11:08am Friday 15th May 2009
By Steve Teale
Not everyone felt comfortable with a Smart car. For every driver who felt that this compact city car was the way ahead, a dozen others frankly felt silly in a toytown model.
It was a groundbreaking model, however, creating a niche market for eco-friendly, compact cars which could nip in and out of town better than any other car, including superminis.
Toyota has jumped aboard this bandwagon with a car which at first glance looks like a shrink-wrapped Yaris or Aygo.
It has a number of advantages over the Smart: it’s a four-seater (OK, not a grand tourer, but you can squeeze two adults into the bank for short journeys) and it rides and handles well. Well, better than a jerky Smart at any rate.
It is a clever tiny car, which makes its name appropriate. The iQ spelling will grate with many (just like MINI, smart and co) but there’s no denying it’s a very intelligent car.
The iQ is 2,985mm in length; in other words, very short indeed. That means it’s 29cm longer than the Smart ForTwo, but 40cm shorter than its bigger brother, the Aygo. Almost all the other small city cars check in at around 3.4 metres too, so the iQ is unquestionably tiny.
But one look at the thing proves it’s not small in every direction. It has a long wheelbase and is actually very wide for its length, which lends it a curious appearance. Strange, perhaps, but very endearing for such a small model.
From some angles it looks like a normal car that’s been shrunk in the wash, but the dinky detailing grows on you.
People will point. People will stare. But laugh? No. This is a car which you can drive and keep your dignity intact.
This is just the beginning. Toyota came up with six clever engineering innovations that helped squeeze more space out of the iQ’s tiny footprint.
Petrolheads will love this. Here goes: the front differential sits in front of the engine; the steering gear connects via the centre of the steering rack; a super-slim fuel tank lives under the floor rather than the rear seats; the seats are ultra-slim; the air-conditioning unit is smaller; and the passenger side dashboard is cut out to allow more space.
It’s a long list that may not seem much, but a few centimetres saved here and there adds up to something quite spectacular: the iQ is a genuine four-seater.
Before you go trading in a Focus for one, it’s worth remembering that in four-seat mode, the iQ has a boot capacity of just 32 litres.
But that sliding front passenger seat means you can create genuinely good legroom in the rear, while the seat behind the driver offers a little less. Stick the shorty in that seat, though, and you feel like you’ve beaten the system.
Those up front can live a life of luxury, however. Whether in the driver or passenger seat, you quickly forget you’re in a car so small. The view out is good, there is genuinely plenty of space – more elbow room than in the bigger Yaris – and the refinement is very good indeed.
The cabin is also home to some clever thinking. The controls are quite thin on the ground, but well deployed. The smart rotary air-con controller is an obvious space-saver, but works well, while the audio controls on the wheel are so simple it’s amazing someone didn’t think of them earlier. The colours may be relatively sober, but the design is appealing and useful. It’s no chore spending time in here.
So it must be dull to drive then? Not a bit of it. The three-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol pumps out a healthy 67bhp, and even with the CVT transmission, it’s a keen and willing little plugger, and actually relishes being revved to the stars. The three cylinders sing their hearts out and push you along sufficiently quickly to stay in the swim. A bigger 1.3-litre version with stop-start technology is on the way, but it will struggle to match the charm of the 1.0-litre.
The ride is actually rather good considering the postage-stamp dimensions, the steering is accurate and, thanks to all the space-saving up front, has a turning circle so ridiculous it would make a cabbie weep with envy.
There must be a downside then, right? Well, it is costly. The entry model checks in at £9,295 for the manual, which is a lot if you pay solely on square feet of metal per pound, but the iQ offers a lot more than that.
Both versions get nine airbags as standard, including the first ever rear curtain airbag. You also get ESP, electric windows, six speaker radio/CD, manual air-con, remote locking and alloy wheels on the base model, with even more on the up-spec iQ2.
Toyota knows this isn’t a car for everyone, but it is a car for those who don’t always have four passengers and loads of luggage, venture in and out of the city, and need to lever into parking spaces and squeeze every last mile from a drop of fuel. In that respect, the iQ performs all the tricks you want from a tiny car, but drives like a big one.
PRICE: £9,295.
ENGINE: A 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol unit producing 67bhp and 67lb/ft of torque via five-speed manual gearbox as standard.
PERFORMANCE: 0-62mph in 14.7 seconds; top speed 93mph.
COSTS: 65.7mpg combined.
EMISSIONS: 99g/km.
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