The Toyota Corolla saloon lives on but fans of the hatchback must say goodbye to the well-established name and say hello to Auris, the new three and five-door family car from Toyota. It looks fresh and interesting, but looks can be deceiving.
The Japanese manufacturer has changed the name of the front-wheel-drive car in an effort to rid the brand of the dull Corolla image and also to reflect the completely new chassis/floor-plan used.
Auris was designed at ED2 Toyota’s European design HQ in the south of France with European tastes in mind. Toyota set out to instil a sporty feel with the new ‘C’ sector car with a few curves on the outside and a new dashboard and centre consol layout inside.
Corolla was far from sporty, so what about Auris? Clearly it’s a tough ask as the small hatchback sector is full of cars with sporty pretensions like Ford’s Focus, Honda’s Civic and Seat’s Leon to name just three.
The new name comes from Aurum meaning gold and was chosen because it could be easily pronounced in most European countries. The ‘name by committee’ forgot to check with Irish buyers; I have already heard it called ‘Arse’ by one Corkman!
The exterior is similar to the smaller Toyota Yaris and more interesting than the outgoing Corolla, that wouldn’t be hard! Somehow the rest of the body fails to live up to the promise from the appealing front end.
Inside Auris you’ll find plenty of space but the most striking feature is the centre consol that features a flying buttress that separates the two front seats. Inspired by Notre Dame Cathedral the flying buttress console accommodates the handbrake, a cubby and a very well-placed gear lever. The driving position is good and not dissimilar to the VW Beetle as there is a vast acreage of dash before the windscreen and then the furthest point of the car you’ll see are the wipers.
Rear seat passengers enjoy a spacious cabin. The rear seats split and fold. Auris has the highest roofline in its class and passengers will have no complaints in this department. Boot space is average as is everything else about the car.
On the road Auris handles well and the steering is geared nicely but lacks feel compared to say a Focus. My test car had the big selling 1.4 litre (97bhp/130nm) petrol unit fitted. Like the Corolla saloon there is a change up/down gearshift indicator positioned between the mail dials on the dashboard. This will help some drivers improve fuel consumption.
Auris received a five-star crash test score from Euro NCAP plus nine airbags come as standard, so as a family vehicle it gets the thumbs up.
Two 1.4 litre engines will be the big sellers, one diesel (90bhp/190nm) and one petrol. A new 1.6 litre petrol and 2 litre D4D (126bhp/300nm) are available also. Prices start at just under twenty grand and rise to almost thirty for the 2 litre D4D 5 door.
In reality most people looking for a family hatch want their money to be safe and more than anything require a dependable car. This year 5,000 will find homes in Ireland.
Has Toyota made the Auris an exciting car? Eh, no.
Michael Sheridan
