smart #5 launched in Malaysia – Premium and Brabus, up to 646 PS, 590 km WLTP range, RM200k to RM250k

Having been previewed as far back as May at the Malaysia Autoshow, the smart #5 has finally been launched in Malaysia. The Geely–Mercedes-Benz joint venture’s flagship SUV comes hot on the heels of Proton’s new energy subsidiary Pro-Net’s other model, the eMas 5, filling up the opposite end of the price spectrum.

As intimated during the preview, the #5 will be offered in two variants – the base Pro will be offered later – with pricing (on-the-road without insurance) as follows:

smart #5 Premium, 363 PS, 590 km WLTP range – RM199,800
smart #5 Brabus, 646 PS, 540 km WLTP range – RM249,800

All figures include a four-year, unlimited-mileage warranty and an eight-year/200,000 km battery warranty (150,000 km for the high-voltage components). Also offered is a launch package that provides a wallbox charger worth RM3,200, a vehicle-to-load (V2L) adaptor worth RM800, a three-year, 108 GB data package and an accessories package worth RM2,000.

Built on the same Sustainable Experience Architecture 3 (SEA3) as the Zeekr 7X, the #5 is a step up from the #1 and #3, which were already a world away from the two-seater city cars the brand was previously known for. It’s deceptively large, measuring 4,695 mm long, 1,920 mm wide and 1,705 mm tall – meaning that it’s bigger than even the Honda CR-V – while its 2,900 mm wheelbase is identical to the 7X’s.

The cooking Premium variant is both rear-wheel drive with a single motor, while the performance Brabus version uses dual motors for all-wheel drive. Both also benefit from an 800-volt architecture to enable an astonishing 400 kW of DC fast charging. The detailed specifications are as follows:

smart #5 Premium

EV architecture: 800V
Electric motor output: 363 PS (267 kW) and 373 Nm; RWD
0-100 km/h: 6.5 seconds
Top speed: 200 km/h
Battery: 100 kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC)
Range (WLTP): 590 km
AC charging: 22 kW; 10-80% in 4.5 hours
DC charging: 400 kW; 10-80% in 15 minutes

smart #5 Brabus

EV architecture: 800V
Front electric motor output: 224 PS (165 kW) and 270 Nm
Rear electric motor output: 421 PS (310 kW) and 440 Nm
Total system output: 646 PS (475 kW) and 710 Nm; AWD
0-100 km/h: 3.8 seconds
Top speed: 210 km/h
Battery: 100 kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC)
Range (WLTP): 540 km
AC charging: 22 kW; 10-80% in 4.5 hours
DC charging: 400 kW; 10-80% in 15 minutes

smart #5 Brabus

As you can see, the #5’s variants are more or less equivalent to the 7X’s, although the single-motor models don’t make as much power (421 PS for the 7X Standard Range and Long Range) and the charging speed with the larger battery is a little slower (420 kW for the 7X Long Range and Performance).

The smart also appears to be less efficient than the Zeekr as the range figures are ever so slightly lower. Still, the #5’s 100 kWh battery capacity trumps those of the #1 and #3 by a significant margin and offers a much more impressive range.

The #5 Brabus also lacks the 7X Performance’s air suspension and adaptive dampers (unlike in China), sticking with passive springs and dampers. It does at least offer double wishbones at the front and a multilink setup at the rear – shared with the rest of the lineup – to help rein in its near-2.4 tonne kerb weight, its near-220 PS increase over other Brabus models and its ability to complete the century sprint in under four seconds.

smart #5 Brabus

Despite its size and having a similarly boxy side profile as the seven-seater Mercedes-Benz GLB (both designs were signed off by Stuttgart), the #5 is strictly a five-seater. The bluff front and rear ends are characterised by squarish full-LED head- and taillights joined by a transparent strip, housing oblong light clusters. Lower down, the centre section of the bumpers protrude outward, giving the appearance of a bull bar and adding to the car’s rugged look.

Along the side, you’ll find subtly blown fenders and a window line kink that leads into the thick vertical D-pillars that house the smart badge. Rectangular two-tone door mirrors and a triangular front fender appliqué add some visual intrigue, while smart’s typical flush door handles now pop out fully to make them easier to pull. Frameless windows continue to offer a premium look.

Inside, smart has maximised the #5’s extra width with distinctive dual oblong dashboard panels housing no less than three massive displays – a 10.3-inch instrument display and twin 13-inch AMOLED centre and front passenger touchscreens with a resolution of 2.5K.

The screens utilise a redesigned “Crystal Prism” interface with a new lion avatar (called Leo, replacing the fox and cheetah avatars in the #1 and #3 respectively) and dynamic 3D graphics built on the Unreal Engine. These run on a new AMD V2000 chip that is said to offer nearly double the computing power of Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8295 and offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Also fitted is a 25.6-inch augmented-reality head-up display, 256-colour ambient lighting system that pulsates with the music being played and a 20-speaker Sennheiser Signature Sound System. The latter comes with a centre speaker that rises up from the dashboard.

Elsewhere in the cabin, you’ll find oak wood trim and rear pews with power-reclining seat backs and a “one-button comfort mode” that affords more legroom by pushing the front passenger seat forwards. The boot measures up to 1,530 litres and comes with an additional 110 litres of underfloor storage, plus a 72-litre front boot.

Standard kit includes matrix LED headlights, cool 20-inch Sundial dish alloys with self-righting centre cap logos, privacy and acoustic glass, keyless entry, push-button start, six-way power-adjustable front seats with memory, heating and ventilation functions, leather upholstery with a V-shaped pattern, dual-zone climate control, front and rear ISOFIX mounts, a panoramic glass roof, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 360-degree camera system and a powered tailgate.

As the high-power flagship, the Brabus is set apart through red accents on the front spoiler, side mouldings, rear bumper, door mirrors and roof. Also fitted are a set of 21-inch Brabus Monoblock Z black alloy wheels with a polished rim, featuring the same ten-spoke design as on Bottrop’s tuned vehicles.

Inside, the #5’s heated and ventilated seats are upholstered in Dinamica microfibre – the same material found in Mercedes-AMG models – while the steering wheel is wrapped in Alcantara. You also get carbon fibre trim, alloy pedals, microfibre headlining, red seat belts and plenty of Brabus logos, including on the headrest embroidery.

smart #5 Brabus

Safety-wise, the smart #5 comes with the full suite of driver assists. The latter includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, lane centring assist, lane change assist, evasive steering assist, a camera-based driver attention monitor, traffic sign recognition, speed limit assist, blind spot monitoring with collision prevention, front and rear cross traffic alert, rear cross traffic alert, low-speed AEB, a door opening warning and adaptive high beam.

The car also offers a park assist system that detects available spaces by recognising lines on the tarmac. Seven airbags (including a front centre airbag), stability control and cornering brake control (CBC) torque vectoring by braking are also fitted as standard.

GALLERY: smart #5 Premium in Malaysia

GALLERY: smart #5 Brabus in Malaysia