More T25 news - Gordon Murray's microcar driven

The new issue of Autocar magazine, and for that matter their website, brings us more information of Gordon Murray's fascinating T25 project, a city car designed to have a construction to destruction carbon footprint 40% smaller than that of the average city car.

The biggest bit of news is that the car will seat three and not two as previously suspected, in a McLaren F1-style centrally-seated driver, flanked by two passengers - despite the car being significantly smaller than even a Smart ForTwo.

More interesting is that Autocar have managed to drive a body-less prototype powered by a 660cc three-cylinder engine with a Smart-style semi-auto gearbox. The full test can only be read in Autocar's magazine, but Autocar columnist and feature writer Steve Cropley seemed mighty impressed by the mule's capabilities - including flat cornering, great steering, a good ride and fantastic feel to the controls. Not only this, but the car can apparently turn in only six metres.

Of course, the mule isn't exactly much to behold, but that it can impress in such a basic state is very important - the driving characteristics of the Smart and rival Toyota iQ haven't exactly come in for much praise, and nor have their prices. To this end, Murray is still touting £6,000 as an entry-level figure.

In other T25-related news, another teaser-shot of the car has been released, showing what the front of the car is shaping up to look like. It's probably not going to be much of a looker, but there's still a lot to come from the T25 project so we're holding our breath.

(Picture credits: Autocar and Gordon Murray)

Murray's Models - new T.25 in miniature

Gordon Murray's hotly anticipated revolutionary city car, codenamed the T.25, has been revealed in more detail in a series of models. The dioramas, revealed on Murray's website, illustrate some of the important features of Murray's new Mini and the reduction in environmental impact compared to other small cars.


If the amorphous green toy is anything to go by, the T.25 will be smaller even than the current king tiddler, the smart ForTwo, yet the car will apparently be safe enough to achieve a four-star Euro NCAP crash rating. Given that the four-seat Toyota iQ has just achieved the full five stars, and the smart has received four, this doesn't seem an unachievable feat. Some of the other figures are impressive too. The T.25 will apparently need only 20% of the factory space that a normal car requires, and twelve times as many body in whites can be transported in a shipping container as compared to the same for an average car. Lifetime CO2 from production to destruction is projected to be 40% lower, and the car will produce a tonne less of CO2 emissions per year.



The pictures also illustrate how there will be several variations on the same platform, and how three cars can fit into the average parking space.

The whole project is fascinating, and I join the rest of the automotive world in anticipation of viewing the finished product. Unfortunately at this stage, there is no word as to when this might be.

All images © Gordon Murray

72mpg from a Toyota iQ

Living up to manufacturer's fuel efficiency claims is something that cars generally struggle to do. There are exceptions to every rule however, and the Toyota iQ has become one of those exceptions with a small team managing to go 504.2 miles on 32 litres of petrol. This equates to 72mpg, when Toyota officially quote 65.7mpg. They managed to visit 19 British cities along the way. The half-way blog post is here and the start of the challenge is here. If the petrol iQ is capable of this much, one must wonder how much a diesel model could achieve...

The hypermiling iQ (Photo credit: ThisisiQ)

This shows what can be achieved not only by Toyota's impressive little city car, but also by careful driving technique. Doubtless many cars are capable of matching their claimed economy figures, but potentially hampered by the person behind the wheel.

Toyota iQ sports car on the way?

Intriguing rumours brought via Carscoop and Auto Motor und Sport today - that of apparent Toyota plans to show a concept study of a roadster based on the iQ city car at the Tokyo Motor Show around this time next year.


Image: Auto Motor und Sport
Early news indeed, so as of yet it's best to take the information with a pinch of salt, but it's promising nonetheless. The car would be perfectly placed to take up the gap in the market left after the tiny Smart Roadster departed and would prove a competitive rival to the Daihatsu Copen, the only other tiny sports car on the market at the moment.

Like the Copen, the iQ "Spider", as it's likely to be called, would be front-wheel drive, using the 1.0l and 1.3l engines and powertrain of the city car. This also means the car could potentially use the 1.4l diesel pencilled in for the regular iQ.

The regular iQ is due on sale January 2009 from around £10,000.


Image: ©Tarmac 2008