Toyota's iQ Will Have Yamaha Motorcycle Engine

CNet News Blog:

Where do you draw the line between a motorcycle and a car?

Toyota's iQ Concept, a concept car which debuted in Frankfurt and will be at the 2007 Tokyo auto show, might be better suited for the next rally in Sturgis.

Toyota is in collaboration with two Japanese companies to develop a 1-liter engine for the iQ that will be based on a Yamaha motorcycle engine, according to reports from Auto Blog and Automotive News Europe.

Toyota plans to produce about 80,000 iQ cars for Europe by 2009 and possibly more for the Indian and Chinese markets. But don't expect to see it in the U.S. anytime soon and probably for good reason.

Read the whole story: CNet News Blog

Comments

[realitytrumpsbull]

Some bike engines NOW will push 200 HP, and
let's not forget the ORIGINAL Honda cars, I believe in Japan, 750cc engines or so...
200 horsepower high-revving engine, 1,100 pound
car....mad, mad, SICK E.T's! AND 50MPG!
hehehehehehehehehehe

[RandyRanson]

Whiny noise in the city, will never sell. The public will not accept the whiny sounds of japanese motorcycle engines whirring away, in small sized cars. Their eardrums will make the decision for them. Bad idea.
Now the quiet electric car, and you've got something.
Oh, they tried that already, and Bush and Big Oil, killed it off, and forced General Motors and Ford to cancel out the electric car, and destroy all of the models left to be found, so that they could hide the fact that these were ever made, from the gullible public.
This insane President at work again, doing his job, destroying America one trick at a time.

[JScott]

It's not the first time that a motorcycle engine was put in a car, but apparently no one remembers the first Subaru 360's and Honda 600's. And if the Smart car is a hit, I wouldn't be surprised if Toyota tries to market it here. But it's good for other countries mentioned in the post. Esp. in Japan where it probably qualifies (with some modifications) as a 'kei' car.

[WilliePilgrim]

How the hell would a typical american fit in this, let alone a couple of their equally bloated family memebers and/or the mountain of junkfood needed every couple of hours to keep the feeling of emptiness at bay. What we need is a fuel efficient flat-car with ramps so that the typical american can ride up onto it...at least that might spur the revitalization of our much ignored light rail system.

[dadw5boys]

ONE DAY PEOPLE WILL REALIZE THE THE AMOUNT OF ASPHALT THAT IS HOLDING THE SUNS HEAT IS ALSO ONE OF THE CAUSES OF GLOABAL WARMING.
Dirt does not hold heat like black asphalt does but will not take the traffic either. More people need to be walking, riding buses, trains, motor cycles, or bicycles to work.
Heck I know a few who drive 4 or 5 blocks to work everyday.

[parisblues]

Cute car. Too bad you could never drive one in the US of A -- Land of Testosterone Gone Wild and Home of Get-the-#$%@-outta-my-way." You'd soon be squashed by...a Toyota Land Cruiser!

[DRaymond]

Well if the Smart, when it finally arrives, does decent retail business it might change Toyota's minds, but I am not optimistic.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Ick is right.

[totalliberal]

Now if they would give half-price parking for these min-cars they would take off like crazy.

(What the hell, they take up half the room, so why not?)

[ZingoBonMot]

~totalliberal~

I tried a somewhat similar gambit when I boarded a ferry on my motorcycle.
No go. Some crap about the same number of axles. There's no beating a capitalist.

[AurigaRa]

Yeah, can't expect that they will sell it here to consumers who will pay through the nose for gas...who says they cannot design something besides the Prius, they just won't let US have it.

[ZingoBonMot]

STURGIS? STURGIS?!? You cannot be serious!

They toss "Jap Crap" onto bonfires at Sturgis!

You need to do better research, sweetheart.

[UtahLiberal435]

Well Zingo, at Sturgis all those fat 'outlaw' senior dentists drive noisy, over-priced, oil-leaking P.O.S. Harleys.

Trick out a Honda Goldwing, or a BMW, and it'll dust any garbage Harley. Not only that, but the entire surrounding population won't need to wear earplugs if they're within a mile of the highway.

The iQ car article says: "...don't expect to see it in the U.S. anytime soon and probably for good reason."

Classic American media. Even CNET is basically saying Americans don't want gas-efficient cars, or that they're "unsafe." No, what's unsafe is double-bottom trucks, Ford Excursions, and those ridiculous Hummers (which are a flunked IQ test for anyone that buys them).

The only reason you won't see this iQ car in the U.S. soon is the Detroit lobby.

I'm already starting to see SmartCars on the roads in Southern Utah.

[wadenelson1]

And you need to go to Sturgis.