... a small daily driver.



One of the down-sides of running an older car is the inevitable reliability issues that arise. As I do require a 100% dependable car, I had planned to keep my late Old Dear's Skoda Citigo as a backup to my Audi A8 and Chevy Astro.

Alas the situation with the Citigo's sunroof seals - which Skoda wanted £913.25 to repair- raised serious doubts about the longevity of this thing. And recently the rear drum brakes had begun to seize whenever the car had been in the rain and had been left for a day or so. With the grim gear change of the ASG in town driving, the brakes were the straw that broke the camel's back - the Citigo's days were numbered.

I have always had a soft-spot for very small cars. I used a Smart ForTwo for some months several years ago, and a convertible had great appeal, but its running costs were ridiculous given the cost of the car, and the gearbox was shocking. The new Smart ForTwo/For's Four are quite hideous.

Ford Ka and Fiat Panda were considered, but rejected. An Audi A2 raised its head again, but they're old and will suffer the same niggles as my A8.

After some head-scratching, I have purchased another car which the Old Dear had previously owned; a Toyota iQ.

The car has c. 3 and a half year of Toyota factory warranty remaining, which adds some peace of mind, and importantly is a Toyota.

I tried to locate a suitable 1.33 litre iQ, with 6 speed gearbox; they have 99 bhp rather than the 67bhp of the 1.0, but there's a significant weight penalty. Several reviews suggested the über-long gearing also required lots of changing, so I settled upon a 1.0, 5 speed iQ[sup]2[/sup]. One came up for sale locally, and in Burnt Orange too, so the deal was done on the 'phone.

The iQ has been pulled from Toyota UK's line-up as sales have never been particularly good due to its high price, but when compared to the Shitigo (and indeed the VW Up1 and the Seat Mii) it's not difficult to see why. The iQ is very definitely a 'premium' car that's been through too hot a wash.

One local roads, the ride is choppy due to the short wheelbase, but aside from that, I love it. It's beautifully put-together. It is of course no ball of fire, but is entirely adequate, and as with all very small cars, this is part of the fun; maintaining speed at all costs, no braking unless absolutely essential and cursing every Schmohawk who impedes this kind of driving!

And of course, it's a Toyota.

I must admit to have researched and sourced H&R lowered springs (-30mm), 17" wheels, Blitz exhaust and a Ibherdesign body kit. The total cost of the bits and fitting/painting will be just shy of a couple of grand, but it's so ridiculous that it makes sense...

 

Lowered springs may sort out the pogo ride - the Aygo is the same and with a bit of weight in it ... the whole thing settles down nicely. Done nearly 16k miles in mine in the last 12 months, all it has needed is fuel, brakes and tyres. That includes one trip to Scotland and a trip to the Isle of Man and back ( plus 5 laps of the TT course circuit ).

As a purely functional car - little beats them.

 

Just cute to ignore. Nice little buy :-)

 

What are cars this small like on the motorway?

I can see the appeal for local use, both my cars are shit in traffic

 

I haven't noticed a problem ..... it will happily cruise at 70+ quite a bit if you want ... hills sometimes need a cog drop but that's about it.

 

Interesting choice - I do like the concept of the thing.

Let us know how you get on with it.

I can foresee these being rather better overall than say, the very-practical Jazz, which is a bit too MPV-top-heavy and has outdated engines so can be a PIA on motorways.

They're never gonna be as effortless as a big complicated barge, but that's somewhat missing the point of them.

 

When these things first came out, I was astonished to find one right up my @rse one evening before it promptly dived right and flew past me. I wasn't going particularly fast at all, but it moved like a go-kart and had a real turn of speed on it. I was extremely impressed although to this day I struggle to believe that it was a standard motor in there...

Either way, neat little car; well done.

 

TTS do a blower for the Aygo / C1 / 107 ... which all but doubles power and torque

http://www.tts-performance.co.uk/#!toyota-aygo/cf2g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjLPeAcUD6k

 

This is what Aston based the Cygnet on (just added a body kit and leather interior)
The owners of those seem to love them - even after they realised they paid 5 times the price

 

Now that appeals to me