The defunct Toyota iQ, the smallest model of the Japanese brand with four seats that was sold in Europe between 2009 and 2015, has been transformed into a sports car with the genes of GAZOO Racing. A unique creation that will be presented in society at the next edition of the Tokyo Salon 2022.
The Toyota iQ proved the impossible, to develop a purely urban model with capacity for four passengers on a continent just under three meters long. Manufactured between 2009 and 2015, the Toyota microcar surprised by its conception, even coming to have a special edition of a hundred units prepared by the sports division of GAZOO Racing and stamped «GRMN».
Years later, with the imminent arrival of Tokyo Lounge which will open its doors in early 2022, a team of Japanese mechanics has decided to bring a truly unique creation. An exercise in tuning so basic that it features the extinct microcar of the Japanese brand. The Toyota iQ has been transformed into a very curious sports car on the outside but capable of achieving unthinkable performance in the production model.
Loading tweet …
147 205 2567 735 943 173
Toyota iQ transforms into a rocket with help from Kawasaki
The genes of the sports division stand out especially in the front, a section that is has been completely remodeled to fit the front of the GR Yaris, the sports utility. The headlights, a modified hood panel and the bumper with the large grille that presides over the front have been adapted to the small Japanese model. Even the rear light groups and the rear bumper itself have also been integrated, keeping the rear window wraparound. A real job that has taken hundreds of hours to complete this part of the project.
But the exterior design is not the only striking detail. Inside, it is also equipped to match the circumstances. The sports seats have a racing bcquets configuration, with a completely new two-sphere instrument cluster and a steering wheel at the front that is also typical of the high spheres of motorsport provided by Momo.
A technical intervention that has gone much further also in the chassis plan, which has been revised with a widening of the front and rear tracks, adopting wider axles, the height of the body to the ground has been lowered and larger section wheels have been fitted. Modifications necessary to ensure greater motor skills. And the fact is that the gasoline engine fitted as standard has been replaced by a block of Kawasaki, four cylinders and 1.4 liters that develops a not inconsiderable figure of 211 CV of maximum power and 154 Nm of torque. A real beast that they have not given performance figures, but that surely must be brutal, and that we hope to meet at the Tokyo Auto Salon.