First Drive: Toyota Aygo, perfect starter for your daughter?
… or your son, in another color. Don't get us wrong, you will be noticed in this car and certainly with this configuration!
So that colour
Guess the car! It's a Toyota that has been on sale for more than 10 years. A Toyota Auris? No wrong, you need to think smaller. The Toyota Yaris? You need to think even smaller than that one! Yes, the Toyota Aygo!
It seems like we can't see beyond that color. But be honest, it's an eyecatcher in Reddish Purple with 15-inch, lightweight, high gloss black rims. The funky Toyota Aygo has been the smallest car in the lineup since 2005, while the second generation arose in 2014. Now it's time for the facelift and it is bigger than its size. But that ain't difficult with his length of 3,465 meters and width of 1,615 meters.
The fashionable car gets a modern touch thanks to LED daytime running lights and LED taillights. While the car enjoys roughly the same lines that have been sharpened with a pencil sharpener. But losing the big X on his nose is like losing his X-factor and for us personally, that's a sad thing. But Toyota corrected our statement pretty immediate, the X is still there but in the shape of the front bumper.
And don't worry, you can order it in blue!
Small, smaller, 1.0-liter three-cylinder
The facelifted Toyota Aygo gets an updated, more full efficient 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine with 72 hp and 93 Nm linked -in our car- to a 5-speed manual gearbox. A little bit more power, + 4 hp, than before and a decent, not to noticeable engine sound in normal use. But it gets a tad too loud while accelerating hard. Certainly, if you take in mind that the acceleration is pretty dull. But what can you expect with the 72 hp hitting 100 km/h in 13,8 seconds? The top speed is just 160 km/h but feels pretty scary to get to. Yes, this car needs to be predominantly used in its natural habitat, the city.
In the city, it shines like the popstar that it is. Keep the car in the correct gear and our little purple Aygo makes sense. All the pieces of the puzzles fall into its place, it's comfy and just fast enough in urban settings. Toyota made the Aygo extremely agile and maneuverable making it easy to guide us through the narrow streets of Antwerp. Just to prove how agile, the Aygo has got a turning radius of just 5,1 meters.
Toyota told us the Aygo will use 5 liters on 100 km (WLTP) and for one of the first times in Car Journalism-history the consumption figure is pretty correct. Driving at 50 km/h the Aygo will need 3,4l/100km and that number will increase to 3,9l/100km at 70 km/h. If you head on to the motorway you can expect 5,3l/100km at 120 km/h.
A 2+2
Yes, that colour continues into the car -should you forget the colour of your automobile. Its interior is tight and striking in our little Aygo. A lot of colourful plastic compliment the fancy design of the smallest Toyota. Combining this with an infotainment system with Bluetooth and rearview camera, but that lacks a navigation system -that can be solved with Waze on your smartphone- and this reporter feels like a fossil. The working speed and clarity of the 7-inch touchscreen is more than acceptable.
Sideways support is negligible but feeling the snug seats under your bump reminds you what the approach of Toyota is on the Aygo. The car -interior and suspension- will try to filter the worst roads to give you a pretty smooth car in this segment.
Maybe now it's time to explain the intermediate title! Yes, the car has got a 5-door setup, but let's be honest. You wouldn't want to be on the backseats of the car for a trip to the south of France. A problem/characteristic that is standard for a car in this segment. In the booth, you can hide 168 litres and that's a little bit less than it rivals.
Conclusion
The car ain't better or worse than it rivals -being the Volkswagen Up!, Seat Mii, Citroen C1, ... - and your choice will strongly depend on the looks and funkiness of your newest little friend. In this category of cars, we can only motivate your decision based on personal preference (brand, image, color, ...). The only tip we really want to give you is: "Go check out the facelifted Toyota Aygo. It's possible you will fall in love".
