Toyota IQ: now Fast and Furious

I'LL get straight to the point on this one; I hate this car.

It's a bit of an odd conclusion to reach, because chances are Life On Cars readers are getting bored of me going on about how brilliant the IQ is. Of all the new cars I've driven so far this year, Toyota's tiniest is still by far and away my favourite.

At around £10,000, it isn't exactly cheap, but what you do get for your money is quite possibly the smallest four-seater ever made, and it's full of clever engineering touches. How can a car the same size as a Smart carry you and three of your mates in comfort?

Yet what surprised me more than anything when I road-tested it earlier this year was the way it drives. I've heard lots of analogies comparing the IQ to the original Mini - which I know very well - but I wasn't expecting the similarities to stretch to the way it handled the tricky roads of North Wales. I can't help but admit it: I love the IQ.

Sadly, what you're looking at is not an IQ.

It's the snappily-titled IQ For Sports, and - if it gets the nod from fans of Fast and Furious - it should be in showrooms next year. Which is a great shame, because it takes the brutal beauty of the original, and makes it look like something you might see parked on Southport's Esplanade on a wet Friday night.

Toyota is clearly trying to give it a bit of the Max Power treatment, but all it does is ruin the point of the original. In fact, the one thing it reminds me of is the Mini Clubman - either the 70s original or BMW's remake - because it just smacks of taking a successful small car and making it worse.

Maybe I'm just getting old and am losing touch with the connoisseurs of cruise culture, but I just can't see a generation more used to be-winged French hot hatches taking to a tiny, lime green city slicker.

Toyota's created a true landmark motor with the IQ, and I'm begging them not to ruin it.