the Roadster !

@iBoy195 2 ай бұрын

This video deserves more views! I just bought a 2006 Smart Roadster Coupe "Finale Edition" and stumbled upon this video. Looks like you guys had fun!

@BuckleUpShow 2 ай бұрын

We’re glad you think so, thanks for watching!

@Dunkelzeitgeist 10 ай бұрын

I have an old smart car, love it! This was a pretty funny video, thank you!

@BuckleUpShow 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching! Hope your smart is in better shape than Jasper’s 😅

@julianhodgson1961 Жыл бұрын

It’s quite sad really - if the smarts roof was actually working and the side bars are on it converts in under 5 seconds and pretty much at any speed you are doing.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Yeah but the roof isn’t off unless the side bars are off. We’ve done it previously off camera and the Lotus still beat the Smart.

@emmawhaley2701 Жыл бұрын

Excellent video guys, gripping stuff!!

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching Emma!

@BryTee Жыл бұрын

I have a different engine in my Elise (2006), with a bigger 1.8L engine (Toyota 2ZZ) giving me 189BHP, 0-60 in 4.7s, top speed 149mph, but causes a drop to 36mph (UK gallons, US gallon are smaller and I get 30mpg US), same styling, same handling, but still manual soft roof (hard top option takes 40 minutes to properly install). Sadly my boot (trunk) is just as tiny, but enough for a typical run to the shops, and there are various after market solutions to the no cup holder and no glovebox problems.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! We feel like after market items would be cheating just a little in this group test.

@steveotolith Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow - the 189bhp 2ZZ isn’t aftermarket, it’s standard on the Elise 111R / R models. The lower powered 134bhp-ish Toyota cars are actually much rarer. And then Lotus bolted a supercharger on top of it to make the Elise SC with 220bhp. They offered this as a dealer upgrade on the R and 111R cars. I recently got hold of one and had it fitted to mine. It’s… brisk.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

I was talking about the cup holder and glovebox items mentioned in the above comment, not the engine.

@robwilson7189 Жыл бұрын

One of the best days I've had in a car!

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

It looks it!

@timprice5 Жыл бұрын

I'll take the best looking thing there - Jasper - i mean the Porsche 😆 As an owner of a Boxster S, it is a stunningly good car. The lotus is arguably a better car on track but day to day it would be murder. The Boxster is comfortable and quiet when you want it to be and a real hoot when you get a twisty road. Amazing car.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Cheeky

@exga29 Жыл бұрын

The roof part on roadster really helps to pull it off from comparison.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

The Lotus has previously beaten the Smart even when the roof worked.

@fenrir7525 5 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShowrealistically, if it was likely to rain you’d still have the roff bars in, and in that scenario the roadster is infinitely more convenient than either of the others (assuming it’s working), as you don’t have to stop to put it up.

@BuckleUpShow 5 ай бұрын

Yes, if only the cloth section of roof on the Roadster had been down, the time taken to put it up would be more comparable to that of the Boxster.

@fenrir7525 5 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow Yeah, i understand i’m being a pedant, and this isn’t an exactly scientific video, guess i’m just a little biased

@BuckleUpShow 5 ай бұрын

You do make a valid point though! Unfortunately the roof of the Roadster was broken on the day and we also wanted to test completely down to completely up 😂

@ventureguate7784 Жыл бұрын

Great video lads!

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed! Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an upload!

@McCrazyFish Жыл бұрын

This was a lot of fun

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Lucky boys!

@leahjohnstone7419 Жыл бұрын

Such a fun day!

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Your assistance is always greatly appreciated!

@roddygraham7131 8 ай бұрын

Have you seen the Suzuki engine smarts either GSX1000R or Hayabusa and they have turbo versions of those 0 - 100KPH in around 4 seconds or less - and as you know less is more!

@BuckleUpShow 8 ай бұрын

Depends on the power/torque output, but I've never seen one that fast. One thing the Smart does do quite well is give you a good shove when the (quite large) turbocharger spools up. It actually feels faster than its 0-62 time suggests. One thing that can be a negative about swapping for a bike engine is the loss of torque you may experience versus the standard engine.

@phillipbonalde1859 Жыл бұрын

Porsche sounds best, no replacement for displacement

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Found our American viewer....

@peterjones5931 Жыл бұрын

MGF Trophy or MGTF 160 missing, would certainly have won on test criteria? My own Smart Roadster Coupe HAD 130+ hp, opened and closed the roof at 130+ mph, on German Autobahn, only gave around 35mpg! Now detuned to around 100hp gives 50mpg? As for looks ... my Cadbury's Purple certainly attracts attention

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

How can something be missing? It’s cars we want to own/ do own. None of us want an MG thanks.

@SrLangui Жыл бұрын

Come on! 130hp in a roadster its almost impossible even if you remap and change 80% of the engine. And man, I have a Roadster remapped to 110hp (i wish 100hp were real of those) and only if you go at 90kmh for 1 hour you have 50mpg, if not, impossible again!

@peterjones5931 Жыл бұрын

@@SrLangui Mapped by EvilTwin boosted off the 2 bar gauge, custom exhaust and injectors, believed to be from V6 Mercedes? Blew up, cracked piston, hence detuned when engine changed and sbii mapfitted, which vastly improved GEARCHANGE and economy!

@mohammadbinbishr5167 Жыл бұрын

Cool Keep up the great content

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much, Mohammad!

@chriscars_Bayern 5 ай бұрын

Sehr schönes Video, toller Vergleichstest. Erstaunlich dass mein smart mit den Supersportwagen mithalten kann. In 19 Jahren hat mich ein Lotus und ein Audi TT überholt und ich habe einen Porsche 911 auf der Landstraße überholt.

@BuckleUpShow 5 ай бұрын

Der Vorteil des Smart Roadster liegt darin, wie gut das Fahrwerk ist und wie leicht das Auto insgesamt ist. Im normalen Leben ist er brauchbarer als ein Lotus!

@chriscars_Bayern 5 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow Ja das ist wahr, das Fahrwerk ist super. Das Gewicht ist mit knapp 800 kg sehr niedrig, das bedeutet unter 10 kg pro PS. Dazu kommt der niedrige Schwerpunk. Bei Porsche habe ich mal einen Vergleich erstellen sollen, in der Entwicklung des 911 Typ 991. Unter anderen Messwerten war da auch die Höhe des Fahrers über der Fahrbahn. Es gibt ein internationales Austauschprogramm, wo jeder beteiligte Autohersteller zu seinen neuen Moodellen eine Zeichnung abgibt. Daraus habe ich die Daten der Supersportwagen gezogen, z.B. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Corvette etc. und die Zeichnung des smart roadsters, die ich damals bei smart selbst gefertigt hatte. Der smart roadster ist der am tiefsten sitzende Fahrer in diesem Vergleich gewesen.

@jeremylockey3220 Жыл бұрын

Stop trying to be Top Gear! You should have all driven all the cars and then decided which one was the most fun.... then the Smart would have won!

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Having been in the passenger seat of a Lotus, as the owner of that Smart I can confirm that the Lotus is definitely more fun.

@abaird1234 Жыл бұрын

Definately. Many many smiles for the miles !! . :)

@cujimmi Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow I'm sure it is but it's 10 x more expensive.. Is it 10x more fun?

@Brebgon Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow You would struggle to daily the Lotus though

@xjk5Mikel Жыл бұрын

I love the LOTUS!!

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Me too, but I’m biased!

@ant_mk3596 Ай бұрын

I had a few people ask me if my old smart roadster notch back was a lotus so, if a lotus looks like a ferarri and a smart looks like a lotus then the smart also looks like a ferarri lol

@BuckleUpShow Ай бұрын

Who told you that? Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles?

@StevenMRSenior 11 ай бұрын

You could have got a boxster S for that price. Getting in and out of the Lotus with the roof on especially is a nightmare if you are over 6 foot tall. You could have got fully working smart roadster. The smart is cheap summer fun. I have owned a boxster S with full exhaust system including headers and some tuning (310bhp). It sounded superb and was a hoot to drive. It’s Problem is that everything is expensive. Something wrong with it, that’s a £1000 pounds sir.

@BuckleUpShow 11 ай бұрын

You could, with double the miles on it. The smart was working perfectly the day before and the roof began working again by itself the next week, we decided not to delay a whole day of filming just because the smart was having one of its (regular) funny turns.

@Dominik189 6 ай бұрын

Honestly depending on your place of living the Roaster can be fun.

@BuckleUpShow 6 ай бұрын

Of the three cars the Roadster is possibly the easiest to have fun in when it comes to every-day driving due to its small size, lightness and chassis. The Lotus is a little too serious to nip to the shops in and the Porsche can feel a tad cumbersome depending on the road being driven on.

@Dominik189 6 ай бұрын

The thing is the Roadster's fun and can be practical in a way but it can also be a pain to drive with it's gearbox.

@BuckleUpShow 6 ай бұрын

Absolutely, the gearbox is probably the car's biggest let-down. Could be a deal breaker for some, but with time it is pretty easy to get used to

@Dominik189 6 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShowthat's the thing, you get used to it, but you never grow to like it or even enjoy it. It's always a nagging presence in the back of the mind that keeps it from being perfect.

@Dominik189 6 ай бұрын

Also, controversial take, I like the Notchback styling more than the hatch/coupe...

@Dutchy1979 4 ай бұрын

The smart is best looking

@BuckleUpShow 4 ай бұрын

Styling is subjective, so that's why there wasn't really agreement in the video. The Smart is probably the least "conventional" or most unique of the three 😅

@peterhobart795 21 күн бұрын

How much insurance do you pay each

@BuckleUpShow 21 күн бұрын

We can’t remember, but that wouldn’t really work as a fair comparison as insurance is so subjective these days.

@ericmcb2157 Жыл бұрын

Why is not a smart roadster Brabus?

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Because Jasper couldn’t afford one. Also it better demonstrates the price differences between the cars in question. Whether you have £3k or £30k, you’re well catered for 😊

@ericmcb2157 Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow nice, I have one Smart roadster but my roof works 🤣🤣

@MiguelRibera Жыл бұрын

The Brabus one isn't better. Too much wheels, and more fragil

@Emppu_T. 7 ай бұрын

Surely you could have one of those. But none of them are an MR2.

@BuckleUpShow 7 ай бұрын

Thankfully

@Emppu_T. 7 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow alright ok

@LaszloLendl 8 ай бұрын

😅😅😅 i had mine Brabus since 2010 and never had any roof problems...works perfect with 145.000km

@BuckleUpShow 8 ай бұрын

You're the only one, you should get a prize

@LaszloLendl 8 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow not really...just realized that I wrote that comment in some sleep mode...Leak problems is 💯 on mine as well...But electrical-wise etc I have none..

@BuckleUpShow 8 ай бұрын

You always get at least one of the two with the roadster - leaks or electrical issues 😅

@LaszloLendl 8 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow exactly...not even a HT helps. Have my second HT now and this one leaks at the bacc so you can see some water come in even though it's very little compared to crazy "shower" we had a few weeks ago. I let my car stay outside by purpose. Standard mirror leak and a new(bacc part then) HT leak. My old HT didn't leak more then in the front a little.

@peacockking3687 Жыл бұрын

In what world does an inline 4 sound better than a flat 6?

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

When the inline 4 has a naughty-sounding exhaust on it 😜

@ant_mk3596 Ай бұрын

Sorry but a roadster with a working roof would have been faster than the lotus lol so i feel as though this was slightly unfair on that aspect, howver i know the test was on the cars in the video.

@BuckleUpShow Ай бұрын

We’ve tested it before and it isn’t. Remember the roof bars need to come off as well for the roof to be fully off on the smart.

@charliepalethorpe433 Жыл бұрын

Robbed! Porsche sounds way better and is definitely the best overall! (Non biased opinion)

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

👀

@terrymyles8890 Жыл бұрын

Smart Roadster roofs are better than that and go up and down even doing 70 just had to find a bad one

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Yes and no - while the soft top portion will move while driving, (though it is not recommended to do that at 70!) you cannot remove and stow the roof bars while driving at any speed. Granted the roof was slightly broken, but even fully working it is not as convenient as the Porsche.

@ruipedroanjos8142 11 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShowwhile i agree with Porsche part, i do own a smart roadster with an unfaulty roof and it definitely could have gone faster than the Lotus, even if it had to remove the side bars

@iranouspolaris2035 Жыл бұрын

Well the Smart Roadster will 3ple in value not cheap at all, greatest period.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

The Smart Roadster may triple in value (it probably won't) but it will not reach the price of the Elise - the Elise is a better driver's car.

@leestockton9367 6 ай бұрын

Oh look, it's the the poor man's fifth gear, or the poverty stricken man's Top Gear

@BuckleUpShow 6 ай бұрын

That does make sense, Lee, as we made this video with a budget of £0.

@mikemayers9353 Жыл бұрын

The old top gear brought the wtong car is cheesy comming from someone other than that trio , just do you , you are funny to

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

To be even mentioned in the same breath as Top Gear means we’re doing a pretty good job with our budget of zero.

@kevinruhle7919 11 ай бұрын

Smart Roadster do not have a middle engine

@BuckleUpShow 11 ай бұрын

The engine sits between the axles, therefore it is mid-engined.

@kevinruhle7919 11 ай бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow It is on top of the rear axle. So I think it is not.

@BuckleUpShow 11 ай бұрын

It sits on top of the gearbox which is aligned with the rear axle, then the whole engine assembly is tilted forwards, so the enigne is, in fact, mid-mounted. images.app.goo.gl/MFzVr13N9urdfkLJ6

@BuckleUpShow 9 ай бұрын

It just isn’t, look at the images

@BuckleUpShow 9 ай бұрын

@user-with-mp5 Again, check the images 😅

@Koulis_ Жыл бұрын

So you got a broken Smart, this is as uninformative as Clarkson.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Which bit was uninformative?

@Koulis_ Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow The fact that, if it wasn't broken, you could have said the roof with side bars in place takes a short time to fold back and at high speed at that. A little longer requiring stopping and stowing the side bars to go fully convertible. Instead you went for the Clarkson style Top Gear entertainment route which is hard to replicate and just makes the video tedious. It wasn't all bad, just annoying in places.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

This makes no sense as the result would have been unchanged? Porsche would still have won, Lotus would still have come second and the Smart (even if the roof was working) would have come last. Not sure what any of this has got to do with Jeremy Clarkson either? It comes across like you’re picking faults because you don’t like that the Smart lost and you perhaps own one…

@Koulis_ Жыл бұрын

You're missing the point, the results are irrelevant anyway. The smart was mis represented and made to look cheap and unreliable. You should have just started with a level playing field. Smart Roadsters have their faults with water ingress and ECU problems because of this. The roof also needs maintenance to keep it folding correctly. This is all irrelevant to the comparison though as you weren't assessing reliability. You should though have started with working cars so your viewers could assess things better.

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

A level playing field? So three of the same car then? Otherwise that’s not level… We had the cars we had because they are ours or owned by people we know. We do not have the resources or time to source immaculate cars from manufacturer heritage fleets like others do. The Smart is literally a tenth of the price of the Lotus. We think it came across pretty well against the competition.

@-BuddyGuy 7 ай бұрын

Im watching this because you paid for the ad and i didn't notice it was an ad right away. I clicked because it's an interesting combination of cars. I'm commenting because you're clearly trying very hard, there's a lot of effort in the production. Some of that is worthwhile, things like the drone shots, the sound, the editing are all decent. The biggest issue I have with this content is that you're imitating Top Gear and it comes off as extremely forced. The "conflict" between the three of you is particularly difficult to watch, very distracting because it's so poor. You simply won't ever be as good as Hammond/Clarkson/May at this particular style and you need to do something of your own. Or just cut the shit completely and show us the three cars. That's what i came for. If it's three guys being honest about who they are that will prevent me from leaving the video. But right now it's way too jarring. If you're not ready to show your true selves just focus on the cars and you'll get more views.

@BuckleUpShow 7 ай бұрын

I love your version of Born Under a Bad Sign, very bluesy

@Ingmar72 Жыл бұрын

A convertible in England makes no sense….

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

This comment makes no sense. We buy more convertibles per person than any other large European country.

@abaird1234 Жыл бұрын

Really ? Love mine !

@Ingmar72 Жыл бұрын

@@BuckleUpShow , you are driving on the wrong side of the road too. So what's the point in buying a convertible and then driving it closed all the time because of the ... well....very nice weather?

@Ingmar72 Жыл бұрын

@@abaird1234 🤙

@BuckleUpShow Жыл бұрын

Have you watched the same video I have? In case you're not aware, we drive on the left in the UK. Also, we had our roofs down/off the whole time?