by David Finlay (28 Nov 07)

Most of the road test reports you read in this magazine are based on about a week's experience of the car in question. The Auris 1.6 T3 is a different matter entirely. It was our first long-term test car and was therefore part of my life for six months, as explained in a series of articles starting here.

Since it was always fated to be at best the second most important car in the office car park (priority naturally being given to anything that was here for a shorter stay), the Auris was inevitably used mostly for mundane chores. It was appropriate, therefore, that the 1.6 T3 five-door manual is about as middle-of-the-road as any Auris could possibly be - no sturdy diesel engine, no excitement about how to get people or things into the back seat of a three-door body, not even the intrigue of Toyota's MultiMode automatic gearbox.

What the Auris provided - and what I wanted it to provide - was pleasant, sensible, reliable everyday transport. I mean it as a compliment when I say that I enjoyed having it around, but that I didn't miss it at all when Toyota retrieved it from me after half a year.

Not that it was perfect. On day one I was irritated by four things about the car, and although I gradually got used to them they continued to be a source of minor annoyance for the duration. One was the pair of lights on the dashboard which told me I should be changing up or down a gear, according to circumstances. This is meant to be an aid to fuel economy, but I found it frustrating to be driving in fourth and told I should be in fifth when I was a matter of yards away from a hill that would require a shift down to third.

The placing of the handbrake release button on top of the lever, rather than at the front of it, is just plain wrong; and although Toyota provides an oddments tray between the front seats, it's inconveniently blocked by the part of the central console which arcs from the dashboard to floor level. The gearlever sits on this, and it's very well placed as a result, but as for storing bits and pieces on that tray, forget it.

More . . .

More Toyota Auris Photos
Toyota Gallery
Back to Toyota Road Test index
Back to main Road Test index