Early indications are that the iconic Toyota iQ is already becoming more to its owners than purely transportation.
A good example of this is desert adventurer and author Tom Sheppard who, when he is not travelling across the Sahara or writing his new book “Quiet for a Tuesday,” is designing a unique colour scheme for his own iQ. (more…)
There is no questioning iQ’s status as one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the market, but a new hypermiling challenge has seen the tiny Toyota perform way beyond its official mpg figures.
Piloted by two of the team from the iQ blog, a standard iQ2 with a 1.0-litre VVT-i petrol engine, broke through 500 miles on a single tank of fuel. What makes the achievement all the more remarkable is that this was no finely tuned marathon attempt, but a gruelling drive through some of the most congested town centres in the south and midlands of England and Wales. (more…)
It is a common assumption that the smaller the car, the more vulnerable driver and passengers are in an accident. The new Toyota iQ – the world’s smallest four-seat production model – is proof this need not be the case, providing an unprecedented level of active and passive safety protection for an A-segment model. (more…)
Innovation No6: the Ultra-slim Seat Design
Toyota’s guide to the interlinked engineering and design innovations in the remarkable new iQ city car concludes with details of its space-efficient slim seat design.
In its mission to build the world’s first car to measure less than three metres long but with four seats inside, Toyota maximised every last millimetre of space. (more…)
Innovation No5: the Asymmetrical Dashboard
The fifth cut-paste-and-print guide to the design and engineering innovations in the new Toyota iQ explains how an asymmetrical dashboard design made it possible to maximise interior space. (more…)
Innovation No4: the Space-saving Air Conditioning Unit
A new, compact air conditioning unit is the subject of the fourth in a series of cut-paste-and-print guides to Toyota’s design and engineering innovations for its new iQ, the world’s smallest four-seat car. (more…)
Innovation No3: the Flat Under-floor Fuel Tank
The third instalment in Toyota’s series of cut-paste-and-print guides to the ground-breaking design and engineering features behind the new iQ reveals details of the car’s flat under-floor fuel tank.
The usual place for a car’s fuel tank is beneath the rear seats, but in the compact interior of the iQ this would make it impossible for Toyota to achieve its goal of a sub-three-metre long car with four seats. The solution was to create a flat fuel tank, positioned beneath the vehicle floor. (more…)
Innovation No2: the Centre Take-off Steering Gear
By saving space under the bonnet, Toyota has been able to achieve exceptional room inside iQ, creating a car that is less than three metres long, yet has four seats on board. Using a centre take-off steering gear for the Electric Power Steering (EPS), a first for a Toyota vehicle, is a key element in achieving this ultra-compact design. (more…)
In spite of its small dimensions, iQ is the fruit of some very big ideas in how to design and engineer small cars. Success in creating a vehicle that is less than three metres long, yet has space for four seats on board was made possible thanks to a series of six interlinked technical and packaging innovations, pioneering work that rewrites the rulebook on car design.
In a series of six simple cut-paste-and-print guides, Toyota will explain how.
INNOVATION No1: The front-mounted differential
The position of the gearbox differential dictates the position of a car’s driven wheels and is traditionally a limiting factor on how space under the bonnet can be used. Toyota’s brainwave was the simple but highly effective idea of moving the differential in front of the engine, a concept that opens up new and radical opportunities for iQ’s small-but-spacious design.
This clever piece of engineering brings three key advantages:
1. The space under the bonnet can be made more compact.
2. The front wheels can be positioned at the far corners of the car, with almost no front overhang.
3. The length of the cabin can be extended, without increasing the car’s overall size. iQ’s interior gains an additional 120mm compared to the Toyota Yaris.
Installing the differential so far forward reduces the distance from the front edge of the bumper to the accelerator pedal, allowing more space in the passenger compartment.
By moving the large, 15-inch alloy wheels further out to the corners of the car and minimising the front overhang, iQ gains a distinctive “super stance”. This firmly planted look broadcasts the car’s great stability and a fun-to-drive character, qualities far in advance of the traditionally modest dynamic performance of small city cars.
Innovation No2: The Centre Take-Off Steering Gear.
Innovation No3: the Flat Under-floor Fuel Tank
Innovation No4: the Space-saving Air Conditioning Unit
Order books are open for Toyota’s revolutionary new iQ, with first deliveries to customers in January. An instant icon for modern urban motoring, iQ matches its advanced engineering and design with highly desirable equipment specifications: it’s proof that thinking small no longer means thinking modest. (more…)
The final production version of Toyota’s revolutionary iQ makes its debut at the Paris motor show today. Last seen as a near-final design at the Geneva show earlier this year, iQ is a city car that is so innovative that – like the Toyota Prius – it stands as a major milestone for future vehicle development. (more…)
Toyota announced today that it has developed the world’s first* SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) rear window curtain shield airbag to protect rear passengers’ heads in the event of a rear-end collision. (more…)