Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Scion iQ Concept from New York Auto Show


Here's the Scion iQ Concept. Obviously clad with a crazy Five Axis body and ginormous wheels, the iQ Concept (Scion/Toyota allegedly says they'll judge reaction to the car to see if they'll put it into production) has a three-cylinder engine producing 93 hp and 89 ft./lbs. of torque. The wheelbase is a scant 78.7 inches and it'll seat 3+1 people (three adults and one smaller person).

Modifications to the normal iQ include a Five Axis custom stainless exhaust system; Five:AD S6:F custom wheels with nickel finish prototyped by MetalFX (18x8.5 ET 3) wrapped in Yokohama S.drive tires (205/40R/18); TEIN Super Street coilover suspension; Five Axis widebody conversion; burnt nickel accents; and custom accented headlights and taillights.

It's obvious that the iQ Concept is over the top. Instead of showing Americans what an iQ really looks like (see left), Scion/Toyota puts all this crazy stuff on it and disguises the car's looks. I know it's a concept and concepts are often crazy, but why not show people what it really looks like and not the version above that looks like it found its way out of a Japanese anime movie. Or how about bringing a stock version and the Five Axis version? (Then again, maybe they have photos of a what a stock one looks like at the show.) Don't get me wrong—I'm a big fan of the iQ, but the Concept is just a bit too much for me. Hopefully it won't skew American's perspective of what this car really is (and I mean that in a good way)—a Smart fighter. However, the side profile isn't as extreme as the front 3/4 view posted above. Then again, the more I look at it the more it grows on me.



Regardless of the Concept, I hope Toyota does bring the iQ to the U.S.!

LINK
Jalopnik - Scion iQ Concept Mega Gallery (Jalopnik.com)

1 comment:

T.G. said...

I like this concept,I would have chosen a different color than radioactive yellow-green but I think it would be fun to drive a car that looks like it came out of an anime film.I agree that Toyota should have shown the IQ as it is and brought the tarted up concept as a surprise rather than as the IQ for sale in North America.