Motors North

Toyota iQ 2 five-speed manual city car

TOYOTA’S radical iQ city car is a small vehicle that delivers advanced thinking from a company renowned for innovation.

Under three-metres long and relatively wide at 1.68 metres it strikes a head-turning pose wherever it goes with its stubby looks and near vertical tail end.

It’s been the talk of the town since it appeared and has divided the car buying public into “love it or hate it” camps.

Most controversial is its accommodation – comfortably brilliant for two people, but hopeless if you need to carry a third or fourth soul.

Toyota can say what it likes, but the split/fold pair of rear seats are virtually useless for anyone other than a child and, even then, best for short journeys.

Which brings me to the real point of the iQ. It’s a "city" car. So do you need space for four? Is it more likely to be a solo or two-person commuting vehicle that’s easy to park?

If the answer is “no” to the first question and “yes” to the second, beat a path directly to your Toyota dealer now. It’ll be perfect. And if you have different needs ignore it – but take the same path and buy a Yaris!

The iQ is a car of extremes. It’s tiny in length terms, but exceptionally roomy for the front occupants. It’s nippy round town on its three-cylinder petrol heart but will still cruise happily at the motorway legal limit with no sign of strain.

Its boot is laughable. With the rear seats in place it offers a handbag-sized 23 litres, but drop the seats and it’s a more useful 238 litres. And it’s in this guise that this ugly bug of a car begins to make sense – an intelligent small car that’s ideal for one or two people with luggage.

The iQ’s design is not without faults, but I can’t criticise its outstanding build quality or the successful application of Toyota’s Optimal Drive. This little front wheel driver feels as solid as a rock with quality assembly and a firm stance.

The Optimal Drive technology delivers a surprisingly good driving experience, although its truncated dimensions and wide track, coupled with a kerb weight of just 845kg, are prone to make it skip on faster corners and upset its more normal composed road manners.

The dash is finished in good quality plastics, but it’s an odd mixture of angles and hard textures relieved only by the softer crash roll in front of the passenger. There’s no conventional glove compartment – just a handbag affair attached to the dash assembly with studs. It looks trendy but on the move swings and sways like a cow’s udder.

Visibility is pretty good ahead and to the side – but dreadful in the all important rear three-quarter area. This is a vital angle for emerging from splayed junctions, yet the iQ leaves you almost blind because of a thick B-pillar and ridiculously small rear side window. The hatch glazing is small, like the access door, and the C-pillars intrude on either side making it hard to judge reversing manoeuvres.

My test car was the mid-range iQ 2 – a £1000 upgrade from the standard iQ but with the same 67bhp three-pot engine and £1000 cheaper than the iQ 3 that has a 1.3 litre petrol unit with four-cylinders and 97bhp.

Frankly, given the iQ’s market profile and the lively and frugal performance of the superb little three-potter, I can see no reason why anyone would need the bigger engine – apart from overcoming the 998cc three-cylinder’s lethargic acceleration. But running costs are higher with the more expensive 1.3 – overall consumption falls to 59mpg while emissions rise to 113g.km and will cost you £35 a year in Road Tax compared to my iQ’s zero Road Tax bill.

From rest to 62mph the five-speed iQ 2 takes an age – 14.8 seconds. The six-speed 1.3 does it three seconds faster.

But, like the old Citroen 2CV, all you have to remember is that overtaking needs planning. There’s no point in making a snap decision to pass slower traffic in either car, they don’t have the power. Passing requires careful planning and a drop into third in the iQ 2’s slick five-speed manual gearbox and a boot-full of throttle to complete the manoeuvre.

Surprisingly this little jewel of a push-button start engine is not nearly as raucous as most other three-potters. It’s impressively smooth and quiet and that helps make the iQ sound, feel and ride like a much bigger car.

I tackled the dreaded A82 and A86 in both dry and torrentially wet conditions and was even caught in Elgin’s third major flooding incident as I headed for Huntly on the A96. Apart from some skipping on quicker bends on single-track parts of the A86 the iQ was as solid as a rock – thanks in large part to the excellent standard VSC electronic stability programming Toyota fits to all iQs. Ride comfort was excellent and seat support brilliant.

Noise levels were so low that I was able to take full advantage of the optional £930 colour sat-nav and audio package – a system that delivers superb sound but is flawed by control buttons that are extremely difficult to read on the move.

Driving into darkness on my way north after Grantown’s Motor Mania event, the iQ’s powerful lighting came into its own. Small cars are not renowned for after-dark illumination, but the range and spread of the iQ’s headlamp and auxiliary driving lights is impressive. I can think of many larger and far more expensive executive cars that are far less efficient in the lighting department than this pocket-mobile.

But while I’m on light here’s an irritation. The iQ’s interior light goes off after just 15 seconds and I could find no way of extending that cut-off time. It’s annoying when you are looking for something, especially as most interior lights automatically extinguish after a more sensible 30 seconds.

The iQ is a ground-breaker. My test car is highly efficient and clean. Exhaust emissions at 99g/km in manual guise are so low it escapes Road Tax and my economy at a genuine average of 56mpg was great. Servicing is needed every 10,000 miles and the standard warranty is a confidence-inspiring three years or 60,000 miles.

It’s exceptionally comfortable and quiet for two, promises to be ultra reliable and will make you the "speak of the street" because of its stumpy appearance. And provided you forget its rear seats and use them instead as a luggage shelf, life with an iQ should be satisfying.

If you don’t like manual transmission it also comes with Toyota’s Multidrive automatic for £1000.

Rating: 8/10

FINAL THOUGHT: If you don’t need the convenience of four seats and luggage is restricted to a supermarket shop, the iQ is a clever and trendy choice. But if four seats are even an occasional necessity move on to the Toyota Yaris. The iQ is an intelligent design breakthrough and delivers superb quality and a good drive – but it’s strictly a two-seater.

Toyota iQ 2 five-speed manual city car

Price: £10,615
Capacity: 998cc
Power: 67bhp
0-62mph: 14.7 seconds
Maximum speed: 93mph
Economy: Combined 65.7mpg; Urban 57.7mpg
CO2 emissions: 99g/km
ESP: Standard (Toyota VSC)
Insurance: Group 2

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Toyota iQ 2 five-speed manual city car