Toyota Auris Review

27 January 2007

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Don’t’ Settle For Silver - Go For Gold

Think of a family hatchback car and the VW Golf may spring to mind followed closely by say, the Ford Focus. But now Toyota have thrown a spanner into the works or rather the highly competitive C-segment that accounts for 26% of UK sales, with their brand new family hatchback, the AURIS.

Meaning ‘Gold’ in Latin, Toyota are confident this 24-caret gem will seriously send ripples of anxiety through to the other manufacturers by luring new customers into a family hatchback that boasts innovative interior styling, high levels of specifications but mated to a very responsible price tag along with low cost of ownership.

Due in the UK showrooms on February 1st, an elite group of motoring journalists, oh, plus I, were whisked off to Barcelona for a sneak preview of the all-new Auris, which effectively is taking the place of the Corolla that will no longer be built for the UK market.

Potential customers will have a choice of two petrol engines, a 1.4 VVTi and a new 1.6 VVTi litre or three diesels all of which produce outstanding fuel economy on a combined cycle. The fuel frugal 1.4 litre D-4D 90 achieves 56.5 mpg while the 2.0 litre D-4D130 claims 52.3 mpg mated to a the six speed manual transmission and the flagship model, the most clean, mean and powerful D-4D 180, a respectable 45.6 mpg, again on a six speed manual transmission. But the patrols are not far behind with the 1.4 achieving 40.9 mpg and the 1.6 litre just below at 39.8 mpg.

On top of this, customers will have a choice of a three or five door but as the five doors is being produced here in the UK, we should support the dwindling British Motor Industry and opt, for an extra £500, the five door.

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