Toyota Aygo

The Toyota Aygo isn’t all that mechanically different from its predecessor, but its looks are refreshingly contemporary with a youthful slant.

There’s not much power or dynamic capability, and while improvements to the sound-deadening make the interior more refined at speed, it’s still some way short of the city car class leaders for motorway driving. Practicality also suffers thanks to the Aygo’s super-compact dimensions.

Yet the latest Aygo maintains the same sense of fun as before, and there are small but worthwhile technical improvements under the skin, including some significant advances in vehicle safety. Plus it’s super frugal, easy to personalise, and well-connected with the latest x-touch multimedia system. So it may only earn three stars from us, but if you like it - you’ll love it!

The original Aygo was a big hit for Toyota, with its compact dimensions, minuscule running costs and cheeky looks earning it strong sales across the UK. So the Japanese brand hasn’t messed too much with that winning formula, instead investing in striking looks and new tech.

There are three and five-door versions available and, as with the first Aygo, Toyota's second generation city car is a joint development project with Peugeot and Citroen. The French companies’ 108 and C1 models share the same lightweight platform and mechanicals, but whereas the Aygo is only available with one three-cylinder petrol engine, the others get a choice of two power units. All three city car siblings are built at the imaginatively-named TPCA (Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile) factory in the Czech Republic.

There’s little of the radical or innovative fuel saving tech that some rivals employ underneath the Aygo’s skin. There’s not even a stop-start system available in the UK.

The conventional front-wheel-drive platform features MacPherson strut front suspension with a torsion beam rear set-up. While you get ventilated discs brakes at the front, the back end is braked by drums. Steering is by electric-assist rack and pinion.

So the three models in the Aygo range are mechanically identical, starting with the entry-level x which features 14ins wheels, projector headlamps, LED DRLS, 2-speaker audio with USB connectivity and hill-start assist.

The mid-range x-play model highlights include piano black finish for that big ‘X’ styling graphic emblazoned over the front of the car, a 4-speaker audio system with Bluetooth, steering wheel controls for audio and phone, air-con, a rev-counter, height adjustable driver’s seat and 50:50 split rear seat.

The range-topping x-pression adds 15ins alloys, more piano black exterior trim parts, fog lights, part-leather sports seats, the x-touch multimedia system with DAB and a rear view camera.

There is a plethora of ‘personalisation’ options to choose from too, so it’s not surprising that Toyota has put together a trio of themed special editions to help encourage customers to make their minds up in the showroom. x-cite, x-pure and x-clusive editions all offer exterior colour, style and kit packages that reflect their respective labels.

Aside from the various styling and equipment packages, the only significant options are the choice of three or five door body, a full-length ‘x-wave’ fabric roof, and the ‘x-shift’ automated manual gearbox.

Owners of the previous-generation Aygo will feel at home behind the wheel of the new model. For starters, the 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine is carried over from the old car with small but significant tweaks. Overall refinement is improved, but the engine has the same thrummy soundtrack and eager nature.

You can hear it so clearly because Toyota has done a better job at dampening wind and road noise. It's better at motorway speeds, but still falls some way behind cars such as the Hyundai i10 and VW Up! for long-distance refinement and comfort. The Aygo x-wave also loses out a little bit in terms of wind noise thanks to the cloth roof, but it's better than you'd expect.

Steering that’s 14 per cent sharper makes the Aygo ideal for darting around town, although at higher speeds there’s significant body roll. The pay-off for that is a supple ride over bumpy roads.

The steering is light and accurate, the Aygo turns into corners keenly and there’s decent grip. Body movement is better controlled in some rivals, but the Aygo fared well during our braking tests. Letting the side down is the notchy and reluctant manual gearbox shift action, which oddly isn't as pleasant as the previous-gen Aygo's, even though it’s supposed to have been upgraded.

There may be only one petrol engine available to Aygo buyers, but luckily the 1.0-litre VVT-i unit is an enthusiastic performer that’s happy to rev, filling the cabin with a characterful three-cylinder noise. While some may find it intrusive, others will like the rorty tone. Indeed, Toyota engineers say positive customer feedback focused their minds on reducing road and wind noise, specifically so the engine – without getting any louder - could be heard better.

The pleasing tone is fortunate, as particularly long first and second gear ratios mean you need to rev the engine hard to produce power. But there’s plenty of performance for nipping around town and the revision in ratios means the engine does feel less strained at a sustained fast cruise, compared to its predecessor. The Aygo’s 69bhp is developed at 6,000rpm, and 95Nm of peak torque is delivered at 4,300rpm.

The x-shift automated manual has slightly shorter gear ratios, so feels as though it picks up speed quicker around town – it blips the throttle on downshifts, too. The official performance figures are pegged neck-and-neck for both transmissions though, as each version takes the Aygo from 0-62mph in 14.2secs. Maximum speed for both is 99mph.

Technical upgrades over previous versions of the 1.0 engine are focused on better combustion efficiency, reduced internal friction and exhaust gas flow optimisation. That means you get a new cylinder head with slightly higher compression, plus an exhaust gas recirculation system and freer-flowing catalytic converter among other detail changes.

Although the 1.0 VVT-i is fundamentally the same unit as used by the Toyota Aygo’s predecessor, it’s been re-engineered for the new model. A higher compression ratio of 11.5:1, a new low-friction timing chain and a cylinder head with built-in exhaust manifold to save weight have all helped to improve fuel efficiency and cut emissions.

The mods allow Toyota to boast of raising the engine’s thermal efficiency (the amount of the fuel’s energy it converts to power) to a class-leading 37 percent. That’s impressive, but it’s a cautionary thought that even in an economy-minded city car like this you’re losing 63 percent of the energy in your petrol tank to (mainly) waste heat and friction. And that’s in those rare moments when the engine is running at peak efficiency.

Still, the numbers look good. Fuel economy and CO2 emissions have improved by 3.3mpg to 69mpg and 4g/km to 95g/km of CO2 in the five-speed manual model, while the x-shift auto returns 67.3mpg and 97g/km.

Everything qualifies for free ‘road tax’ thanks to emissions that put the Aygo in VED band A. You can also take advantage of Toyota’s attractive finance plans that will get you behind the wheel for less than £100 a month.

Toyota has taken a bold approach with the Aygo, ditching the old car’s soft curves and rounded details in favour of sharp edges and eye-catching angles. Highlights include the swept-back headlamps, rising window line and tall tail-lights. The double-bubble roof panel is particularly eye-catching.

The car certainly looks more distinctive than the Skoda Citigo, SEAT Mii and VW up! but the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108 are similar and their clean-cut lines will be more attractive to some.

The same youthful approach continues inside, where there’s a gloss black dash finish and a large touchscreen infotainment system, plus a circular steering column-mounted pod that houses the speedo plus digital fuel and rev readouts. Yet while it appears modern and is solidly screwed together, the hard plastics on the dash and doors look and feel fairly cheap. Those details are mainly noticeable because the cabin as a whole is so much more sophisticated than the old car's - the penny-pinching trim predictably stands out.

The big draw compared to rivals like the VW up! and Hyundai i10 is the funky design inside and out, and level of personalisation available on the Aygo. The Japanese hatch is emblazoned with a distinctive ‘X’ running from the A-pillars to the front grille – just one of a number of parts that can be swapped around in a variety of colours.

There’s the allure of that 'x-wave' retractable cloth roof for £850, and Toyota’s new x-touch smartphone-optimised infotainment system brings it bang up to date. Buyers can change the colour of the ‘X’, wheels and rear bumper, as well as a selection of snap-in interior parts. It’s a tactic designed to attract young, fashionable customers to the brand, and proves Toyota is trying to put an era of bland designs behind it.

A string of recalls has taken its toll on Toyota’s reputation for quality and durability. Yet while it slipped down to 17th place in our Driver Power 2014 satisfaction survey, owners rated its cars eighth for reliability in the 2015 poll.

On top of that, the Aygo feels robustly constructed, while the engine is based on the tried and tested unit used in the old car.

There was good news in the NCAP test results too, when the latest generation Aygo moved up – along with its Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108 siblings – to a four star rating from its previous three stars. Adult and child occupant safety were both rated at 80 percent in their relevant tests. The four star rating puts the Toyota in the top rank in the city car class – a class where financial restraints mean fewer active and electronic safety aids are typically deployed, limiting the scope for 5-star awards.

That said, all versions of the Aygo get four airbags, Isofix child seat mountings, stability control and tyre pressure monitoring, while you can spec-up on options like the range-topping x-clusiv special edition’s reversing camera and automatic lights.