by Mike Grundon (18 May 2005)
"All for One and One for All." The cry went up late in 2001, when Toyota and PSA Peugeot Citroen announced they would be building a new factory together in the Czech Republic to build a new small car they'd all share. One car for all and all for one car. The swords were raised together to the bright new dawn, two French rapiers and one Japanese katana - three multinational musketeers for the new world. Four years and a couple of months later, production began and Peugeot's 107, Citroen's C1 and Toyota's Aygo started trundling down the production line. Just like Dumas's fictional heroes, the faces are different, but they're all wearing virtually the same uniform.
Toyota introduced this, its smallest-ever European car, to the world's press just one and a half months before it goes on sale (July 1), and it's the most distinctive of the three brothers-in-arms. Initial looks at the two French versions suggest that, apart from the wheels, everything but two panels - the bonnet and front bumper assembly - is identical. Both the nose and the tail on the Aygo are significantly different, but more of that in a moment. There's much more important stuff to talk about.
The Aygo (pronounced I-go, so be prepared for lots of corny puns throughout the press and advertising) will be available from the start in three or five door versions and in three different specification levels priced around the £7000 to £8000 range. Next year there'll be a 1.4-litre diesel option but at its launch it will have just one engine - a one-litre, three-cylinder, VVT-i petrol unit which turns out 67bhp and 69lb/ft of torque.
Nothing too sparkling in the performance stakes then, but that's not what this car is all about. Toyota is telling us it's the lightest internal combustion engine on the market, weighing in at 67kg, but most importantly it'll wring out an average of 61.4 miles of motoring from just one gallon of unleaded. That, along with its low initial cost, its Group 1 insurance rating and its low emissions putting it in band B for road tax, make it an extraordinarily cheap car to own and run.
And yet for all that, you don't have to put up with the happy-clappy, perky-prat styling that small-car buyers are so often forced to endure. None of the versions wearing French or Japanese badges look daft but to my eye the Toyota has the nearest to grown-up, take-me-seriously styling.
For a start, it's the only one of the three that doesn't appear to be smiling at you, which is always a good thing. It has big round headlamps set behind curved arrowhead lens covers, two levels of air intake grilles on the nose and built-in foglights, at least on the top-of-the-range Sport version. Round the back the bulbous rear lights are streamlined into the flanks with a bullet-shaped contour while the wheelarches extend back beyond them like mudguards on a lightweight racing car. Subtle themes and suggestions I know, but significant.
Inside, the view from the driver's seat is distinctive, mostly because of the proximity of the speedometer and, again on the Sport version, the revcounter. The white-faced speedo is mounted directly on the steering column, and the smaller tacho is appended to the speedo 45 degrees high and right of it. That means as you raise or lower the steering wheel, the dials move up and down with it. The rest of the rather minimalist approach to driver information and input is presented on the pot-bellied centre console which houses easy-to-use CD/radio and the climate adjustment buttons.
Front-of-house cubby holes are two moulded cupholders forward of the gear stick, a couple of narrow door trays, a dash-top slot and a glove pocket in front of the passenger. In the two back seats, headroom is rather cramped for an adult and kneeroom is just adequate. Windows in the front are electric on all but the base model, back windows only flap out for ventilation. Right round the back, the boot is accessed through the lift-up rear window and is only big enough for a couple of overnight bags. The rear seat-backs do fold down, though, if cargo needs to win out over people.
Both three- and five-door versions share the same exterior and interior dimensions and their performance is identical. Piped through the standard five-speed, short-shift manual gearbox it'll get to 60 mph in 14.2 seconds and run up to a claimed 98mph. There is also a Multimode Manual Transmission (MMT) giving the option of automatic or sequential gearshifts. It's marginally slower off the mark than basic manual but in all other respects - including fuel economy - its figures are identical.
The on-road Aygo experience is one of calm precision. First gear gives you a good take off sprint (it's even possible to spin wheels on dry tarmac if you're keen) but the step to second gear feels a bit long for the little engine. Pick-up is smooth and progressive, though, and if you keep the revs high performance is better.
The Macpherson strut front and torsion beam rear suspension setup is tuned to keep the little car relatively level through the weaves, and if you're ever forced to do a quick evasive wiggle to avoid a hedgehog on the highway or a cat in the carriageway, you'll find there's no secondary squirm following up the manoeuvre and you're back on the straight and narrow immediately. On some surfaces it chucks up a bit of road-noise but on all roads, from weaving B-roads to open motorway, the Aygo is stable and straight, and driving it is instinctive and easy.
More accurate prices will be released nearer the sales launch but initial suggestions are that if money is important to you, this package will be difficult to beat. Toyota is planning to sell around 13,000 in the UK each full year. It sees its main buyers as being, "young, active, urban individuals who enjoy a spontaneous approach to life and leisure" - in other words, people younger than the current typical Toyota owner.
I don't know how I feel about it being a first step on the ladder of Toyota brand loyalty. It's almost depressing to think that after they outgrow the Aygo, those effervescent and impulsive free spirits will be crushed into a Yaris or a Corolla.