New Toyota Auris is domestically bliss

The new Toyota Auris

PEOPLE who consider themselves car aficionados are sometimes sniffy when performance is a lesser consideration, dismissing such workaday vehicles as “white goods” more akin to a fridge.

 

The Toyota Auris was one of those dismissed as such when launched in 2007.

Critics lined up to write off its bland styling, underwhelming performance and unrefined functionality. Not even the addition of a hybrid version in 2010 helped.

The second generation, launched in 2012, still suffered from the appliance tag despite its slightly futuristic look. However, buyers have taken to it in their thousands, making it popular in the highly competitive family hatchback market (Toyota hopes to sell just under 20,000 this year).

Toyota is now building on that success with a series of revisions, in a bid to boost sales even further.

The futuristic design has been ever so slightly tweaked, with changes to the front and back ends.

The nose adopts the current popular trend for a grille that flows into the headlights and also incorporates a new bumper.

At the rear, there is another new bumper and a new design for the rear lamps to freshen things up. The big story of this revised model, though, is under the bonnet.

 

The engine range has been upgraded and augmented with new petrol and turbo-diesel engines. New on the petrol front is a 1.2-litre unit that, with its 112bhp output, is smaller but more powerful than the existing 1.33-litre engine.

The extra 15bhp is palpable and leads to a quicker 0 to 60mph time (the 1.2T manages in it 9.9 seconds, while the 1.33VVTi takes 12.4 seconds), so it definitely feels a lot sprightlier.

Granted, it is not the most potent engine you will ever drive, but it is smooth and does the job perfectly well in town and on the motorway.

The good news continues with fuel economy and emissions: the average fuel economy figure of 58.9mpg is very respectable, as is the 112g/km.

The other new engine is a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel, which augments the existing 1.4 D-4D.

Like the addition to the petrol engine range, this new diesel is more powerful (108bhp) and quicker to 60mph by a couple of seconds (10.3 seconds), but it doesn’t quite have the refinement of the new petrol, making the car feel heavier.

Of course, the running costs are lower, but the 67.3mpg gives up quite a bit to the 1.4 D-4D’s 80.7mpg, plus its 108g/km means it loses the road tax-exempt status of the other diesel.

The best-selling hybrid variant, which accounts for more than half of all Auris sales in the UK, is largely unchanged but has been updated to now emit just 79g/km, with fuel economy improved to 80.7mpg.

It is the economical choice that clearly strikes a chord with customers. The Auris is not the most dynamically satisfying car in its class, but neither does it try to be.

 

What it is, though, is consistent, able, stable and dependable: it does not excite, but nor does it enervate.

Tweaks to the steering give it a little more weight, making it slightly more satisfying, and it handles perfectly competently.

The suspension has also been revised, so it feels compliant on the road, dealing well with rutted surfaces, though the 1.33 and 1.4 D-4D have a slightly different suspension system.

The interior has also been redesigned using better-quality materials and the dashboard feels less imposing, with a larger touchscreen in the centre console and the replacement of some controls by more contemporary switchgear, although the blue backlights are more reminiscent of the early Noughties.

Also new is Toyota Safety Sense, a suite of technologies designed to prevent or minimise the impact of a collision using cameras, radar and sensors to detect other vehicles and, if the driver fails to brake (or brake enough), do the job for them.

The revised Auris might not grab the attention like the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf or even the Seat Leon, but it is a serious contender in a highly competitive segment because it offers the reliability and durability that customers have come to expect from Toyota.

It might not be exciting, but it does what it is supposed to do. Much like a domestic appliance.