Updated: August 2010
TOYOTA iQ: ENGINEERING INNOVATION FOR THE LOW CARBON SOCIETY
iQ is a revolutionary vehicle that adds more appeal to Toyota’s range of urban compact cars, a line-up that includes Aygo and Yaris.
From an environmental perspective, iQ demonstrates how Toyota can offer cars that are exciting and desirable, while still achieving low fuel consumption and emissions.
iQ Chief Engineer Hiroki Nakajima explained: “We wanted to create the world’s first, sophisticated four-seat car, measuring less than three metres long, using ultra-effective packaging, a unique design, ultra-low fuel consumption and high driving and safety performance. To achieve this, iQ had to be similar in size to an A-segment car, its performance would have to surpass B-segment standards and interior and exterior quality would have be on the level of C-segment models.”
Birth of iQ
The iQ story began in 2003 when a team of Toyota engineers, led by Hiroki Nakajima, were given the chance to create one of the most important cars to be launched by the company. Just as Prius set a new benchmark for innovative drivetrain engineering, iQ is intended to act as a catalyst for reshaping thinking about how small, environmentally efficient cars can be packaged. The challenge was to develop a revolutionary, sophisticated compact car with excellent environmental credentials for use in urban areas.
Initially the project focused on packaging and miniaturisation. Later, designers from Japan and Toyota’s European design studio, ED2, worked together to create a sub-three-metre car. Toyota top management gave the project the green light and the iQ concept went on to be presented at the 2007 Frankfurt motor show.
The team targeted commercial success by designing iQ to appeal strongly to customers new to Toyota, principally the kind of people who take a more emotional approach to car buying. While they may have admired Toyota for its success and innovation, they might not have connected with the brand on an emotional level before. iQ was designed from the outset to connect to the needs of these customers.
iQ adopts a key position in Toyota’s range of compact cars. Although Aygo is longer – by 420mm – than iQ, it remains a simple and accessible entry-level model. Yaris, on the other hand, is positioned at the heart of the B-segment, while also attracting family buyers for use as the main car in the household.
iQ is different from these and all other small cars, thanks to radical thinking that has led to a breakthrough in automotive engineering. It also brings a new, high level of sophistication to the market, through the use of advanced features that are typically only found on larger cars.
iQ production began in November 2008 at Toyota’s Takaoka plant in Japan, with Japanese sales starting the same month. Sales in the UK and Europe were launched in January 2009.
iQ and sustainability
In 2007, Toyota announced a sustainability plan that focused on work in three areas: research and development of more environmentally efficient products; manufacturing; and social contribution. Already iQ contributes to both the first and second of these areas.
Sustainability through research and development
- Toyota hybrid research since 1965
- 2.4 million Toyota/Lexus hybrid vehicle sales since 1997
- Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles undergoing on-road appraisal worldwide
- Seven million tonnes of CO2 emissions saved
- Toyota Optimal Drive introducing new powertrain technologies such as Valvematic and Dual VVT-i
- iQ breakthrough in vehicle packaging
- Launch of smaller, lightweight vehicles
Toyota’s overall CO2 reduction plan gains support from the introduction of a new line-up of small cars, including iQ, that provide more customer choice with lower emissions. Sales of fuel efficient cars such as new Prius, Aygo and Yaris, mean the company’s CO2 average is already falling.
At the core of Toyota’s emission reduction programme is its Hybrid Synergy Drive technology. Hybrid not only helps reduce harmful emissions and fuel consumption, it also causes less noise pollution and offers a high level of driving pleasure.
Toyota began experimenting with hybrid in 1965 and was the first manufacturer to introduce mass-produced hybrid models with the 1997 launch of Prius. Since then worldwide cumulative sales of Prius have exceeded 1.7 million, while those of all Toyota/Lexus hybrid vehicles passed the 2.5 million mark in 2010.
In the same year Toyota continued its worldwide assessment programme of a new Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV), with further on-road testing in Japan America and Europe – including London.
What Prius is to drivetrain technology, iQ is to packaging. It heralds a new range of compact Toyota cars that offer sophisticated mobility and performance, yet at the same time have less impact on the urban environment. Rather than downsizing, or making do with less, these ground-breaking new models use radical concepts to achieve big car refinement in a much smaller package.
Alongside the development of these small vehicles, Toyota is making further progress through Toyota Optimal Drive and the introduction of advanced Valvematic and Dual VVT-i engines. Further R&D projects are focusing on alternative fuels and lightweight construction methods.
Sustainability in manufacturing
Eighty per cent of a vehicle’s lifecycle emissions are produced during the time it is driven on the road, making a reduction in this area critical. However, further benefits can be gained at the manufacturing stage. In Europe, Toyota has reduced the average energy used to build a car by 44 per cent since 2001. This has been achieved by using renewable energy, including biomass and natural resources such as wind and solar power. Moreover, all Toyota’s European manufacturing plants have achieved their target of zero waste to landfill.
The Takaoka plant, home to iQ production, has a new assembly facility designed to further streamline Toyota production systems to improve both productivity and energy efficiency.
iQ TIMELINE
YEAR / MONTH / EVENT2003 / Research development project is launched for a new Toyota city car.
2007 / September / iQ concept makes its debut at the Frankfurt motor show.
2008 / November / iQ production is launched and sales commence in Japan.
2009 / January / iQ goes on sale in Europe and the UK with 1.0 VVT-i engine.
February / iQ achieves top five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash testing.
June / iQ gains 1.3 VVT-i engine with Stop-Start system. Top-of-the-range iQ3 model is launched.
2010 / July / All iQ engines comply with Euro 5 emissions, new interior finish and colours introduced.
iQ DESIGN, INFLUENCED BY TOYOTA’S JAPANESE ROOTS
- J-Factor, expressing Japanese design heritage
- Harmony of three design approaches: Perfect Imbalance, Integrated Components Architecture and Freeform Geometrics
- iQ interior design inspired by the manta ray
The Toyota iQ represents bold, forward-looking Japanese design. Japanese aesthetics are characterised by the creation of contrasts within design, such as the empty and the full, the smooth and the rough. iQ’s design is full of contrasts in the same way: it is simple, yet intriguing throughout.
J-Factor = Japanese design heritage
Japan has a rich heritage of making beautiful objects, a heritage that has influenced some of the most famous designs of the modern era, such as the 1958 Sony TR 610 transistor radio, the 1966 Nikon F SLR camera, the 1998 Sony Vaio laptop, the 1999 Shinkansen bullet train and, of course, the award-winning 2003 Toyota Prius.
“At Toyota our design philosophy is based on a belief that design should emphasise endurance and connect the past to the future. We believe that design should touch people’s hearts and represent a dream that has come true. To achieve this we should first go back to our origins. We are a Japanese company and we should never hide this fact. We see it as an advantage in our approach to design. This is what we call our J-Factor. J-Factor is quite simply Japanese originality that will have global appeal,” explains Wahei Hirai, Managing Officer, Design Centre, Toyota Motor Corporation.
Perfect Imbalance
Perfect Imbalance describes a use of asymmetry that is prevalent in Japanese aesthetics. An unexpected element in an otherwise perfect composition is often the thing that makes it more natural or dynamic. Giving vehicles a balanced appearance makes them easy to understand, but they can soon become boring.
Perfect Imbalance was applied to iQ’s proportions: a simple, daring exterior with a strong contrast in the stable, robust stance created by the car’s width and its short overall length. The risk in creating a car less than three metres long was that it would look weak and unstable, so Toyota designers knew iQ had to deliver a sense of strength and stability to break this perception.
The result was “Stability and Dynamism”, which can be seen in the contrast between the vehicle’s 1,680mm width and 1,500mm height with its sub-three-metre length, and in the positioning of the wheels right out to the corners.
By going against the conventional proportions of a small car, Toyota’s Perfect Imbalance has helped create a car with a radical new sense of form, strength and a robust stance. Above all, this compactness, with almost no front or rear overhangs, makes the car exciting and fun to drive.
Integrated Component Architecture
iQ uses modern Integrated Component Architecture in which each unit contributes to the overall design. For example, the structure around the wheels forms part of the minimal front and rear overhangs, expressing strength andagility.
At the front of the car, the headlamp units – smoked glass with bi-halogen projector lamps on iQ2 and iQ3 models – are set deep into the bonnet and wings, while the heated, electrically adjustable door mirrors have integrated turn indicator lamps.
Freeform Geometrics
Toyota developed a new design technique, Freeform Geometrics, to create iQ. Mathematical formulae were used to emulate organic forms like those of seashells and fish. The clean, precise lines are the result of accurate calculations to express movement and emotion and make the design fresh and contemporary.
For iQ Toyota took this clarity even further, with what the Chief Engineer called “On-the-Edge Value”, characterised by the car’s sharply contoured exterior surfaces.
Exterior design
iQ’s wheels, placed at the extremity of each corner, give the car what the designers call a ‘super-stance’. Just 2,985mm long, but with a proportionally larger 2,000mm wheelbase, iQ is small in size, but unlike a conventional small car, it has a confident on-road appearance. The car’s strong presence is underpinned by its five-spoke 15 or 16-inch alloy wheels, housed in bold wheelarches, and its robust look, enhanced by tough-looking bumpers. The absence of front and rear overhangs and the concentration of weight within the wheelbase makes for rewarding handling.
Strong vertical lines define the rear of the car, while the creative tension can be seen in the three-quarter rear view with a seamless line running from the edge of the roofline towards the B-pillar, curving around the deep rear glass area, before returning towards the hatch and tailing off at the geometrically shaped wheelarches.
Interior design
iQ has a distinctive interior that combines practicality with a super-modern design. The ‘on-the-edge’ exterior styling is replicated in the interior architecture, where designers have used mathematical analysis to recreate the beauty of natural objects – techno-organic design.
This can be seen in the floating V-shaped centre console, which is actually a mathematical emulation of a manta ray fish. It forms the centrepiece of the asymmetrical dashboard, with a single dial controlling all the air conditioning functions at the base of the V. The audio unit is integrated seamlessly into the console, so only the CD slot is visible; all the audio controls, with a joystick selector, are located on the steering wheel.
Cabin temperature controls, twin face-level air vents and an LCD display are situated inside the arms of the V. An optional satellite navigation colour display tops off the console. Analogue meters are clear and functional, incorporating a multi-information display showing outside temperature and current and average fuel consumption figures.
For the 2011 model year, a new premium grey interior was launched as an alternative to the original rich chocolate-plum colour, which remains available with Deep Amethyst, Chilli Red and Decuma Grey exterior paint finishes.Acontrasting black upper dash and lower door trim was also introduced at the same time, together with new soft touch materials around the cabin and, for the grey interior, new detailingin the form of red stitching for the black leather steering wheel and a black and red surround for the centre console.
ENGINEERED WITH SIX MAJOR SPACE-SAVING INNOVATIONS
- Kakushin – the revolutionary force behind iQ
- Six space-saving innovations
A series of engineering breakthroughs have combined to make iQ the world’s smallest four-seat car. Toyota acclaims iQ as an “engineering jewel” that is capable of radically changing consumers’ opinions on small cars.
“Kakushin” - the revolutionary force behind iQ
Speaking to the Harvard Business Review, the then TMC President Katsuaki Watanabe said: “In today’s world change can be produced by kaizen (continuous incremental improvement), but when the rate of change is too slow, we have to resort to kakushin (revolutionary change or radical innovation). I am trying to get people to make the leap from incremental improvement to radical improvement wherever possible.”
iQ required a drastic change of mindset. Engineers not only had to re-design parts to a smaller size, they had to reconsider their location, too. The result is a leap forward in small-but-spacious packaging, designed also to meet the highest crash test standards.
The car has a 2,000mm wheelbase with comfort ensured thanks to a 710mm distance between the driver and front passenger seat – space comparable to that in a C-segment vehicle.
Even the thickness of the doors has been reduced (compared to Yaris), by using a guideless window regulator structure rather than a conventional cross-arm type, so increasing shoulder room.
To avoid a claustrophobic atmosphere, the A-pillars are positioned forward and slope back. The front passenger seat can be slid far enough forward to ensure that three 190cm (6ft 3in) tall adults plus a child or extra luggage can be comfortably accommodated. Both rear seats can be folded down to increase boot capacity to 238 litres; with both seats in position capacity is 32 litres (VDA measurements).
Space has also been created by locating the gearshift and parking brake almost side by side, giving rear seat passengers more room to extend their feet between the front seats. As there is no fuel tank beneath the rear seats, a handy concealed storage tray has been created so objects can be stowed out of sight.
“In our search for space, we developed an ultra-compact air conditioning unit and repositioned the heater blower from its usual position in the front passenger footwell to the centre of the instrument panel. Designers then went so far as to make a detachable glovebox (the optional glovebag). This created a significant amount of space for the front passenger seat to slide forwards. Thin front seatbacks were also newly developed, giving them a concave form to increase rear seat legroom. Our efforts have paid off and people who sit in iQ remark on how spacious it feels,” says Chief Engineer Hiroki Nakajima.
iQ’s six space-saving innovations:
- Front-mounted differential
- Centre take-off steering gear
- Flat underfloor fuel tank
- Ultra-slim seat design
- Ultra-compact heater/air conditioning unit
- Asymmetric dashboard design
1. Front-mounted differential
Positioning the differential in front of the engine means the distance from the tip of the bumper to the accelerator pedal could be reduced by 120mm. This brings three main advantages: the under-bonnet area is made more compact; the front wheels can be placed at the very corners of the car, drastically shortening the front overhang, and the passenger compartment gains 120mm in length (compared to Yaris).
2. Centre take-off steering
iQ has a central take-off steering gear, positioned higher and further back in the engine bay. This meant the size of the engine compartment could be considerably reduced, further shortening the car’s front overhang.
This is made possible because the steering rack tie-rods are connected to the centre of the rack, rather than both ends, as in Yaris and Aygo. This gave the engineers room to accommodate the engine underneath.
3. Flat under-floor fuel tank
The conventional fuel tank located under the rear seats has been replaced by an ultra-slim underfloor tank that is only 120mm high. This means the rear wheels can be brought 440mm further forward. In addition, the rear shock absorbers are angled backwards, so they don’t encroach on rear seat space.
Traditionally a flat tank was considered difficult to engineer, because the fuel surface level would vary depending on the angle of the car, for example when parked on a slope. Persistent efforts to reduce size and find the best position for functioning parts has resulted in success and a flat fuel tank that brings significant space savings and also lowers the car’s centre of gravity.