Four engines, three specification levels, two pronunciations and — no doubt — number-one seller in the C-class hatch sector. That’s the new Toyota Auris for you.
At the launch preview in the United Kingdom a couple of months ago, we asked the Toyota UK representative handling the presentation how the name was pronounced, and he told us that it was “Owris”. Not so, says Toyota South Africa. They reckon the correct pronunciation is “Awris,” as in “aura”, “audition” and “awfully confusing”.
Perhaps it’s appropriate to point out the relationship between the Corolla, Run-X and Auris. Run-X, known by that name only in South Africa, was a hatchback version of the Corolla, and Toyota reckoned that as such it had a rather staid and stodgy image. For its new car, it wanted something that would appeal to a younger group of customers, while the new Corolla (due first week in September) would remain focused on pleasing the more conservative buyer.
The designers needed to use a common platform and drive-train for the two, but each had to each have its own distinctive set of values, and economies of scale dictated that each be built an its own manufacturing plant. That’s why our hatchbacks will all come from Burnaston, near Derby in the UK, while Durban-built Corollas will soon be doing what Hitler never could — invading England in large numbers.
Toyota says that the guys in white coats designed the new hatch from the inside out to maximise comfort and space, while “promising an engaging driving experience” — I think this means that it had to look like it would be fun to drive.
The interior of the new car is certainly much more modern than anything the company’s done before, but I reckon that stylistically it failed at the last hurdle by not being brave enough with the exterior styling. For goodness’ sake, when you’re given a clean sheet of paper and an instruction to build something fresh and exciting, surely it shouldn’t be that difficult to come up with something that’s, well, fresh and exciting?
The Auris looks, to me, a little too much like a bloated Yaris crossed with a Run-X. If I had been given this assignment, I would have employed three or four talented Italians and locked them in a room with a couple of cases or wine until they came up with something sexy.
The Auris comes with a choice of four engines, all of them impressive. In the UK, I discovered that it doesn’t really matter what engine you stuff under the hood there, because you rarely get the opportunity to do more than 100km/h, and, thanks to the congestion, your average speed for any trip works out at about 20km/h. Things are different here, though, and at the local launch we got to drive the cars for about 550km across KwaZulu-Natal at speeds that would have turned the Poms apoplectic.
At the bottom of the heap is the tried-and-tested 1,4-litre 4ZZ-FE petrol unit that’s good for 71kW at 6 000rpm and 130Nm of torque at 4 400rpm. This combination of a biggish car and small engine works surprisingly well, and I wouldn’t fret if I had to load my family up and drive from Durban to Cape Town in it tomorrow.
There’s also a two-litre diesel that’s good for 93kW and 300Nm, and two all-new petrol engines displacing 1,6 and 1,8 litres respectively. The smaller of these two is particularly impressive, with a very healthy 91kW of power lurking at 6 000 rpm, and 157Nm of torque backing that up at 5 200rpm.
The 1,8-litre engine delivers 100kW at 6 000 and 175 Nm at 4 400rpm and, although the difference is not that significant on paper, it’s noticeable on the road because the torque peak arrives so much lower than in the 1,6.
There are three different transmissions available in the Auris range. The two 1,4-litre versions come with five-speed manual transmissions, while the 1,6 RS adds the option of a semi-auto five-speeder M-MT. This uses a normal gearbox and clutch, and can be driven either as an automatic or as a manual by using steering-wheel-mounted paddles. There’s no torque converter or clutch pedal — the gearshift mechanism and clutch are simply managed by servos.
We didn’t get to drive one of these at the launch, so will reserve judgement for now. The 1,8-litre petrol and two-litre diesel both come with a very natty six-speed self-shifter.
There are three spec levels spread across nine models in the Auris range, with the quality and quantity of the toys getting better as the price rises. Up to seven airbags are fitted, and the range has been awarded a maximum five-star rating for adult occupant protection, four stars for children and three stars for pedestrian safety in Euro NCAP crash tests.
Toyota tells us that consideration was given to reducing repair costs in the event of accident damage, with numerous components fore and aft being designed to move back on crushable mounts rather than simply collapsing in disarray after impact. We’ll have to wait for a few panel beaters’ reports before we know how serious they are about that.
The new Auris is a typical Toyota. It’s well built, it goes well enough, it feels good on the road, and it will sell like mad in South Africa, mainly because of the name on the grille. Although even the base models are well specced, I’d worry about the pricing if I were a Toyota salesman, though. The cheapest of the new cars, the 1.4RT, will set you back a hefty R156 500, and the most expensive, the 2.0 RX D-4D diesel, R229 900. With the state of the market in South Africa at the moment, there are many very tasty alternatives available between those two prices.