MOTORS: Is the Toyota Aygo X the perfect city runaround?
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Sales of small city cars may be dropping, reinforced by one of the most consistently popular, the Ford Fiesta, being consigned to automotive history. But while we seem to be more interested in larger vehicles which can cope with our more active lifestyles, there are still a few interesting runabouts which offer economy and efficiency.
One of the best is the Aygo from Toyota and while the name has been around for some time, the original versions were simply Toyota derivatives of their mechanically-identical siblings, the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108, the only differences being the badge and some front-end styling.
Some time ago, Toyota decided to go it alone and the Aygo is now based on the same platform as the Yaris supermini but with its own very distinct styling.
Toyota calls the Aygo X an urban crossover which is shorthand for a city car on very slightly raised suspension with some plastic cladding for a “tougher” look.
The short overhangs, flared arches and large headlights combine with the lower plastic cladding and black roof, create a unique look.
It’s designed to fit into the urban environment at just 3.7m long and 1.74m wide but as well as its compact size, its tight turning circle make it the perfect fit for the hustle and bustle of city streets, squeezing through gaps and into spaces no normal SUV could consider.
Check out more of our motoring man's reviews from the Ford Mustang to the Honda Jazz
It projects a fun image as a sort of scaled-down SUV with a small one-litre, three-cylinder engine under the bonnet which is perfectly adequate for most jobs it will be asked to undertake.
The Exclusive version test car is at the higher end of the segment’s price range at just under £19,000 but you do get a lot of equipment for the money such as parking sensors all round, satnav, nine-inch touchscreen, wireless phone charging, auto LED headlights and fog lights.
For an extra £1200 you can get an ironically-named, top-of-the-range Undercover version which far from being camouflaged, comes with extra red decals and gloss black alloys with red inserts along with reversing camera and heated partial leather seats.
The X has been part of Toyota’s range for over a year and has proved popular with buyers who want something a little more than the rather basic transport offered by the likes of the Kia Picanto or Hyundai i10 cousins or the Romanian-built Dacia Sandero.
I think it looks good, especially in the Cardamon Green Bi-tone colour scheme of the test car and the interior equipment and quality matches that of the more expensive models in the Toyota catalogue.
The central touchscreen dominates the stylish cockpit but the driver display and side air vents seem out of proportion to the interior dimensions.
The test car came with the five-speed manual gearbox, rather than the optional CVT auto box and I had to use every one of the gears to get the most from the small engine on some demanding side roads around rural Argyll.
Around town, it’s happy tootling about in third or fourth gear.
It returns a comfortable ride as long as you’re not in a hurry, taking almost 15 seconds to get up to 62mph and it’s hard work pushing the 1.0 litre engine to get there.
The engine noise didn’t seem as gruff as when I drove one of the early models, so it may be that some soundproof tweaking has been done following feedback from customers.
The positive side of the technical set-up is that achieving at least 60 miles from every expensive gallon is very likely.
In spite of its semi-rugged looks, it comes only as front-wheel-drive with the one engine choice and apart from the Undercover version, about the only other option other than the gearbox is a retractable canvas sunroof.
A restricting factor is, literally, the space inside.
It may have four doors but the back ones are small and the two rear seats are a bit cramped for full-size adults.
