Toyota i-Road prototype review

We drive a hybrid motorbike-car that could looks like a smartie on wheels but could be the future of city motoring.

I haven't has as much fun on a three-wheeler since I was in kindergarten.

Scything through the witch's hats at Japan's Fuji raceway, I'm leaning through corners like a motorbike rider, but there's a roof over my head and a steering wheel in my hands.

It's slightly disorientating and a little scary at first as it feels like I'm about to tip over at any moment but our instructor has assured us this is impossible, so it's time to press on and find the limits of the i-Road experimental vehicle.

The i-Road is rear-wheel steer so it feels as if the back is sliding out when you turn sharply

Modern cars are so composed you can almost feel detached from the road, but the i-Road stimulates the senses at every corner.

As you take a corner the inside of the two front wheels drops down, automatically leaning so much you feel as if your knee is going to hit the ground.

The i-Road is rear-wheel steer so it feels as if the back is sliding out when you turn sharply, while the instant acceleration of its electric motor – and the fact that your bum is millimetres off the ground - make you feel like you're going faster than you are.

If you do push the limits, the steering wheel vibrates in your hands to let you know. But most of the time you don't even need to touch the brakes on the short slalom course Toyota has prepared.

The i-Road is part three-wheel scooter, part city runabout, but it looks like a giant smartie on wheels.

The cabin is small and cramped – the i-Road is less than a metre wide, with no room for a front passenger or even a glove box.

Instead there are three buttons next to the wheel for engaging neutral, drive and reverse, a brake pedal and accelerator.

The whole car weighs just 300kg and can turn in a third of the space a normal car would

Behind you is a little seat that's suitable for small kids and contortionists.

The side panels are part solid, part Perspex, and you pull the windows up with a tab like you might with a blind.

Two tiny electric motors, fed by a lithium-ion battery, drive the front wheels, while the whole car weighs just 300kg and can turn in a third of the space a normal car would.

The i-Road has been around for a couple of years but is still in the experimental stage. Trials have been going on in Tokyo for 18 months and the chief engineer for the project, Akihiro Yanaka, says customers have been impressed by the convenience of using such a compact car in a city as crowded as Tokyo, where parking is scarce and expensive.

Yanaka is confident the car will eventually make it to market.

"The possibility is quite high we don't deny it. However the project we are running at the moment is to find out who is going to use this car and how it is going to be used. Without feedback we can't decide. "

There are also road regulations and certification to think about. The front seat does have a seatbelt, although the driver is still pretty exposed.

In the EU, it has been approved as a two-seater but Japanese authorities are still to make a decision about whether they'll allow people to travel in the rear seat.

Yanaka says it would be preferable if the car was licensed as a two-seater.

You'd arrive at work with a smile on your face

"It will depend on the feedback we get from the user... If they want two-seaters we don't want a one-seater do we?"

He won't give an estimate of the cost, but said it would not necessarily cost less than existing city runabouts. He said it would however be much cheaper to run and own in a big city.

"It really depends on how this car is to be utilised. In Tokyo this car does not take much space to park so we don't have to worry about the cost of parking. That is one benefit. This is also an EV so it costs a lot less to run," he said.

He said it would be less expensive than a small electric vehicle.

The i-Road has limitations, though. Its top-speed of 60km/h means it would be out of its depth on a freeway and the 50km range means it would be better suited to suburban commuting.

One thing is guaranteed, though. You'd arrive at work with a smile on your face.