[kheran]

I see a major problem with the seating arrangement.............
The passenger seat is forward of the driver seat? I think that one of the most innovative features of the smart is the fact that the DRIVERS seat is forward of the passenger seat providing a nice view out of the right side of the car.

 

[forestacademy]

They took the offset seating from the smart. It was not about the View, but about avoiding shoulder bump in a small car. By putting the passenger seat forward it allows the possibility of a human larger than a typical Japanese sitting in the back. But if your over 5'9" you better hope that other passenger on your side is around 5'

Yes I fit in the back with someone sitting in the front. But that someone was the very short Jill we all loved so much.

Don't feel like saying a lot more, I already gave my review if the IQ back here
http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f3/2011-chicago-auto-show-36805/

 

[mdfortwoguy]

What do you know?

What are you getting at?

In my opinion, it looks cheap in pictures. I see uninspired fabrics and plastics, as well as an ignorant design of a center stack.

On Toyota - they have been running on their past reputation for years, and it is finally catching up with them. It's too unfortunate that there are too many ignorant and blind consumers who don't look past the smoke and mirrors.

I also know that that article seems to have been written by a C average high school student. This isn't quality publishing, not that I expected much.

 

[uberpanzer]

What is even funnier is they rag on the Smart for not being a good performing car, then when talking about the iQ and performance they kept saying not to worry about it since the car wasn't MEANT for that.

And the brakes fade on the iQ? Huh...sucks to buy that then, since I've taken my ForTwo on a very spirited canyon run with my wider wheels/tires and I've had ZERO fade on the stock rotors/pads. Oh well, I guess the Smart's tranny 'sucks too much' for them to bother to get it out on a back road while using the paddle shifters so they don't know how fun the thing is to take carving.

I really have to wonder what some of these 'car guys' drive themselves.

 

[uberpanzer]

I see what you mean, 36/37/37 City/Highway/Combined

Don;t think I have ever seen a car with almost identical City and Hyighway MPG. Some of the Hybrids do achieve higher City than Highway.


So if your a city only driver the IQ will be great. But if your putting on the miles like many of us. http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f4/who-has-most-miles-whos-over-30-000-a-29591/index43.html then your going to do much better in the smart

The iQ has a CVT (Constantly Variable Transmission). That means that if the driver is trying to attain a specific speed and keeps their foot in the throttle until that speed is reached, the engine will stay at one constant RPM. It makes for very constant fuel economy, although not always the BEST fuel economy in all situations.

The Prius has a CVT as well, although the hybrid portion of that car allows it to use less internal combustion produced power to reach the speeds it needs in the city, thus getting better MPG in the city loop of the EPA testing.

Those upgraded wheels look nice on that red car in the picture. And the roof line being lower is something that I wish the Smart had. But I am sure not getting rid of my highway mileage, rear engine/rear drive layout, nor German engineering for that FWD knock-off that has an even WORSE tranny (IMO, I hate CVT's).

Oh, and I love how it has a bigger engine and makes more power....since it weighs 300 pounds more. If they ditched some of that weight they might find that the MPG's would go up decently.

BTW folks, since when is 3/36 a real warranty vs 2/24? I sucked it up with the Smart, but it really needs to be twice what ours is to be a 'real warranty'.

 

[VinceLA]

They should really offer the manual trans for the iQ.

 

[Brabusct]

It isn't just a 3/36 warranty , it has a 5/60 powertrain warranty , something us smart owners can only dream about. 2 years free maintenance on top of that. It's obvious to me who is confident of their engineering and who is not IMO .

 

[kennyrayandersen]

"
This tells me he never really drove a Smart car and does not really know that much about it. I think the decline of sales is due to not really being advertised.
:twak:

among other things...

 

[Brutal Force]

From sales nosediving, I can only say that I see another smart on the road almost every couple of days. I saw a reddish orange one with Minnie Mouse Logo yesterday at Walmart in Gibsonton. I saw a White one on Friday while driving over to the Park in Ruskin. A yellow one parked next to me while at the dollar store last week. All of them were 451s so they can't have owned them for two long.

I do appreciate Toyota (or at least in the past I have), but as others have pointed out, they are resting on their laurels. They have done what most auto manufacturers have done and spread themselves too thin. Sixteen different Models from one manufacturer (Just Toyota, not including Scion or Lexus) is a little rediculous. They need maybe one SUV, one Pickup, one Luxury car, one mid-size car, a small car and a micro car. The Yaris and Matrix are nice, but one of them should be replaced by the IQ imo. They could get rid of the xD and xA although both are nice cars. Hell, they have 7 SUVs and a Van.

This world is extremely broken when a car is more important then a house. My house cost me $70,000 and a Land cruiser costs $68k MSRP. I will be happy when all manufacturers are required to build by necessity. Not mentioning socialism, just saying that I wish car manufacturers had to lean down their business and build stuff so that EVERYTHING MUST SELL rather than have piles of steel sitting in parking lots as a GUESS THAT IT MIGHT SELL.

 

[wiltjk]

They should really offer the manual trans for the iQ.

Only owning vehicles with manuals, I too wish we had more over here in the USA - if more of us drove manuals, there might not be nearly as much criticism of our smart automated-manual.

I have driven the equivalent engine/manual transmission offered in the IQ in an Aygo in Sweden. It was anemic and quite a horrible experience, especially when merging into traffic. Much less performing than my smart. I expect the USA CVT is better tuned.

 

[phillysmart]

IQ Review by Automobile Magazine

2012 Scion iQ - First Drive - Automobile Magazine - Mobile

Another review of the IQ that talks about how much better it is than the smart.

For example-
Let's be honest for a second: cute as the Smart ForTwo is, it's not very good to drive. It's doesn't do well on the highway and gets buffeted by crosswinds. Its automated manual transmission is rough enough to give you whiplash. It doesn't have enough power to keep up with traffic, much less keep up momentum on steep hills. It has no back seat for your drunk friend to catch a ride home from the bar. It has no power steering. It has no crumple zones in case you crash it. The interior materials make Tyco toys look like Rolls-Royce quality masterpieces. Need we continue?

 

[Commander Cody]

It isn't just a 3/36 warranty , it has a 5/60 powertrain warranty , something us smart owners can only dream about. 2 years free maintenance on top of that. It's obvious to me who is confident of their engineering and who is not IMO .

Ouch that hurts. Especially when one considers what we must pay for our 10,000, 20,000, etc maintenance check-ups.

 

[smark]

They should really offer the manual trans for the iQ.

and a real manual transmission, for the smart too. Forget the monkey in the rear shifting.

 

[forestacademy]

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f7/iq-test-drive-autoblog-39810/
http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f7/2012-scion-iq-review-video-39805/
Can we get these Merged?

 

[MikeB1]

I'm telling myself "do.not.rise.to.bait"

 

[Haxzaw]

It makes me wonder if the writer was paid by Scion.

 

[JPaul]

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f7/iq-test-drive-autoblog-39810/
http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f7/2012-scion-iq-review-video-39805/
Can we get these Merged?

All three are now merged.

BTW: sorry about possible duplicates, their OP should still be able to blank them out if so they wish. :wink:

 

[Big Tuna]

I haven't been on here for months primarily because I decided to not buy a Smart car but was curious to what you guys would have to say about the Scion IQ coming out. I had planned to buy a Smart car at some point but after taking a test drive in one, my desire vanished never to be seen again. I had read the Smart had a really crappy transmission in about, oh... well, about EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE EVER PUBLISHED and after driving one I could not disagree. And while you may think that I just came on here to bash Smart car, this is not true. Despite the horrific transmission, I actually really like the Smart car. It looks good, has a very nice quality cabin, and does very well in the MPG department.

But here's my thoughts on the Scion... in comparison to the Smart.

Appearance wise, i'd probably give the edge to the Scion, although the Smart still looks very good. Its mainly a matter of age and while the Smart still looks good it definitely looks a bit aged compared to the newer Scion. Interior goes to the Smart car without a doubt! That interior in the Scion looks hideous, not to mention cheaper then beyond belief. The Smart car seems to have a quality interior not found in a car under $20k, while the Scion looks like a car that was being built for less then $10k.

Regardless of my thoughts on the appearance the reason I think I would rather have the IQ comes down to transmission. To be clear, I have not tested an IQ (big surprise) but I guarantee the transmission is better then the Smart's. CVTs may be a little whiney, but overall they do the job well. I honestly don't believe that EVERY magazine is wrong... The Smart's transmission has got to go!

Lastly, I just want to point out that the new Scion IQ is a rip off! At $16k base, I find it hard to believe anyone would want to buy this thing.

 

[Brabusct]

The base Price of the IQ is around 15300 , the 16K you mention includes the destination charge . With that price you can walk out the door with a car that has standard equipment that are options on a smart . Plus much stronger engine , Toyota resale and reliability . 16 inch wheels , wider body for better stability on highways and comfort in the cabin. FREE 2/25 maintenance FREE 3/36 warranty plus 5/60 powertrain . Factor in that cost with smart then factor in that smart doesn't even cover many things in their expensive extended warranty. There are so many reasons to buy this car including little annoying things like no longer having to unload everything from the cargo area and fight with that stupid piece of carpet
just to check your oil . Not to mention the bonnet. I'm buying an IQ soon as it comes in my area. The question isn't why would you buy an IQ but why wouldn't you .

 

[Brabusct]

As a side note I do love driving my smart but if the IQ was available at that time ... No way would have bought the smart over an IQ . The smart just seems cheap and fragile in comparison and has way too many issues overall . I still may keep it though , would be nice to have 2 micro cars .