Smooth ride in the iQ?

[Caroline]

I know we won't know until preliminary reviews come out, but what will be a determining factor is how smooth a ride you get in the iQ. I test drove a Smart Car a while back and found that the rough ride gave me a headache.

[dhoosee]

Yeah, those short-wheelbases will rattle your teeth every time.  I believe that Toyota knows how to tune a suspension pretty well, so I'm guessing that they'll do everything that they can to eliminate the harshness from the ride.  The wheelbase is a little longer than the Smart, so that should help. 

Did you drive the American Smart, or the Canadian/Euro Smart? 

[Slothman86]

I drive a Yaris, and I think the ride is pretty good. I don't notice any harsh vibrations or anything of the nature...unless I shift into too high of gear. LOL. I think it would be safe to say that it will ride fairly smooth.

[RickZ]

I drove a Smart last summer when they did their USA tour prior to introduction. Yea, the ride was pretty firm and choppy. The car was on the crude side too. I'm sure Toyota can do the small car thing better, so i'll wait for the IQ.

[RickZ]

There seems to be a problem with the Smart being squirrely at highway speeds and there are other issues too. It's interesting to read the Smart blog. Check it out at www.451s.com. The more I read, the more I look forward to the IQ. I know Toyota can do it better.
By the way..."451" refers to the model number that Smart uses for this vehicle.

[gaffo]

Sadly it will probably be "soft" like my Yaris I bought. Toyotat loves that "Waterbed" americanized feel ;-(.

Within that first week I bought TBD springs/ shocks and struts.

I hate "soft" and the body roll that come with it.

In truth the Yaris just did not feel stable above 80 in the interstate until I firmed her up alot. Now I can go over 90 and still feel connected to the road. But the brakes are not really good enough for such speeds (unless you want to ugrade them).

............................I hope if they offer this thing here in the US I will have the option to get the smaller 3-cyl. engine, a stick shift 5 sp and the option to buy TRB sustpension .............not holding my breathe tho.

They will probably not offer the smaller engine nor a manual verion in the US (of course Europe will get all the options I crave - as usual).