Toyota Aygo X review: Why this five-star hybrid is one of the best small cars
The Aygo is still very karty what with a firm ride and very biddable handling and as such is a joy to drive.
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TOYOTA AYGO X HYBRID |
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Rating |
★★★★★ |
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Price |
from €24,520 - €30,195 as tested |
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Power |
a hybrid system with a 1.5 litre petrol engine |
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The Spec |
in GR trim as tested – not too much left in the parts bin |
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Verdict |
funky, sparky and ridiculously economic |
There was a time – that time when Toyota set up an assembly plant in Dublin back in 1972 – when the addition of a car radio as standard in a new model attracted punters like a magnet. A simple AM radio.
It was a massive selling point for Toyota here back then and helped establish the Corolla as part of the motoring landscape in Ireland – a small but significant landmark on the way to the Japanese company becoming the perennial best-selling marque in this country.
It seems almost cute these days to reflect upon a time when your basic heater was an added option when you purchased a new car. So too a radio.
Those truly were innocent days when all that was on offer was what in the modern era would be accurately described as primaeval technology.
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Such as disc brakes (not to mind ABS), auto gearboxes, power steering, electric windows, air conditioning and self-cancelling indicators were all nearly things of science fiction. Even if they were offered on a car, it would only have been one of Rolls-Royce standards.
And, seeing as Star Trek was still only being fleshed out in Gene Roddenberry’s fertile mind, things such as a driver monitor camera, a lane trace assist system, adaptive cruise control, reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors were a leap into a future few dreamed was possible.
A 10.5” multimedia screen allowing you to stream your favourite music or podcasts from the ether was, seemingly, an impossibly futuristic gadget that only came to life in the imaginations and writings of such as H.G. Wells.
That such things would, by the early 21st century, be commonplace in any car – not to mention Mini-esque family runabouts – was implausible at best and highly unlikely at worst. The fact they have come to pass seems like something from an unattainable dream-like reverie.
But then, we also now have PCs and the internet and mobile phones and artificial intelligence and all sorts of other wondrous technologies, so it seems strange to think that cars rolling off the Toyota assembly line at Killeen Road in Dublin with a fitted AM radio as standard was such a revolution.
Their Irish adventure spurred Toyota on to bigger European things, and now the company is a global behemoth and one of the most influential players in the world, not just of car making, but as a purveyor of mobility solutions. It is also the developer of a variety of technologies such as hydrogen, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric powertrains, as well, of course, as their established petrol and diesel activities.
Nowadays Toyota bestrides the globe in all manner of different ways, although to most of us it is merely a car manufacturer – which is why we’re here. We review cars, and this week we’re focussing on a new little Toyota – the Aygo X Hybrid.
And a great thing it is too; diminutive and funky, this Aygo is actually swimming against the zeitgeist, especially so given that the city car market across Europe is pretty much dead, especially for anything with a petrol engine.
But we here at Examiner Motoring love our small baby cars – always have – and even if this one is moderately old school – ie it’s not an EV – it’s still fantastic.
Adhering strongly to Akio Toyoda’s ‘no more boring cars’ edict of some time back, the Aygo X is a fantastic-looking little car, and the tester came in a vivid two-tone tangerine and black paint scheme. Such decoration can – and often does – look twee, but in this instance, it really works and serves to highlight the interesting shapes the designers have managed to incorporate here.
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It also has a new powertrain with the same 1.5l hybrid engine that’s also seen in the Yaris and which has already found approval in these quarters. This system replaces the old bog standard one-litre petrol engine, which was actually a bit of a pocket rocket but has had to be replaced because of tighter emission regulations.
The heads at Toyota reckon they could have made the old unit compliant, but felt now was the appropriate time to move the car into the hybrid sphere and they duly horse-shoed the Yaris engine into the Aygo.
This has increased the price of the car somewhat, but the increased power and a huge leap in fuel consumption balance the scales a fair bit. It also makes the Aygo less of a city-only car as it is now quite at ease on motorway journeys.
Sure, it is small – very tight in the back seats and the boot is tiny – but truthfully it makes a hell of a lot more sense than some of the over-indulgent and way-over-the-top SUVs people are desirous of these days.
While the car still very much has that wheel-at-each-corner demeanour of old, the front overhang has actually been extended a little to accommodate the bigger engine and so the car has a totally revised grille, bonnet, headlights and bumper.
In GR trim it looks spicier than before, helped by the black bonnet, but away from the visual side this also provides for tuned suspension and steering, which helps make the car a much more appealing driver, even if it wasn’t bad in its previous guise.
The new engine is joined by two electric motors and the power output is now 114 bhp (as against just 75 previously) and the 0-100 km/h time is six seconds quicker at 9.2 seconds.
Consumption is a claimed 3.6 l/100 km (76 mpg) and even with our cloggish right foot we managed to return a figure of 4.2 l/100 km (66 mpg) which seemed nearly preposterous.
Being considerably livelier and more economic and notably less vocal (even if the hybrid system can scream a bit under pressure) might have meant a drop-off in the handling performance, but that’s not the case.
The Aygo is still very karty what with a firm ride and very biddable handling, and as such is a joy to drive; that wheel-at-each-corner character makes it a fun car even in town and an absolute hoot over testing B-roads.
On the inside there’s a very neat dashboard design, with most of the working bits incorporated in a visually appealing oval-shaped structure and the manner in which Toyota has incorporated the infotainment tech while also providing a heating panel which is great to use and live with. Many others could take note.
Certainly, any adult will find the cramped rear seats a challenge and the boot will not accommodate your golf bag (or any individual clubs for that matter), but then this is a small car, after all.
There are times in this gig when there is a feeling of loss when you hand a car back after your week in it. This was very much one of them.
I was genuinely sorry to see my little Aygo depart chez Colley but at least I was left with a warm feeling for having known it. Owners or potential owners can expect to experience that same buzz on a daily basis.
It’s not the cheapest small car out there but, hell, it’s certainly one of the best.
