The Volksmart is back and still making plenty of smoke. This first generation Smart Fortwo was built by two Italians and features a 1.9 L TDI inline-four and manual transmission from a Volkswagen Golf. In our previous article the engine made 150 horsepower but the new video states it’s now making 230 horsepower. The little car managed a best quarter-mile time of 13.123 sec at 169.01 km/h (105.01 mph).
Source: NM2255 Car HD Videos
Surely the wheelie bar is overkill! Ive seen smart cars with similar power have no need for one.
It’s probably there to force more torque to the ground on launch. Other Fortwos do better because they run a high-revving engines that do not generate as much torque off the line. And they might have better weight bias and suspension setup.