19/06/09

• Price10,495
• We like...Smooth and quiet
• We don't...Cabin plastics scratch easily

 It's a tiny, tiny car. But as the saying gs, do the best things in life always arrive in small packages? Find out hereThis car is seriously short. Only when you are up close to it, in the metal, ds it hit home just how near the front is to the back. Less that three metres, to be exact. Toyota says it is the world’s smallest four-seater.

Although, if we’re being picky, you’ll struggle to get four aboard unless at least one of them is a small child. But, despite its tiny size, the iQ isn’t about stripped-out, cash-crunched city travel. It may be the littlest Toyota you can buy, but it isn’t the cheapest. Instead, it’s a pint-sized luxury car. Sat-nav comes as standard as ds climate controlled air conditioning and a dinky set of chromed alloy wheels. It also boasts keyless entry, a push-button starter and, wait for this, nine airbags.

Toyota’s Aygo, although a bigger car, remains the make’s entry model and is thousands of pounds cheaper. So why buy the iQ? Well, it’s all about buying different, buying eco-friendly and shaking drivers away from the thought that all small cars are cheap and (a bit) uncouth.

The iQ’s an arresting beast to first glimpse. It’s a car that has a definite ‘face’ – wide open ‘eyes’ and a smirking grille ‘mouth’. We like it. Next, you notice that the driver’s door appears huge, taking up almost the car’s entire flank. Once inside, you’re very aware of the amazing space inside for the driver and front passenger – and the dash. The big, square, shiny-boxed combined CD and sat-nav dominates the dash.

The seats are choccy-brown fabric and the dash and door linings tone with them to give an expensive look, although the plastics used for the door handles and in the footwells look cheap and show scratches easily. There’s no glove box, but a satchel takes its place, pinned to the front wall of the cabin with metal poppers and Velcro. The dash is cut away on the passenger’s side so that, with two aboard and the seat pushed back, there’s a huge space to lounge in. If you need the rear seats, the passenger can slide his chair forward to free up leg space for whver is behind. But the fourth seat – behind the driver – is strictly for kids unless the soul at the wheel is a titch.

And with every seat in use there remains only a tiny slot for luggage – just enough for a skinny briefcase. Otherwise, you can drop the rear seatbacks individually, or lift the seat base, to free space for groceries or a sports bag. But if you’ve much else to carry it’s either do without, or borrow someone else’s car.

For such a baby it’s composed and very ‘grown-up’ on the move, with an exceptionally supple ride. The 1.0 engine is quiet and reasonably peppy with two aboard. As you’d hope, it is very economical and also emits little enough CO2 to qualify for ‘free’ road tax.
The IQ is cute and characterful for sure, much like a Smart car in its nature but smoother and better executed. And, of course, there’s the chance to ferry four, now and again.

Should you buy one? Why not - if you want a car to dart around a city in, but that’s good for a few hours on the motorway, too – it’ll serve you well.

• Engines1.0 petrol
• Power67bhp
• 0-60 mph14.7secs
• Economy65.7mpg
• CO2g/km99
• Insurance groups2E
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags9
• Seats4

Motors.co.uk value verdict: