Clever money is on the IQ.

Byline: STEVE ORME

THE inescapable conclusion to be drawn from the way our masters treat us is that they think we are stupid.

We are, for instance, expected to believe that people who drive Range Rovers have broken the skyosphere and that a limited liability scrappage scheme will save the motor industry and Liverpool's Premiership chances.

Best of all we are considered daft enough to believe the secret of sustainable sustenance lies in the domestic ring main. That electricity to power exciting alternative Duracell cars, rather than originating in the gaseous monster that is Drax B power station, is the result of a Paul Daniels magic trick.

Gorden Brown says he will dosh drivers up with five thousand worthless English pounds if they promise to drive around in a cocoon of rechargeable fairy lights.

Fine if you don't want to go far, very fast or think that pounds 40,000 is a reasonable price to pay for a bog standard Chevy saloon loaded with 400lb of lithium batteries that have a life expectancy of only ten years.

So, if you want to be fashionably green but are in no doubt that electricity is not generated by morris dancing, what is to be done? Well, the clever money could be on the Toyota IQ. It's a bright-spark city car that claims to have some answers to the problems of our times. Like how to own a tiny motor that hasn't been fitted out as a rickshaw.

First the really good news: not only is the IQ powered by petrol, it is also road tax free, puffing out only 100 grams of soot per kilometre, a first but not an unreasonable expectation from a one-litre, 67bhp engine doing 67mpg.

Maintaining frugality is hard work through the five speed manual gearbox with the economy advice system continuously calling for a gear change. Performance is academic but 60mph takes 14.1 seconds. Anyone who mistakenly bought this car thinking it was 'nippy' should seek counselling.

In something so small, safety is always a worry. Toyota engineers are confident of five NCAP crash safety stars and the IQ features the world's first rear-collision airbags.

Right, let's hit the road, or rather the streets because you are unlikely to want to do Cornwall in one of these even though it remains refined at higher speeds.

Stability is good and the turning circle unbelievable. As for parking, try that man's briefcase over there..

Two up, the IQ is a roomy luxury city car. With four it is defying the laws of spatial dimension. Think of it as a two plus one unless you have very thin friends.

Equipment is good - MP3 hole, ESP, climate control, automatic wipers and lights and keyless entry are standard.

The IQ is far from perfect, not least because pounds 9,495 is a whopping sum for a car that's 100mm shorter than the original Mini. And that's small.

However, whatever you think of Tiny Tears urban runabouts they are here to stay and the IQ offers much more than cars like Tata's new ultra-basic Nano. In fact it is packaging genius..