Perfectly practical

Drives the Burnaston-built Toyota Auris

The first car off Toyota’s production line in Burnaston was a Carina E in 1992. Now the Avensis and Auris are built there and I got to drive the latter in Touring Sports (estate) form.

The Auris is the spiritual successor to the world’s bestselling car, the Corolla, and though that might not make petrol-heads go giddy with excitement the combination of excellent reliability and top-notch engineering is a tempting proposition.

The styling is, as you’d expect, inoffensive. The front end has been sharpened up considerably with a large Toyota badge dominating the centre of the narrow grille, but the rest of the exterior is functional, rather than flashy. That’s no bad thing. Other manufacturers have long adopted a conservative approach to car design and it’s done their sales figures no harm at all.

The inside mirrors the out with plenty of straight lines though there is some attempt to stimulate the senses with an asymmetrical housing bordered by faux chrome trim for the multimedia touchscreen but the slab of soft-touch plastic that is the dashboard lacks any real panache.

All the controls are simple to find, easy to operate and a pleasure to use.

The sat nav shares that same operational simplicity while the Bluetooth paired seamlessly with my phone and the handsfree and audio streaming worked faultlessly.

There is plenty of room for front seat passengers while those in the back don’t fare too badly in what is one of the shortest cars in its class. There’s no shortage of

10.1sec 43.5mpg 58.9mpg 52.3mpg 124g/km

headroom, either, thanks in no small part to a roof-lining that is domed above each row of seats.

The Touring Sports offers 530-litres of load space with the rear seats in place (more than the Focus estate) or 1,658 litres with them stowed away.

On the move the Auris performs as you’d expect. The engine is smooth an unobtrusive. In fact, at motorway speeds the Auris proved to be one of the quietest cars I’ve had the pleasure of testing.

The gearbox is a delight too and, combined with the light clutch, its slick, positive action ensures unruffled, relaxed, progress.

The steering is light and, while there’s very little feedback through the wheel, it suits the character of this car. The ride is well judged and the suspension does an excellent job of isolating occupants from surface imperfections but the pronounced body roll which discourages any attempts at hard cornering.

It’s easy to focus on what a car isn’t but by dwelling on the Auris’s rather sedate nature I’m doing it a disservice. There is much to like about the small hatch, such as the surprisingly spacious and comfortable interior, the excellent refinement and capacious boot. Okay, so it doesn’t offer the most thrilling of drives but most people, quite rightly, prioritise practicality, efficiency and comfort and the Auris delivers those in spades.