Road test: Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVTi X-Clusiv

Toyota boss Akio Toyoda’s promise to make his new cars more fun is continuing. Baby of the Toyota family, the Aygo city car has been heavily revised with some sharp, fresh styling, and Citroën and Peugeot are also producing their own versions of the same model.

The one-litre three-cylinder petrol engine isn’t the gutsiest but makes a pleasant thrum when hurried along.

Contrasting coloured plastic panels form a distinctive X-shape around the front grille and you can personalise the car both inside and out with coloured trim panels. There’s a choice of a five-speed manual gearbox or paddle-shift auto — really a robotised manual unit — which is slurred and jerky in full auto mode. Better to use the paddle shifters and lift off the throttle as you change up.

For such a tiny car, the ride is good, and at motorway speeds the Aygo is perfectly civilised. The dashboard looks small but contains everything you need, and moves up and down with the adjustable steering column. Graphics are clear but would be easier to read if they were better lit.

Rear legroom and bootspace are predictably minimal in such a small car, but even tall front seat occupants will have no difficulty finding a comfortable position, although support from the seats is no more than adequate.

The interior features a lot of painted metal, and the doors shut with a sonorous clang, but the Aygo has a sense of cheerful fun about it.

Main competition will be from its sister Citroën and Peugeot models and from VW’s excellent Up! The simple comparison is that the Aygo is cheap, a bit tinny and fun, whereas the VW is even cheaper, not at all tinny and fun.

Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVTi X-Clusiv
Top speed: 99mph;
MPG: 50.4;
Emissions: 95g/km;
Price: £11,695