Toyota Auris angles for prime position

The new look second generation Toyota Auris is very angular

If you’re on the look out for a decent small family car then you should check out the Toyota Auris.

With an elegant nose and a distinctive looking rear end, the five-door Auris is an attractive hatchback.

Inside, the cabin is spacious, but you’re unlikely to be wowed by the interior design. While it is well laid out, everything is very functional looking.

The brushed aluminium finish on the flat dash on the passenger side of the test car carries through from the angular exterior but it looks quite stark.

That said though, the Toyota Auris is a comfortable car, with a nice high driving position and good legroom both back and front.

The cockpit in the Toyota Auris is functional and well laid out

The middle rear seat also doubles as a pull down arm rest/cup holder for when you just have two rear passengers.

The Auris is billed as a five-seater, but accommodating three large adults in the back would be a squeeze.

The Luna model I was driving was well equipped, with the centre console housing a really nice infotainment unit, consisting of an excellent touch screen radio/CD, with well placed USB and Aux ports at the bottom.

This touch screen switched to a very useful rear view camera when the car was in reverse.

The test model also had steering wheel mounted audio and Bluetooth controls, as well as air conditioning.

There are also lots of storage cubbies around the cabin and the centre arm rest/storage unit is well positioned.

The boot is also a nice size and I liked the underfloor storage compartments. It can, of course, be made bigger by easily folding the rear seats – and they lie flat. The Auris also comes with a skinny spare wheel.

During our test run we took the 1.4 litre diesel model all over the place, including city, urban, country and motorway driving and we liked it.

The boot in the Toyota Auris has a flat loading surface with the rear seats folded

The stop and start system, whereby the engine cuts automatically when the car is idling in traffic, had an instant restart, enhancing its economical credentials and making it great for city driving. The car was very much at home in this environment.

However, we were also quite impressed with our six-speed diesel model on motorway and bumpy country roads.

Our week with the Auris saw atrocious weather conditions with torrential rain and it handled this quite well.

While it wasn’t the swiftest taking off at the lights, we found that in higher gears it was a different story and the Auris had no problem maintaining motorway speeds once it reached them.

Overall, I liked this car. While it’s doubtful it’ll have you driving the long way home, it is spacious, well equipped and economical and will take you from A to B in comfort and style.

The Toyota Auris is available now in petrol, diesel and hybrid engines, with prices starting from €18,995. Prices for the diesel model test car start from €23,995.

Tech Spec
Engine: 1.4 D-4D 90bhp (diesel)
Acceleration: 0-100kph in 12.5seconds
Top speed: 175kph
Fuel Economy: 3.9l/100km
CO2 emissions: 103g/km
Annual road tax: €190

Visit the Toyota Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.

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