Transport approaches are widely used to simulate heavy-ion collisions and allow to compute most experimental observables. In this contribution pion production, $v_1$ and $v_2$ of protons in Au+Au collisions at energies $E_{\mathrm{lab}} = 0.4 - 2 \, A$ GeV and dilepton production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 3.5$ GeV are computed using a new SMASH transport approach. These results are compared to the experimental data obtained by the FOPI and HADES collaborations. Overall, a good description of the data is achieved. Pion multiplicities and $N_{\pi^-}/N_{\pi^+}$ ratio at $E_{\mathrm{lab}} = 0.4 - 0.8 \, A$ GeV are very sensitive not only to nuclear potentials, but also to Fermi motion and Pauli blocking effects. A good description of proton $v_1$ and $v_2$ consistently requires a potential corresponding to a hard equation of state.