September 4, 2009 by Christine
Being a mere 5ft 2” my motto has always been that the best of things come in small parcels…to which I often get the reply “so does poison”! Getting the keys to the Toyota IQ Strata, I decided I was going to put this motto to the test !
First impressions on seeing the IQ were that I actually thought it would look smaller and it seemed even bigger again inside. It’s quite a high car so once the door is closed you quickly forget that you’re sitting in a vehicle that is just 290mm long! The IQ is really a three-seater if the front passenger pulls their seat far enough forward to let the person in the back have some knee room but as I have my seat pulled so far up an adult can easily sit behind me too!
The 1 litre petrol engine is no rocket but it is surprisingly nippy. Zero to 100kmh takes about 15 seconds and top speed is claimed to be 150kmh. The gearbox is smooth and light to use although every now and again moving from first to second gear can seem a little rough – but maybe that’s just me!
If this car was a person it would be from the Dublin suburbs with parents from the country – it prefers the city life but can adapt well enough to the country boreens too!
The radio took a while to tune and I’m still not entirely sure how I ended up getting the stations tuned in but when I lose reception on entering a new county I’m reluctant to mess with it again!
The Strata doesn’t have air conditioning or the leather heated seats which the Luna enjoys but is comfortable to drive nonetheless. My one problem is that in any make of a 2009 car, air conditioning should be a standard these days which leads me to miss my sunroof from my old car even more.
There isn’t much space for spare change and bits of make up etc. which although can be a drawback is also an advantage as it stops me from cluttering up the car!
It’s still early days but the IQ is great fun to drive, it’s nippy, and easy to park (I wish I had it for my driving test for reversing around a corner!) and gets a lot of attention when parked up. As I’ve sold my old car I’m still deciding on purchasing the IQ when the honeymoon period ends but so far so good!
At the moment, my least favourite thing about the IQ is the advertising – it’s just not clever enough for a car which is beyond clever.
Keep the blog going. Car sounds very interesting. Toyota wake up and get DMdesign/Pr to run an advertising campaign for this car. Get the message out there about the benefits of this car. Why do you not have adverts on the actual cars out on the road at present? You have cars driving around the country and you are not taking advantage of that advertising space available to you at a low cost. Get DMdesign to design up a logo/ad and get it sprayed onto the cars. What are ye waiting for….get moving (pardon the pun).
Now Toyota listen up:
Not enough space for make up etc…..thats a cardinal sin if you want to sell to the ladies.
Give a gift of a make up case with IQ logo on it to each lady buyer so she can keep extra make up, mirror, hair straightener etc in the boot. These things are as important as space for the spare tyre!! It is well known that ladies can multi task….change a tyre and redo the make up at the same time…no problem.
Christine…I can see myself owning an IQ….easy parking really appeals to me….bliss.
Claire
Comment by Claire (lady driver) — September 8, 2009 @ 10:56 am
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
Comment by sandra742 — September 9, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
Hi Claire,
Thanks for your comments! I love the idea of the provision of a branded cosmetic case!! Definitely more important than a spare tyre
!!
C
Comment by Christine — September 10, 2009 @ 8:55 am
Thanks Sandra – hope you return for another visit!
Comment by Christine — September 10, 2009 @ 8:55 am
The Toyota iQ is really a cute small car, but I don’t think it is something for me as there isn’t enought speed and place. Maybe usefull in a big city.
Comment by auto navigation — April 10, 2010 @ 3:12 pm
Ok….SUV gas guzzlers are so Celtic Tiger Darling…..my large (ish) current ‘98 car (its the runaround don’t you know) does not have a wheel base wide enough to drive over the POTHOLES in our enclave.
Question – does the IQ have the traction to drive down into the POTHOLES and up and out the other side without fear of the whole family plus Jiggy (my Prada handbag dinky dog – you simply have to have one don’t you know) being drowned?
If my lunch ladies (we call ourself the Jimmy Chew’s)(choo’s – chews – lunch – get it?) hear about the IQ they might source it before me….simply caaan’t be allowed to happen.
Comment by Claire — April 29, 2010 @ 12:44 am