Toyota iQ Strata

If you read Toyota’s publicity, you could be forgiven for thinking, that Toyota would like you to believe, that with the iQ, they have reinvented the automobile ! For example; “Not just another small car, anybody can do that. We’ve ripped up the rule book and challenged every tiny detail of an established four-seater vehicle. There’s intelligence in every millimetre. In fact, the list of iQ design innovations is probably longer than the car itself.” Whatever about that last assertion, the others certainly suggest a very courageous pioneering spirit, when it comes to small car design.
In 1957, fifty two years ago, Fiat introduced their Nova 500. It was a four seater and its two rear seats certainly offered more space than that in the iQ. The seat backrest folded flat onto the cushion to increase luggage space, which was every bit as commodious as that in the iQ, when its rear seat backs are folded. The Fiat Nova 500 managed to do all that in a package that was shorter, lower, narrower and on a smaller wheelbase than the iQ. Its tiny twin cylinder engine and four speed gearbox were longitudinally mounted, so all in all it was a very impressive engineering feat.
The iQ does have more comfortable front seats, with a range of adjustments, a larger more powerful engine, more electronic gadgets and a higher level of performance, but it also has the benefit of fifty two additional years to develop its current technology.
Fifty years ago, Alec Issigonis, introduced his Mini to the world. It was marginally longer than the iQ, but lower and narrower and was built on a very marginally longer wheelbase. It too offered better accommodation for four adult passengers, with considerably more luggage space. It popularised the concept of a transversely mounted front engine, with front wheel drive. Like the Fiat Nova 500, its two front seats were certainly not up to the comfort standards of those in the iQ and it was very sparsely equipped in the comfort stakes. Build quality was pathetic, yet it satisfied millions of motorists’ requirements for approximately forty years.
Finally there was the Hillman IMP, which enjoyed a short life span in the nineteen sixties and early seventies. Longer than the iQ, it had a wheelbase very similar to that of the Mini. It was lower and narrower than the iQ, yet it offered better passenger space, even if comfort and equipment levels were to the standards of forty plus years ago and not in line with today’s more demanding requirements.
None of the above is intended to dilute Toyota’s achievements with the iQ. I mention them merely to illustrate the point, that down through the decades, car designers have strived, very successfully, to come up with solutions, for versatile, practical, small, economical cars. Toyota is just another company to join this long and distinguished list, that have already competed very successfully in this field.

As somebody who was very familiar with the compact engine compartment of the Mini, I was utterly amazed to see the size of the front end of the iQ. Look under its short bonnet and there appears to be acres of open unused space. Sit in behind the steering wheel and the horizontal surface of the facia stretches out towards the base of the windscreen like an aircraft carrier’s flight deck. Like the Mini, fifty years ago, the Toyota iQ has a transversely mounded engine, but unlike the Mini, it appears to be mounted rather low and well hidden amongst other accessories. Accessibility certainly does not appear to be one of its design features.
Look at a side view of the iQ and the front passengers appear to sit well back, in the centre of the short wheelbase. Rear passengers, however, are right at the back, sitting above the rear axle, in the manner of cars of the late nineteen twenties and early nineteen thirties. Open the hatchback, when the rear seats are in position and you will hardly squeeze in an empty paper shopping bag, between the back of the body and the back of those rear seats. If you fold the rear seat backrests down, you can access a narrow storage box, that offers a tiny amount of space. This box has to be removed to gain access to the jack and tools in the event of a puncture. Toyota supply a compressor and foam, but no spare wheel and removing the jack and its winding handle is a major difficulty. Your troubles are only starting when you take them out, as putting them back is even more awkward and time consuming.

Above : Luggage space with four seats

Above left : Removable luggage box
Above right : Tool storage under removable luggage box

In the picture above, note that the jack and its winding handle are under the rear seats, making access to them very difficult.
The two rear seat backs fold down into a horizontal position easily enough, but the headrests have to be removed first. They can be stored under the front seats easily enough. When the driver is around 5”9” (1.752 metres) in height, there is absolutely no kneeroom for an adult passenger, of any size, in the rear seat immediately behind the driver’s seat. Space is a little better on the passenger side, as the front passenger seat can be slid further forwards, as there is no steering wheel to occupy the space. Whatever the iQ’s other virtues and I will come to these later, a practical four seater car for everyday use, it most certainly is not. While you may get children into the rear seats, access is not a strong point, even though the two doors are very wide. Once in, visibility out is another difficulty, as there is a wide B-pillar, which obscures any view of the outside world on either side. This is also a major problem if you are in the habit of looking over your right shoulder when reversing into a driveway or parking bay. It could also be very intimidating for children, who may feel claustrophobic.

On the Strata version, the centre console has three round controls, stacked vertically. The top one, numbered 1 to 4 controls the speed of the circulation fan, while below its central knob there is a selector that allows you to choose recirculated air or fresh air. The centre control allows you to select the direction; feet, hands, face, windscreen etc., while the bottom dial is for the temperature, blue for cool and red for warm. At the top centre of the facia there is a digital panel that doesn’t seem to provide any useful information at all. Below this there is a slot for the CD. The instrument binnacle behind the steering wheel has an analogue speedometer and a small analogue tachometer. To the right of the tachometer, there is a digital gearshift indicator, while above there are several digital warning signs for things like a door open, an unfastened seat belt in an occupied seat and the handbrake on warning light.
This car has one of the worst heating/ventilating systems I have ever come across. With the selector on cold and the fan speed on position two, I was suffocated for the lack of fresh air. Open the large window in the driver’s door and you get blasted most uncomfortably by the air rushing in. Move the fan speed selector to three or four and you get deafened by the noise of the fan.
The gearshift indicator is another infuriating gadget. According to the specifications, maximum torque, of 91 Nm, is delivered at 4,800 rpm, yet the shift indicator seemed to be calibrated, so that as soon as you reached 1,800 - 2,000 rpm, it indicated an upward shift, even if you could see that the road ahead was rising and traffic may be slowing down. Surely the whole point of a tachometer, is to allow the driver to monitor the situation and make the necessary shifts, as and when deemed necessary, by road and traffic conditions. If you are going to provide a shift indicator, then there is no need for a tachometer and vice versa. While the speedometer is reasonably easy to see, whilst driving, the tachometer is not, mainly due to the fact that the numbers are all crowed together almost on top of each other.
To the left of the speedometer there is another digital panel, that shows fuel level, trip distance and other information. There is no sign of the radio, yet when I switched on the ignition, it came on. I spent a considerable amount of time trying, unsuccessfully to turn it off. Eventually after several pushes on the small lower button, marked Mode PWR, on the left hand arm of the steering wheel, it seemed to silence the darn thing.

Power is provided by a 998 cc, three cylinder petrol engine, driving a five speed manual gearbox. It is the same engine used in the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1. It is a good little performer, smooth and willing, yet tuned to give a specific output of 50.100 kW/lt. It drives through a five speed manual gearbox. When shifting from 1st to second, you have to consciously hold the lever over to the left, as otherwise it will all too easily slip into fourth. This can be a nuisance, especially when trying to make rapid changes.
One does not expect small city runabouts to deliver a world rally championship performance, so the iQ’s top speed of 150 kph (93 mph) is more than satisfactory. On paper the 0-100 kph acceleration time of 14.7 seconds may look lethargic to some boy racers, but on the road it is perfectly satisfactory in today’s congested traffic conditions. Indeed, whatever other faults I could find with the iQ, overall performance was not one of them. Apart from the many annoyances I have already mentioned, it is a pleasant enough little car to drive. The ride was reasonably comfortable, considering the short wheelbase, the steering was sufficiently direct and those large exterior rear view mirrors, gave a good view all round. The short wheelbase had one major advantage in narrow city streets, where it allowed you to do a U-turn, where normally you would have to do a three point turn.
When buying a car of this kind, fuel economy has to be high on your list of essential requirements. This version of the iQ is credited with 4.9 lt/100 km (57 mpg) on the urban cycle and 3.9 lt/100 km (68 mpg) on the extra urban cycle. This gives a combined cycle average of 4.4 lt/100 km (59 mpg). Exhaust emissions are said to be 99 gm/km, which puts the iQ into Irish road tax band A, which at present rates, demands Euro 104 per year.
Toyota also offer the iQ with a Multidrive automatic transmission, which should make city driving a lot more effortless and relaxing. While top speed remains the same, the 0-100 kph acceleration time extends to 15.5 seconds and fuel consumption drops to 5.7 lt/100 km (49 mpg) urban, 4.1 lt/100 km (68 mpg) extra urban and 4.7 lt/100 km (59 mpg) combined and emissions rise to 110 gm/km, although this does not alter the Irish road tax rating.
Another alternative is a 1.4 diesel, with a six speed manual gearchange. Top speed rises to 170 kph (105 mph), while 0-100 kph acceleration drops to 11.8 seconds. Urban fuel consumption is 4.8 lt/100 km (58 mpg), extra urban 3.5 lt/100 km (80 mpg) and combined cycle 4.0 lt/100 km (70 mpg). Exhaust emissions creep up to 104 gm/km. Least you be tempted by this alternative form of power, let me warn you that it costs around 6,000 euro more than the 1.0 litre petrol !

The braking system uses ventilated discs at the front and plain discs at the back. It combines anti-lock with electronic brake force distribution and emergency brake assist. There is also a vehicle stability programme that incorporates traction control. On several occasions when accelerating away from rest, even on good surfaces, I experienced a brief spell of wheel spin, before the traction control stepped in. Likewise on one occasion when having to brake hard in a curve, I detected a moment of oversteer, before the vehicle stability programme took over. Much of this could be due to the short wheelbase, but it certainly gave me a lot of cause for concern. This after all happened at city and suburban speeds, not rally speeds.
As tested this Toyota iQ had a recommended retail price of Euro 14,410. I personally would not buy one at all. You can get the same engine in its Aygo sister for around 3,800 euro less, for the three door model and 3,400 euro less for the five door model. The Aygo is a much more practical small car.
You can even buy a 1.0 litre Yaris three door for just 20 euro more, while the excellent five door is a mere 560 more ! These are real imaginative small cars. In the case of the Aygo, performance and fuel consumption are virtually the same as the iQ and it falls into the same road tax band, so why pay more for a car that offers so much less ?
The Yaris is in the next size up, being a bigger, heavier and far more practical car. It uses the same engine and there is very little difference in the performance, although it is slightly heavier in its thirst for fuel. This does, unfortunately put it into the next band up, based on exhaust emissions, so its road tax would be 156 euro per year. In my view it is a price well worth paying, as you get so much more comfort, space and versatility for your money.
What a pity Toyota decided to tear up the rule book and challenge every detail of an established four seater vehicle. Those rules are there for a purpose and have been tried and tested over several generations and decades. What a pity Toyota chose the course they did, as it unquestionably leaves a lot to be desired ! iQ - no thank you !