Engine size decision

[ian111s]

Good morning all.

I'm looking at getting my first IQ and want the leather and sat nav options, looking at these they are available on the IQ2 and IQ3. My dilemma  is getting the IQ2 with 1.0 engine or swallowing the £30 road tax and getting the 1.3 IQ3.

My 40 mile commute is currently split in half with dual carriageway followed by the same distance of A roads. I've heard the 1.3 is better for motorway use but would the 1.0 suffice for my 40 mile commute. Depending on the time of day, I could be crawling in traffic or sometimes able to travel at the legal limits of each road.

 

How do you experienced owners rate these engines.

[Soeley]

Hello and welcome.

I have the 1.3 manual and love it. I have driven the 1.0 Aygo (same engine), I would go for the 1.3 every time. Good on fuel when driven smoothly, put really picks up when you need to rev it.

It is all personal though, can you test drive both versions?

 

[chufferclive]

hi,

Like Mark said, best to test drive. Mine is a 1.0 2 and its great, ok not the fastest and hills can be a bit iffy having to go into 2nd for a few but if driven it will give other cars a run for their money (with a back wind :)) but that's not why you buy one.

I do about 15 miles each way to work with half on motorway, never had an issue with keeping with traffic..guess a 1.3 maybe better but I've never driven one (little too out of my price range)

[craggle]

I have the 1.33 version with the 6 speed gearbox and love it.

I would recommend driving both though if you can as I test drove both and to be honest they both performed very well and on the short test drive it was hard to chose between them.

I think the iQ3's are less common so less out there to chose from and if you want a CVT version there will be even fewer about.

I haven't had any serious issues with my iQ3 yet. The gearbox is a bit hard to select 1st and 2nd gear when cold and the clutch sometimes judders until it warms up on cold, damp days but searching the internet reveals it's a common problem and not just on Toyota's either. 

Good luck with the search.

Craig.

[Soeley]

1 hour ago, craggle said:

The gearbox is a bit hard to select 1st and 2nd gear when cold and the clutch sometimes judders until it warms up on cold, damp days but searching the internet reveals it's a common problem and not just on Toyota's either. 

Interesting Craig, I haven't had any of those issues?

[craggle]

I have a new genuine Toyota parts clutch kit in the garage for it. Just need to fit it one day. 

Unfortunately I don't know the history of the previous owner. It's quite possible I'll find a burnt clutch and flywheel when I get it apart due to someone slipping the clutch way too much. I guess that's the risk of buying a used car. 

Having said that if it is going to judder it only does it once in the morning and then it's fine for the rest of the day. It doesn't slip or anything and the bite point is nice and low so at the minute I'm not in a rush to take the engine or gearbox out. 

Craig.

[Hairy Nugget]

I haven't driven a 1.33 with manual, but I hear they are extremely tall geared (even more so than the 1.0 which does 65mph+ before hitting limiter in second) to achieve good theoretical numbers. As a result the CVT versions are just as fast in most real life situations. CVTs does however kill much of the fun if you like "driving".

 

The 1.0 loves to vibrate, and under load/uphill around 1900-2100 it feels like it is trying to murder itself and the cars interior. This is annoying, and if I were to buy again I would consider a 1.33 just to avoid this. The shift light seem to only be happy when the car is vibrating, thus it gets ignored for the most part. It is really more of a "you are not in fifth" indicator. Make sure the exhaust manifold have been changed if you consider a early 1.0 (see the sticky thread about the EGR issue).