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Why the 2015 Smart Fortwo Is Cuter than the Toyota iQ

Some people liked it, but I could never grow to love the previous two generations of the Smart Fortwo. It was made from plastic and you really could tell that from looking at the doors.


The third generation model though… that's a little special. Before spending a whole weekend with the 2015 Fortwo, I always thought that the Scion iQ was a much better car than the Smart. It was bigger inside, had more car-like features and didn't make such a fuss about everything. So I could never understand why all the rumors suggested Toyota wants to kill the iQ. But now I do…



While I want fewer gimmicks from a car, the buyers who spend their money on such a Lilliputian vehicle want density, they want more. The iQ doesn't have a dashboard covered in sneaker fabric or door panels made from plastic. It doesn't even have a proper glovebox, instead using a sort of glove bag, like the one you find on the back of a bus seat.



With a wheel at each corner and a total length that's 2 meters shorter than most of the other cars on the market, the Fortwo remains ridiculously simple to run and use. But being backed by a huge German company, Smart have really moved the technology game on a bit. You can order a turbo engine, which the iQ doesn't have, or a twin-clutch gearbox. Oooh, aaah, oooh!



As you can see, it's still all about the gimmicks. This time around, the design has a premium quality, so you begin to fathom how they can charge upwards of €13,000 for something the size of shoebox. The new Fortwo is also wider and has preserved its unique Tridion Safety Cell, which you can color to contrast the rest of the paintwork.



Lastly, Toyota has never been great at designing European cars. The Auris was cool for a while, but after a year on the market everybody forgot about it. The RAV4 is also OK, but lacks class and the Camry, well that's just downright boring to look at.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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