11:02 am, July 21, 2015
What is it?
The Auris is a sensible five-door medium hatchback and estate, which is available in petrol, diesel and petrol-electric hybrid form. Two petrol, two diesel and one hybrid model are available, with buyers able to choose from five specification levels. Despite a facelift for 2015, which has updated the Auris’s styling inside and out, this Toyota remains inoffensive rather than striking and is likely to appeal much more to those who follow their head than their heart. It’s not the cheapest car you can buy or the most exciting.
What’s under the bonnet?
Petrol buyers can choose from a weedy 1.3-litre unit or a much more punchy turbocharged 1.2-litre model, which produces 114bhp and accelerates to 62mph in 10.1 seconds – making it the fastest Auris – while being capable of up to 58.9mpg. Those after a diesel have the choice of a 1.4-litre 89bhp engine or a 110bhp 1.6-litre unit, which lags just behind the 1.2 petrol in the acceleration stakes and returns fuel economy of up to 67.3mpg, falling into the £20 annual car tax band. Most economical of all is the 1.8-litre hybrid, which is capable of up to 80.7mpg – matching the 1.4-litre diesel, while offering even lower claimed emissions – with both 1.4 diesel and hybrid qualifying for free car tax.
What’s the spec like?
Entry-level Active cars get air conditioning, electric front windows and Bluetooth, with hybrid models gaining 15-inch alloy wheels. Stepping up to Icon trim adds 16-inch alloy wheels, a touchscreen media system with digital radio, reversing camera, electric rear windows and front fog lights. Meanwhile, Business 
Edition specification offers a touchscreen sat-nav system, cruise control, and heated front seats, while identically priced Design trim includes 17-inch alloys, tinted rear windows, cruise control, and different seat upholstery. Range-topping Excel spec, on the other hand, features a more sophisticated sat-nav system with voice recognition and WiFi hotspot functionality, plus a park assist system, LED headlights, dual-zone climate control and heated part-leather seats.
What’s it like to drive?
The predicted bestseller – the hybrid – takes some getting used to, with the engine screaming away furiously should you need to accelerate at all briskly, while not providing much in the way of performance. The 1.2-litre petrol, however, is much more impressive, providing a strong spread of power across the rev range and a slick gear change, with little in the way of noise or vibration. The hybrid does come into its own around town, when it can often run solely on electric power, in near silence.
What do the press think?
What Car? said: ‘The Toyota Auris is a decent car that should be painless to own. Unfortunately for Toyota, though, there are much, much better cars in this class.’
What do we think?
Toyota expects that more than half of buyers will opt for the hybrid Auris – and while it is a unique proposition among its immediate rivals, it is not he most appealing Auris, weighing in at £2,400 more than the punchier, more refined and more relaxing to drive turbocharged 1.2-litre petrol. It also isn’t tangibly more appealing than models from rival brands. The Auris is comfortable, refined, easy to drive and reasonably economical in both petrol and diesel form. The Auris is by no means a bad car, but several rivals cover many more bases for a similar outlay.
By Chris Lloyd
