Sometime soon, you'll be told that the 2012 Scion iQ is a play-it-loud kind of car, irreverent and unexpected, filled to the brim with flashing lights and good times as if 2006 had come again. You know, as if the iPod had been reinvented.
Well, we have our own thoughts about that. It's probably too soon to tell anyway.
But after driving the new Scion iQ around San Francisco, we can tell you for sure that we can hear the sound of the future in this car, and it's getting closer.
Sized for the Future
About 2 seconds after we keyed the ignition and the 2012 Scion iQ came to life, we plunged right into the morning traffic of San Francisco, running flank-to-flank with the electric streetcars, cable cars, buses and cabs choking the streets south of Market. We felt not a twinge of fear, since we looked into the face of drivers and pedestrians at a familiar height and the view of the cityscape through the windshield seemed no more imposing than usual.
This seems like not a very big deal until you realize what a small car this is, measuring 120.1 inches overall, 66.1 inches wide and 59.1 inches tall. From behind the wheel, you'd think the front-wheel-drive iQ has the fairly familiar dimensions of any compact car. But when you park and climb out, it's pretty clear that the iQ is more like a motorized telephone booth than you realize, provided you remember telephone booths.
The futurists tell Toyota that there's a significant demographic shift toward the cities these days in the search for jobs and cheap rents, so there's a growing niche for cars that are not only cheap to buy and run but also extremely usable. So usability is the theme here, something far larger than simply issues of price or fuel economy. It's about size, convenience and utility.
What the 2012 Scion iQ is trying to do is give you big usability by shrinking away the excess size. It's an interesting idea, kind of like the tight-fitting T-shirt of automobiles.
Thinking Inside the Box
Chief engineer Hiroki Nakajima is the tallest chief engineer at Toyota, so he finds a certain humor in being responsible for the company's smallest car. But maybe it has paid off, because the Toyota guys have performed a number of engineering miracles in order to package all the stuff of the modern automobile within such a compact space.
The turning circle is 12.9 feet, about the size of two king-size mattresses, Scion says.
The front differential is in front of the engine, not behind. The electric-assist power steering is mounted high, while the 8.5-gallon gas tank is under the rear floor. The front passenger seat is located slightly forward of the driver seat, and you can actually fit one human in the passenger seat and one behind in the rear seat. You also can fit another passenger behind the driver, but only if his age does not exceed his hat size (which is why this car is described as 3+1).
Surprisingly enough, you don't feel like you're in a clown car when you're behind the wheel. There's no bumping of elbows or rubbing of shoulders or complaints of violated air space, not the least because you'll find the 53.9 inches of front hiproom (we won't mention the 33.8 inches in the rear) and 73.8 cubic feet of EPA passenger volume. The iQ is no bigger on the inside than the outside, of course, but the full-length seat travel and full-size doors make it easy to climb in and out, while the rear hatch opens to reveal 3.5 cubic feet with the rear 50/50-split folding seatbacks in place and a very useful 16.7 cubic feet when the seatbacks go down.
It's only when you think of safety do you realize that this is a very small egg in a land of big ostrich-size eggs, which is to say that Toyota had to work pretty hard to keep passengers from being scrambled in any egg-to-egg confrontations. As a result, there are no fewer than 11 airbags inside the iQ. Let's count them: dual-stage front airbags, side airbags (big ones), seat cushion airbags (minimizing forward movement), knee airbags, curtain-type side airbags, and even airbags encircling the twin rear-seat headrests.
Self-Propelled! Fully Motorized!
One nice thing about bathing a car in the shrink ray is the way the weight shrinks as well, so the iQ is not only pocket size, it also tips the scales at just 2,127 pounds. This means the IQ's 1.3-liter inline-4 is certainly up to the task of pulling this front-wheel-drive car around, since it commands 94 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 89 pound-feet of torque at 4,400 rpm, plus variable valve timing expands the power band.
But if you're hoping that the 2012 Scion iQ will feel anything other than self-propelled, you're headed for disappointment. A continuously variable transmission (CVT) processes the power for the front wheels, and you can see that this is theoretically a fine idea, since it minimizes weight (so we're told), maximizes fuel economy (an excellent EPA-rated 36 city/37 highway/37 combined mpg), and enhances that whole set-it-and-forget-it usability thing.
Unfortunately the iQ's performance is sleep-inducing, not so much because Scion anticipates acceleration to 60 mph in 11.8 seconds but instead because the powertrain responds with such an insipid sound when you lay into the throttle. It's pretty much the same sound you get when you walk into the bathroom and flick on the ventilator fan.
The Scion iQ does get down the road effectively, pacing traffic easily enough at 80 mph with good straight-line stability, though of course its slab-sided bodywork and boxy dimensions make it moderately sensitive to crosswinds. We had some fun on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge as we found our way to Muir Woods, and we can report that the iQ is narrow enough to share such winding roads with the big cars on the other side of the double-yellow line as well as the bicyclists on this side.
Really it's like going down the road in two-thirds of a Corolla, as the front MacPherson struts and rear torsion beam have been dialed in with the standard Toyota standards for suspension action, insulating the cabin from bumps and thumps. The 175/60R16 tires ride pretty well, and the brake setup is sufficient, even with rear drums. Because the package is so short and narrow, you can feel the platform tilt across the bumps, but the movements aren't distracting. Still, the only thrill available is the amazingly compact turning circle of 12.9 feet, which is about the size of two king-size mattresses, Scion says.
Usable, Not Minimal
These are desperate times for Japanese car manufacturers, as the yen keeps increasing in value against the dollar. That's why it's not easy to price a new Japanese car against its competition and maintain any reasonable profit. Maybe that's why the 2012 Scion iQ will come in only one specification when it goes on sale in October on the West Coast and then is progressively introduced to the South and the Gulf states in January, the Northeast in February and the Midwest in March.
It's priced at $15,265, which combines with a transportation fee of $730 for price of $15,995. This makes the Scion iQ closer to a Ford Fiesta or Honda Fit than a Chevrolet Sonic or Hyundai Accent.
Of course, since this car is about usability, it has antilock brakes, traction control and stability control as standard equipment (government mandates for same notwithstanding). That's why there's a tilt steering wheel, Bluetooth hands-free audio, a standard 160-watt Pioneer audio head unit with CD/MP3/WMA capability, and audio controls on the steering wheel. And in the Scion way, there are plenty of accessories in the pipeline, including trick wheels (like those seen here), performance tires, a body kit, a premium audio setup and a navigation system.
It's an interesting idea, this whole usability thing. The 2012 Scion iQ really does suit an urban environment, where its size makes it a great fit for everything from parking spaces to errands through city traffic. It's a car that makes everything easy, even if it's not exactly fun. Maybe that's what makes it the car of the future.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
Add A Comment »
noobnox says:
06:28 AM, 07/31/2011
All of those pics in the gallery and not a single one of the backseat area? Not that it's really useable for anything but a small child....one small child that is.
I've got to say danke but no danke to micro cars like this. I don't care if it has eleventeen thousand airbags....that thing is going to be about as safe as a real phonebooth in even a moderate speed collision with a normal sized vehicle.
akirachan says:
08:04 PM, 07/26/2011
I would love to see Scion bring a six-speed manual version of this car. A possible upgrade for a larger engine or a turbocharger version also would be a welcome addition.
But just a food for thought: If Toyota would build a station-wagon or a mini-van based on iQ platform, with a larger trunk and larger behind-the-driver seat space, I think they would have a nice competitor to the cars like the Fit, while bringing the cost down by sharing components with the iQ. May not be a game-changer like the iQ itself, but they might gain more customer-base while keeping the cost to a minimum.
Heck, while they're at it, why not build a mini-MR2 based on iQ? That would be real fun!
p00pman says:
07:17 AM, 07/23/2011
how wide are those wheels?! 5 inches?!
alex38 says:
04:39 PM, 07/22/2011
@ Michael Jordan
"...It's a car that makes everything easy, even if it's not exactly fun. Maybe that's what makes it the car of the future."
Looks like a well thought article but I'd have to disagree with your last statement as you imply that cars of the future will not be fun. I think the CVT is a large part of the driving experience being sub-par but I don't think all car manufacturers will be headed in this direction.
Case in point is the Hyundai Accent having class leading fuel efficient figures, and this with your vanilla gasoline engine and transmission. Guess i see the glass as half full.
thetruth01 says:
11:50 AM, 07/21/2011
I totally get this car, and those who are naysayers here simply don't. The iQ competes directly with Fiestas, 500s, Fits, and Toyota's own Yarises and xDs. The iQ and smart are small cars that are designed to pack enough features and quality to compete directly with cars that (space-wise) are a class higher. And that's the point. Buying smaller no longer means buying a lesser car. In fact the iQ has features that you can't get in the larger B segment cars, like better fuel economy and the ease of parking. All you are doing is giving up space behind the seats, and a couple seconds of 0-60.
The smart's problem was that it did a lousy job at this task, even a few years ago when the B class cars were mostly junk. Now with standouts, the smart is even more left in the dust. But not the iQ. It really can compete with any Fiesta or 500 out there. It's just smaller. And for many city dwellers, that's a plus, not a minus.
That's why Toyota had to price it right in the middle of the B segment class, to prove that that is where it belongs.
What would I choose? I love the Fiesta and think the 500 is super cool. I would have to drive them all. And they would all, with features added, likely cost around the same. Because they are all comparable. It just would come down to prefernce and which features were most important. Judging by all the half parking spaces in my SF hood, the iQ already has the advantage tho.
coolb944 says:
11:31 AM, 07/21/2011
I don't think NYC (or Manhattan at least) is the best example to use for a car like this. It may make more sense in some of the other boroughs, but Manhattan is its own beast and really is one of the few places you could live car-free and be perfectly fine.
I can understand the convenience of having a small car like this in certain neighborhoods. In my part of Long Beach, CA, you're screwed for a normal sized parking space after 7:30-8 PM, with tons of lingering half spaces that I'm always bewildered and frustrated by. So the iQ would make sense then. And if you're primarily city driving, the MPG is awesome. I don't expect you'd get this car anyway if it was your sole car and you did a lot of highway miles, as there are better choices with more MPGs and more space for the same money or just a touch more.
I really don't get the argument on price though in the article about the yen to dollar making this expensive. If that were the case, you'd be seeing the impact on the prices of all other cars being imported from Japan, which isn't really happening. I suspect the price is so high due to packaging. It's hard to make a car this small and easily share parts with larger brethren to keep costs down. It probably has a lot of items solely engineered for this car and this car only, cutting out the economies of scale.
This is a very niche vehicle that will work for those city dwellers who drive around their city, but pretty much just stay there too. For city dwellers who travel outside their own city frequently, it makes no sense at all.
xorbe says:
10:10 PM, 07/20/2011
I was watching a couple youtube vids about the European iQ, and their 1L model gets 60 mpg?!
mrbacon says:
07:29 PM, 07/20/2011
Perhaps I'd be interested if you could get it with a manual transmission.
rpachigo says:
01:46 PM, 07/20/2011
Can I swat it with my flyswatter. This thing stinks. Get an accent, elantra, soul or veloster.
andy999 says:
01:37 PM, 07/20/2011
This little IQ would be great for those days when you simply feel too lazy to actually "walk" through the shopping mall hallways. The 37mpg figure seems slightly weak given the 2,100 pound curb weight, tiny footprint, and 1.3L displacement, but, I also realize that technology is somewhat hampered in this micro car segment. This is definitely intended to be a small city cruiser, and won't be seeing a great abundance of highway miles, anyway. I guess, that if someone were willing to shell out $16K plus for such a vehicle, and were only allowed a "half" parking space near their apartment or home, . . . maybe this would be great. For me, personally, there just isn't enough car here (literally) for the given price point.
Good times . . .