Bianco On Cars: Toyota’s iQ Makes Smart Look Dumb

Toyota has a new city car that will debut in Europe next year called the iQ. It’s what you’d call a super-mini car, like the Smart ForTwo as it’s only 9.8 feet long while the Smart is 8.8 feet.

In that extra foot, you get two back seats and a small space behind the seats for some grocery bags!

The iQ works magic with space, making the new Smart look, uh… dumb! The iQ is a front drive, four seat, three-door hatchback with MacPherson struts in front, a torsion bar rear axel, and a choice of three drivetrains – only for the European market, of course.

A three-cylinder gasoline engine is the base unit, a four-cylinder micro-hybrid is the mid-range and a four-cylinder diesel tops the line.

Toyota is a master at packaging its cars both inside and out; but the iQ project pushed the engineers to rethink everything. For example, they rotated the front drive transmission 180 degrees and pushed it a bit in front of the engine rather than behind.

That placement allowed the front wheels to be pushed forward to the corners which added an extra 4 inches of front legroom (a big deal in a car this small). In fact, the novel placement of the transmission is something Toyota plans to use going forward when engineering all its front engine, front drive cars.

Toyota re-engineered the steering gear rack to sit higher and further to the side than in conventional front drivers which aided the forward placement of the front wheels. This little trick helped give the front passengers more room in the footwells.

The HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) is also brand new and half the size of the box in the little Toyota Yaris. The new HVAC box allows the dash to be much thinner, providing even more front passenger room. Toyota says it has tested it in the hottest deserts and it performed perfectly.

The smaller box allowed the depth of the dash to be asymmetrical. The driver gets the “normal” dash while the passenger side ditches a glove box (but not an airbag) and rakes the dash steeply back towards the firewall – like a wedge was excised.

The extra front passenger knee room allows the seat to be moved comfortably forward providing space (and knee room) for a full-sized adult to travel in the rear seat behind the front passenger.

The smart packaging continues with extra-thin front seats with a one-piece back that’s hollowed out to provide an extra 1.6 inches of knee room. That sounds like no big deal; but in a small car every inch counts. The thin seats also save weight and the savings in weight is as important for fuel economy as the thinness is for packaging.

Toyota says that the new lighter, thinner seats are as strong and comfortable as those in the Yaris and that they provide the same rigidity and whiplash protection.

Finally, a flat fuel tank was placed under the front passenger seat rather than using a conventional tank in the rear. Flat tanks are thin and shallow but make up for the thinness with length and width. Engineers avoid flat tanks because it’s hard to get a true reading level from the tank sending unit to the dash fuel gauge.

Toyota says they’ve broken new ground and solved the problem by repositioning the tank’s functioning parts (fuel pump and sending unit). With rear gas tank, Toyota engineers maximized the wheelbase and cabin length without adding to the overall car’s length.

When it comes to safety, the iQ outsmarted the Smart – again. Smart has a rear engine and transmission and the occupants are surrounded by a high-strength steel cage. However, in a head-on crash, a rear-engine car pushes the weight of the engine forward and puts more stress on the frame.

In the same head-on crash with a front engine car, most of the weight is up front and the crash is better absorbed. These crash dynamics allowed Toyota to use normal strength steel for the iQ fame.

No extra frame reinforcements were needed. Accordingly, the bigger iQ weighs less than the smaller Smart.

Less weight, increased fuel economy and optimal safety – that’s a nice trick!

Toyota hasn’t given any fuel economy estimates; but you can be sure the iQ will easily beat the 33/41 EPA statistics for the US version of the 2008 Smart ForTwo.

It will be priced to compete directly with the Smart ForTwo; just with two more seats. The iQ has almost the same interior space as a MINI Cooper except it’s 28 inches shorter and less expensive.

The Toyota iQ is not just a pie-in-the-sky concept car or a styling exercise. It’s the real deal and it will be available in Europe in the first quarter of 2009.

Toyota hopes to capture a wealthier, more mature urban dweller that is looking for a premium super-mini and doesn’t mind paying a little extra money.

Initially, the iQ’s supply will be rather limited – Toyota says it can make only 100,000 units at its Japanese plant.

Will Toyota introduce the iQ to the US market? There is a glimmer of hope.

Toyota thinks it could be a good fit for its Scion brand. Unfortunately, if Toyota decides to bring the iQ to the US, it won’t be for at least two years.

I think Toyota could sell every Scion iQ it imports.
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