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For me, it is exciting. I want to look around for a new car the end of this year. But there are a lot of nice small cars on the market at the end of this year. My list. 1. Aygo 1.0 2. Citroen C1 1.0 or 1.2 3.Peugeot 108 1.0 or 1.2 4 The new twingo Because it has the smallest turning circle on the market. 5. I like the new Citroen Cactus. Choices, choices. My Toyota IQ is a very reliable car, has a very small turning circle and drives 20km to 1 litre petrol. My new car mustl have the same demands. And I think the new Aygo would be a nice alternative. So before I make a decision I will enjoy driving my IQ. It is economical to drive, nice to park, comfortable and last but not least a very special car on the road. People don't know the car and are always looking to it. The new Twingo is my favorite. But it is reliable and economical?

Evening all my new Touring sport hybrid excel has arrived. Loving it so far radio all tuned in. Can't work out how to Bluetooth my phone yet sure I will sort it really smooth drive looking forward to taking on a longer run.

I asked my local dealer but they said they couldn't fit me one and recommended me a place further down the road.

:eek: :eek:

Hi barry - here it is! Here is a summary of my thoughts from a test drive today (30 April 2014) in a BMW i3 all electric car with range extender. It’s the first car since 2002 to tempt me to consider switching from the Prius. The salesman came with me and I covered just over 20 miles on a range of roads, from country lanes to 70 mph dual carriageways. The battery was about 2/3 full when we started, and the small 1.9 gallon petrol tank showed completely full. The display showed an anticipated range on electric, another for petrol, and one for total range combined (sadly, I didn’t note them). Both displays were very clear even in the quite bright sunlight we had for part of the drive. I never felt the need to look for any adjustment, but I did miss the Heads Up Display. The centrally mounted info/SatNav/entertainment display was the optional extra larger version with some extra features - very impressive display quality. It’s not touch screen, but controlled by a sort of joystick and buttons in the centre armrest. Walking up to the to the car the first thing I noticed was the 19” wheels, something the salesman pointed out with great pride. In my humble opinion, on such a small car they looked plain silly, and I understand tyres are £140 apiece! I worried they would give a harsh ride and be noisy, but those fears were unfounded. Apart from that I liked the appearance and it had a quality look to the finish. Unlike the Yaris, large wheels did the turning circle no harm at all, which was very impressive - almost as good as a Gen 1 Prius, which is saying something. Getting in I found the high seats a little tricky due to some stiff joints, but once inside found the seats very comfortable. The steering wheel is adjustable for reach and rake, and the mirrors fold and open without needing the power on. Holding the lock button on the remote will make them fold in too. It does have only two rear seats, but they are a generous size. The “suicide” rear doors are quite short, so it’s necessary to open both front and rear doors to access the back - it might be tedious to some if you frequently had to let people in or out of the back (kids taxi, for example). Rear legroom is just adequate, and would need some compromise with front occupants if four tall adults were onboard. The boot wasn’t too bad for a car this size, and there’s a small amount of storage under the bonnet, where the charging cables also live. I had hoped the spare wheel would live there, but sadly there isn’t one, and with such big wheels/tyres, finding somewhere to put one is a no no unless you’re happy to lose around half the boot (and £1100). There were four useful expanding straps in the boot to stop luggage rolling around though - full marks. The on-off button works just like the Prius in combination with the service brake pedal, but it’s mounted on the drive selector pod on the right of the steering column. When ‘on’ the word “Ready” appears on the dash too, but in grey. Unlike the Prius, there's no possibility of the engine starting at this point. Cruise control buttons are on the left steering wheel spoke, and it displays the set speed on the dash - I like! Heating is done by an electric heat pump. The drive selector is a chunky rotary knob which you rotate to R, N or D, and there’s a “P” button on the pod for Park. It springs back to a central position once the direction is selected. The parking brake is an electric switch behind the centre armrest, but automatically releases if you press the accelerator. There is no creep, and the car does not roll forward or backwards on a gentle incline. Touching the accelerator, the car moves smoothly away, and is very brisk, although the claimed 0-62 in 7.9 seconds (7.2 on the electric only version) didn’t feel as much faster than the Prius as I’d expected, but was very quiet. I was prepared for the significant deceleration that occurs on releasing the accelerator as I’d seen much comment about it on YouTube, but it took me about half an hour to sort of get used to it - you hardly ever need to use the brake pedal, but years of training myself to come off the accelerator very early in the Prius was not a good idea in an i3! [see update below] However, I think it works really well, once you master the technique of easing back on the pedal slowly, just as you ease it down to accelerate economically. The regenerative braking that results from backing off the pedal is much stronger than a Prius is capable of (but then, with its carbon fibre body, this is a light car). The car rode and handled extremely well - I’d say the ride quality is better than a Gen 3 Prius on 15” wheels and much better than a Gen 2 or a Gen 3 on 17” rims. In other words about as good as a Gen 1 Prius.! I’m getting too old to explore extremes of handling, but it felt very surefooted on the twisty Norfolk lanes. All the expected boxes were ticked for ABS, traction control and stability program. The composite body felt very stiff, with no creaks, rattles or shake. It really did feel a quality car, and I like the interior materials more than a Gen 2 or 3 Prius, but of course taste is a very personal thing. The other trick I missed was asking for the range extender to be switched on manually (kicked myself all the way home), so I didn’t get to hear how much noise it made. Certainly, on the professional reviews I’ve read the reviewers said it was pretty quiet. The salesman went to great lengths to explain the rage extender was intended to be an antidote to range anxiety and a “get out of jail free” card (his words) if you muck it up. They would not recommend the car to anyone who expected to use it most days. Apparently, you can’t manually select it until the battery is below 80% SOC, then you can switch it on to preserve charge for later (say a city). Once it gets very low (6 or 7% I think) it comes on and stays on. If you want to go much above 70 mph, it will still take a bit of power from the battery too, as the generator on its own can’t handle that. The test car had the second (out of four) grades of interior trim (£1000 extra) plus a park assist feature, which adds front sensors to the standard rear ones plus a rear camera (complete with bendy lines like some Prius used to have). It also includes a self park feature, which I didn’t try. If you want to be able to fast charge, you need to order a factory fit option for £3-400 extra. If it had a spare wheel (even a space saver) I’d have ordered one (sorry Toyota), but now I have some serious thinking to do. My heart wants one, but my head remembers too many instances of punctures where a can of gunk just wouldn’t have done it (search Toyota Owners Club Forum for the PlugIn Prius owner who got such a puncture 2-3 miles from home on a Friday night, and waited 2-3 hours for the AA to transport him home, then needed a taxi ride [each way] with his wheel the next day to get a new tyre!). The spec he priced up for me came to (wait for it!) £32,173.99 on the road, including 5 years servicing and the government £5,000 grant. That included the 2nd from cheapest interior trim (didn't really want that but have to have it to get the collision avoidance package which includes radar controlled cruise control). If you went mad with the options, it could easily go into the £40k or even £50k territory. It makes absolutely no financial sense, but boy did it put a smile on my face, just like the Prius has for the last 12 years / ¼ million miles. And the thought of being able to do all my driving apart from one or two days a month without visiting a petrol station, or even topping up during the day as I would in a Prius PlugIn is really appealing. If I ever got to the stage where I had my own wind turbine or solar panels, it would be really green too. [update] the severe regen braking on lifting off the throttle cannot be switched off - if you're on snow or ice, you've only got to forget once and you may end up simulating a handbrake turn!

Toyota's profits predicted decline info: http://www.ibtimes.com/toyota-expects-24-drop-its-net-profit-2015-expects-sell-689m-vehicles-globally-1581703

It does not have an alarm. It has an immobilizer which stops the car being started unless the correct (ie one of the ones supplied with the car) key is used (and stops it being started if someone tries to "hot-wire" the ignition). Toyota do an alarm themselves which is designed to link in to the vehicles existing electronics and can be fitted after purchase - ask a Toyota Dealer. It won't do much extra to stop the car being stolen but will possibly deter break ins.

It seems that anything from Japan is expensive, China is "slave labour" so it is the cheapest ! This principle applies to many items in our world today not just Toyota parts. I worked in VietNam for a number of years (built a new high tech metal packaging factory) and Nike also assembled shoes in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) (they made trainers) and the factory employed 8000 workers and was ran by Korean Mgt, the 8000 workers were paid far less than $1 per day and occasionaly stopped work to complain, then the Mgt stopped paying them and they started work again ! So perhaps we should remember the price we do pay for very cheap goods ? Just a thought !

I agree with your choice of the Aygo, the new model looks great and I can't wait to test it out.

You can't do this in the Prius, it automatically engages P on shutdown. :)

I feel like I have finally found my long lost brother. Welcome to the pinking club my man. Please read my extensive posts about this. My only thing left to investigate is injectors which have now got a messed up spray pattern. I am saying this because my car normally is running slightly rich, but under slight load and a gentle press on accelerator causes it to pink but when i press the pedal slightly further the pinking disappears as if i press the pedal further more fuel is injected into the chamber and lean condition is cured. If you have any other thoughts about this pinking issue i ll be very happy if you could share them. Like you I love my car too. Regards, Waqar