As urban roads and highway become increasingly congested withtraffic , one of the latest trends in automaking is the extreme downsizing of the car . TheSmart Carhas done very well in Europe with its ultrasmall size , modern intent and greatgasmileage , while theMINI Cooperand other MINI models have reemerged to huge popularity .
Small Car simulacrum verandah
These vehicles have test to be a blessing for the great unwashed looking to make unnecessary on gas money and vamoose out on parallel parking , but there ’s one obvious aspect that drivers are forced to give with an ultracompact car – the availability of space . Some might be able-bodied to get by fine in a tiny car , but travelers or larger families might have hassle carrying bigger loads with just two seats and very little trunk blank space .
Toyota is attempting to direct this dilemma with its own take on the minicar , a four - seat passenger vehicle called theiQ Car . At just under 10 ft recollective and about 5 - and - a - half foot wide , the I.Q. is an example of innovative design and technology – everything from the seating agreement to the miniaturized front console controls is taken into account . Although it ’s slenderly vainglorious than Daimler - Chysler ’s Smart Car , it ’s still much smaller than the average 14- or 15- foot - farsighted compact cable car . The intelligence quotient is also in clear competition with the Smart Car , as both gens are obvious references to resourcefulness .
Toyota expect the iQ will be ready for product in late 2008 , but the company plans to make the elevator car available to European driver only – demand for smaller vehicles in Europe is still high , and the quirky designs of minicars are fashionable . Recent SUV sales in the United States have been declining due to highergas cost , though , and environmentalist glower upon large gas - guzzlers like theHummer . The Smart Car also goes on sale in the United States in early 2008 , so good minicar sales might give Toyota a reason to change its mind .
To incur out more about the iQ ’s specifications , study the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
iQ Car Specs
The iQ automobile concept came to life at ED2 , Toyota ’s European design facility in Nice , France , and debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2007 . One of the first things people usually wonder about a minicar is what kind of engine business leader it . Is it agasoline engine ? Is it ahybrid ? Is it a pureelectric car ?
The iQ appears to have none of the above . Since it ’s still technically a conception at this head , not much is known about what ’s under the iQ ’s hood , but rumors suggest that Toyota is partnering with Yamaha to make a 1 - litermotorcycleengine . Although the company has n’t released any further information regarding engine capacitance or the number of cylinder , a bike engine may translate to goodgasmileage if the intelligence quotient ’s weight is kept low-pitched . Still , the two company may stop up reveal something all different by the time 2008 make out to an close .
So how does Toyota manage to go three adults and one diminished child into such a small car ? Thetiresof the intelligence quotient are push out to the corner and shrunken down to a very low 17 inches , leaving more room for your feet . ab initio , the gondola seems like any other two - seater minicar , but sliding the front seat forward offers two more seats , one for an grownup and another for a child . Since the steering wheel does n’t allow the driver ’s seat to move fore , a small tiddler is able to fit behind the driver , but there ’s enough elbow room on the passenger side to fit one grownup in front and another mightily behind after adjusting the hindquarters .
Toyota did n’t just stop at seating arrangements when care space . You might not think about it too much , but all the node , buttons and gadgets on a car ’s front cabinet can take up a lot of room . The I.Q. has all of these technical necessary , but everything ’s been miniaturized or moved to the direction wheel . Instead of sustain three freestanding indicators for speed , rev and fuel level , a single read - out display them all together flop above the steering editorial . While audio and navigation control normally take up most of a plaza console , those choices are put in the driver ’s hands as they ’re move over to the steering roulette wheel .
Although Toyota is keeping most of the iQ ’s technology under wraps for the moment , one thing ’s for sure – if Toyota can manage outer space this efficiently in a car , we definitely want the company rearrange our messy refrigerators .
The I.Q. might be nerveless on the side , but do minicars also equate less traffic over-crowding ?
Minicar Advantages
So why the sudden fracture toward smaller vehicles ? UsingGPSdata collected from thousands of cars drive through European cities , UKtrafficinformation service KeepMoving.co.uk found that London has the slowest - moving dealings in Europe . cable car in England ’s capital Australian crawl along at an average of only 12 miles per hour , even with a over-crowding accusation in certain zones of £ 8 ( about $ 16 USD ) . Other cities like Berlin ( 15 miles per hour ) , Warsaw ( 16 mph ) and Rome ( 19 mph ) also suffer from ho-hum movement despite big public transportation system of rules likesubways[source : World Car Fans ] .
Meanwhile , constructioncompanies keep on to do good from build up parking lots and multilevel parking facilities in the United States – but an increase amount of place is n’t making it any comfortable for drivers looking for a plaza to park , and dealings in boastful cities fails to amend . Students at Stanford University , for example , continue to experience nothing but frustration after the addition of more than 3,000 parking spots between 1997 and 2007 [ rootage : The Stanford Daily ] . So what ’s going on ?
Some suggest that increasing the parking provision by adding lot upon mint does n’t help . It only encourages more people to drive and places a twofold melodic line on the environment – we ’re wedge to pave more parking lots , therefore disrupt the border dirt and vegetation , and the jump in the identification number of cars on the route lead to a biggercarbon footprintmeasurement . On top of this , it cost plenty of money to build hatful , and the surplus cars on the route only increase the amount of accidents – that only makesauto insuranceagencies happy [ source : Transportation Demand Management ] .
minicar like the iQ Car , with expert efficiency and less outer space , might volunteer a solution to the problems touch both traffic and parking . As long as the number of cars on the route did n’t increase , the extra blank could still bumper - to - bumper dealings in engorged areas .
Parking in a minicar is a whole dissimilar experience , too . For those of us who shin through the parallel parking section of the drive run , parking in crowded business district area can be a incubus . The idea of fitting a 15 - foot long fomite into a blank space that looks much smaller than 15 feet is enough to make you cut that office close to the store and park farther away . Thelengthof the iQ Car is only 10 infantry , though , about the same as thewidthof a parallel parking spot on the side of the street . In possibility , you could squeeze two or three I.Q. into one fleck .
This raw generation of smaller , ultracompact cars may at the same time work out the messy problem of overcrowded parking lots , gridlocked highways and the awful blind blot . For lots more information on cars , traffic and related subject , see the links on the next page .
