Category: City Cars 
Price Range: £10,275 to £10,495
Brilliant packaging, low emissions, big-car feel, well-equipped.
Manual's long gearing stunts performance, hefty price, cheap-feeling interior.
New approach to city car compromised by intimidating pricetag and lack of fun.
It takes time to completely understand the Toyota iQ's packaging genius - some 51 years to be exact.
At less than three metres, the iQ is just 290mm longer than a Smart car but, importantly, seats up to four despite being 100mm shorter than the first-ever Mini.
Park the iQ beside any other city car and it is comprehensively dwarfed. Even the Aygo sister is a hefty 420mm longer, but it's inside that you'll find the real packaging triumph. At a push, it can carry three 6' 3" adults and a small child. Even far bigger rivals like the Fiat 500 will struggle to achieve that.
If you're not impressed by that, Toyota hasn't skimped on what's under the bonnet. Available in the UK as petrol-only, the iQ debuts the new carbon dioxide-cutting technology that squeezes emissions below 100g/km, making the iQ road-tax free - unheard of for a petrol.
The iQ is far from perfect: chiefly it's handicapped by a huge pricetag. The base model kicks off at an alarming £9,495, but if you can reconcile its big list price this is one small car that deserves serious attention.
