We got Smart, but we can't buy an iQ: Toyota micro debuts in Paris

October 3, 9:23 PMAuto Review ExaminerJohn Matras

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At the Paris auto show, Toyota debuted the production version of the iQ, its new microcar for the European market and it goes the Smart fortwo one better. Actually, it goes the fortwo one and a half better, at least if one is counting seats.* The new iQ, introduced in concept form at the Geneva auto show, went public with the model that Europeans will be able to purchase starting January, 2009.

How the iQ beats the Smart fortwo on interior space is simple. It makes the outside bigger, though not by a lot. It’s only about a foot longer and five inches wider, though the Smart is almost two inches taller, so Toyota still did a feat of engineering legerdemain.

A one-liter three-cylinder engine is mounted transversely up front, positioned to maximize front seat leg room, and drives the front wheels via a real five-speed gearbox. The fuel tank is stuffed under the back seat. Part of the trick, too, is that the iQ has no trunk. The Smart fortwo has its engine slung between the rear wheels and a cargo area equal to that of a Miata’s just above it. But then again, the iQ’s back seat folds for a really big—relatively speaking—load area. There’s no glovebox, however. The owner's manual is actually Velcroed to the dash.

No one, especially Toyota, claims the back seat is fit for two adults, expressly saying it works for an adult and a child, and those who’ve been there say it works, at least if the front seat occupants cooperate.

Like the Smart, the iQ is powered by a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine rated at 67 horsepower, compared to the Smart’s 71 hp. Performance gives the Smart the edge, thanks to its smaller size as well as its six percent greater horsepower. The fortwo clips off 0-60 mph in 12.8 seconds while the iQ has been independently tested by Britain’s Car magazine at 14.1 seconds for a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) dash. Speed demons be patient. A 1.3-liter gas engine and 1.4-liter diesel are in the works.

Fuel ecomony is a strong point, of course. While the fortwo has an EPA estimate of 33/41 mpg city/highway the iQ is said to have an overall fuel economy of 55 mpg, though that sounds optimistic, at least compared to the fortwo.

Still, the iQ is fully equipped, with air conditioning, quality audio and a full complement of airbags, including the world’s first rear airbag, assuming perhaps that the iQ is more likely to be punted from behind than run into anything very fast from the front.

Price in Great Britain is estimated to be about ?10,000 (about $17,700 US at the current exchange rate) when it goes on sale. That compares to the US price of a Smart fortwo, from $11,590 for the base Pure model to $16,590 for the Passion Cabriolet.

It’s certainly too early for Toyota to announce any plans to bring it to the U.S. even if it were to have such plans. (It might fit the Scion brand, we think). But Ford says its microcar, the Ka, won’t make the transatlantic trip. Still the question is, will an American ever be able to get an iQ? Well, we finally got Smart, didn’t we?

 *Yes, we know that Smart made a four-seat model called appropriately enough the forfour, but it stopped after only a couple of years to concentrate on the more profitable fortwo. The forfour was the model originally slated to come to the U.S., by the way. 

Illustrations, top to bottom: 2009 Toyota iQ; 2009 Toyota iQ dash, with no glovebox; 2009 Toyota iQ back seat, seatback folds down for cargo storage; rear view, 2009 Toyota iQ. Toyota photos.