According to an article published by USA Today, the car manufacturer has already sent letters to owners of these particular models, asking them to contact the closest dealership and make an appointment for the free software upgrade.
"We will upgrade your transmission software to the new 2009 operating mode which provides improved shifting dynamics as well as instant changing between automatic and paddle shifting just by touching the up or down shift paddles," the letter sent to smart owners read according to the aforementioned source.
As mentioned, smart already acknowledged the problem, with the company's spokesman Ken Kettenbeil admitting there is "a little hesitation between gears", as he was quoted as saying by the source. However, the manufacturer expects to get rid of these problems by the software upgrade which is likely to provide a "smoother transition" between gears. The whole upgrade would take up to 90 minutes for every single car, with operations to be conducted free of charge.
smart fortwo was officially launched in 1998 at the Paris Motor Show while the second-generation saw daylight on November 10, 2006. The revised model comes equipped with a 5-speed sequential transmission which has been longly criticized by owners for the poor performance it provides.
Google News