The 2009 trackday car of the year is...

Shad

Shad

Shad

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Joined
1 Dec 2005
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803
...the Toyota iQ!

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A Toyota iQ is probably not the first car you'd think of when picturing yourself driving around a race track. In fact when I turned up in the morning, I don't think anyone could quite picture it. Sat in the pitlane amongst various high powered Hondas, a Skyline, a Caterham, and the MGs that were sharing the day with Hondas On Track, the iQ didn't exactly fit in. But you know what they say - "it's not what you drive, but how you drive". And I do like a challenge.
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They say it's a fine line between insanity and genius. Judge for yourself :)
 
Trackday Cars can't be taken too seriously, it's about having fun and getting the best out of what you drive regardless of what you've brought, just as the article suggests. But I bet if it had been a dry summer day he'd have got bored of being overtaken by everything :D
 
Thats a great little website you have Shad, it has actually inspired me to get something similar setup!

Like what ianh said, a trackday for me is first & foremost about having fun be it in an iQ with half a straight-six (love that!) or Porsche GT3 RS with a flat-six.
And fair-do's to the Toyota for taking all the redline thrashing, curb jumping & four-wheel sliding in its stride, a Smart certainly would not have!
 
Sorry, it was too cold and wet for the Caterham???

I know you're young Shad, but I thought your balls had dropped by now?

;)
 
A circuit in rubbish conditions can be really really frustrating & tiresome in a focussed car & can quite easily lead to an incident when tyre & brake temperatures can't be hit.
While an iQ wouldn't be my weapon of choice in such conditions it can still offer a good portion of fun.
 
Nothing quite like watching the reactions from posting on here ;)

A pity the humor has perhaps been lost in translation, but if you think lots of grip and lots of power are the only ways to have fun then you're sorely missing out.

Dr Who, I had my fill of looking out the side of the car a few weeks earlier at a very damp Silverstone. Fancied a change this time :)

Coco has the right idea.
 
Coco said:
A circuit in rubbish conditions can be really really frustrating & tiresome in a focussed car & can quite easily lead to an incident when tyre & brake temperatures can't be hit.
While an iQ wouldn't be my weapon of choice in such conditions it can still offer a good portion of fun.
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Rather than buying a Toyota IQ, you could just soften up the suspension, change the pads and tires, all of which are fairly easily do-able in a garage at the track!?

I went out at Snetterton at the end of November when it was VERY slippy in the morning and a lot of cars went off, my group of friends all managed fine however and as the day wore on the grip came up and speeds increased.
 
Berger said:
Rather than buying a Toyota IQ, you could just soften up the suspension, change the pads and tires, all of which are fairly easily do-able in a garage at the track!?

I went out at Snetterton at the end of November when it was VERY slippy in the morning and a lot of cars went off, my group of friends all managed fine however and as the day wore on the grip came up and speeds increased.
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First of all you seem to be implying that I bought the iQ to use on wet track days. This is not the case.

I know exactly what you mean about a drying track - Silverstone was the same for me. However, Brands was wet and cold all day and I'd not have had any joy in terms of being able to press on. The Caterham is as I mentioned, pretty useless in the wet. This is because it's set up for dry weather. Of course I could spend time and money ensuring I could change the car while I'm at the circuit. But you know what? I can't be bothered! I'm happy to wait for a dry day, I've been doing this long enough to know what I enjoy best :)
 
Corr blimey! It reads to me that Shad had Brands booked, didn't fancy taking the Caterham this ONE-TIME so opted for the iQ which proved to be a lot more fun than he was expecting and with tongue firmly in cheek has placed it as his track car of the year. DONE.
 
This thread makes me cry.

So you're saying the iQ, a yawnbox economical city car is more fun on a track than a 270 brake designed for the track Caterham?

Maybe you should learn how to drive it? :)
 
I think you've riled a few people here Shad - I think the point they're missing is that some people do track days just for fun. I'm the same as you - I'd prefer to chuck a low powered, small car around some country lanes all day long, rather than have some monstrous car that I can't extract the most from.

Good lad :)
 
I do indeed, Gooner :)

Westy, you're dead right. The CSR I drove was pretty quick. Not the quickest Caterham I've had the pleasure of driving, but that 2.3 litre Cosworth engine is a wonderful thing. So much torque, so smooth.

But you have to be concentrating 110% for the entire lap if you want to use that power or you'll be in the scenery before you know it. I love driving and I love the challenge, but at the end of the day I'd rather have fun and drive home than risk it all for 5 minutes of glory, ending in the scenery.

Compared to the CSR, my Caterham with just 135hp is a pussy cat. But I don't do trackdays to pootle around at safe speeds. I want to push, that's the racing driver inside. The iQ can be pushed in the wet and you can get away with murder. But the Caterham will have your balls in a vice in the blink of an eye. Too much stress for me on a trackday - obviously a race would be different :)
 
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