Smart ForFour Rally Car Powered By 500-HP Mercedes Four-Pot

Smart is known as a marque that caters to demands for city cars, so having Smart written in the same sentence with 500 horsepower is almost unheard of. But that’s what builder and rally racer Niko Pulic did with a Smart ForFour back in 2008, and the hot hatch is now back for some racing action.

The vast power bump is made possible using a tuned version of the M111 turbocharged inline-four engine from Mercedes-Benz. It is the same mill that powered cars like the C-Class and SLK two decades ago.

Although the M111 engine can produce up to 600 horses, Pulic opted for just 500 ponies for this build. For reference, the most potent ForFour from the factory was equipped with a Mitsubishi engine that produced 174 horsepower.