Toyota IQ=intelligence!
Posted by: Bruce Woodhouse on 23 January 2009
Here is a great little thing.
My wife wants to replace her ageing Honda Jazz with something reliable, cheap to run, simple to drive and a bit more stylish. She rarely carries passengers but does do 12k a year.
Her head (and nearly our bank balance) has been swayed by a Fiat 500 despite me telling her it will break down after a week, drive like a supermarket trolley and that it is really a cheap Fiat Panda in disguise. I have not let her drive one just in case she falls further in love!
In my fightback I had a test of this little Toyota. What a pleasant suprise. Yes it is a bit shovel nosed (it is as wide as a 'normal' car) and the interior was designed by a teenager with a marker pen and too much time on his hands but what impresses is not just the packaging but the drive. It has really comfy seats, a wide cabin, excellent ride considering the short wheelbase and a very smooth and quiet 3 pot motor. Slow it may be (it averages 70mpg or something daft) but get it up to speed and it actually cruised really comfortably at 70mph. I suspect a Smart at the same speed is a lot more frenetic. When I got out (having parked on a sixpence with the amazing turning circle) I literally got out and laughed at the 'Tardis' experience. It actually seats 3 in reasonable comfort, 4 at a very tight pinch. Fold the rear seats and the boot is large enough for our purposes although it more or less dissapears with the seats up.
Proper innovation with good simple and creative engineering plus Toyota reliability. It could (and perhaps should) be a bit cheaper but I'll bet it holds more value than a Fiat made of cardboard. I also reckon the design is far more intresting than the Italian retro-pastiche.
Now to convince Mrs W!
Bruce
My wife wants to replace her ageing Honda Jazz with something reliable, cheap to run, simple to drive and a bit more stylish. She rarely carries passengers but does do 12k a year.
Her head (and nearly our bank balance) has been swayed by a Fiat 500 despite me telling her it will break down after a week, drive like a supermarket trolley and that it is really a cheap Fiat Panda in disguise. I have not let her drive one just in case she falls further in love!
In my fightback I had a test of this little Toyota. What a pleasant suprise. Yes it is a bit shovel nosed (it is as wide as a 'normal' car) and the interior was designed by a teenager with a marker pen and too much time on his hands but what impresses is not just the packaging but the drive. It has really comfy seats, a wide cabin, excellent ride considering the short wheelbase and a very smooth and quiet 3 pot motor. Slow it may be (it averages 70mpg or something daft) but get it up to speed and it actually cruised really comfortably at 70mph. I suspect a Smart at the same speed is a lot more frenetic. When I got out (having parked on a sixpence with the amazing turning circle) I literally got out and laughed at the 'Tardis' experience. It actually seats 3 in reasonable comfort, 4 at a very tight pinch. Fold the rear seats and the boot is large enough for our purposes although it more or less dissapears with the seats up.
Proper innovation with good simple and creative engineering plus Toyota reliability. It could (and perhaps should) be a bit cheaper but I'll bet it holds more value than a Fiat made of cardboard. I also reckon the design is far more intresting than the Italian retro-pastiche.
Now to convince Mrs W!
Bruce