T4 HSD 1.8 VVT-i 5dr (15" alloys) 5dr Auto Hatchback

Economical petrol automatic

Just completed 4000 km in my first month with the car. Long trips from NW to SE Spain and from NW Spain to SW France have not been ideal for economy motoring, plus the hybrids are not at their best in cold weather as the heater takes power. However the key figure is 52.3 mpg according to my "fuelly" site reading:

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/cuius/auris

The best I've achieved is 62.7 whilst in the warmer SE Spain and just doing short trips from home to shopping and the beach - so the potential is there.

In Spain we are entitled to a subsidy for purchase of hybrids (up to €3,000 depending on the region), so the "hybrid" part of the car is free - hence my view that this can be directly compared to a normal petrol automatic. By comparison my overall average readings for previous cars were - BMW 2.0l diesel manual 49.3 - VW 2.0l DSG diesel 50.4 - Kia 2.0l petrol auto 37.7 - this was for the same type of motoring - rural based interspersed with long cruise-controlled motorway trips.

My car came with the Connect pack - basically an integrated TomTom sat-nav, which also combines radio, cd, dvd, usb and mp3 player (and rear-view camera in the Spirit version). It will also connect an iPod - but the cable required is an extra €150 including fitting, which seems a "rip-off". Why Toyota haven't included a standard connection á la Kia, etc., is a mystery - the Connect pack is a €930 extra initially (although it was "free" as part of the purchase deal).

Some grouses - the rear window wiper has only a 2/3 rds sweep arc, so rear vision is not helped- the front cubby is tucked under the console and is difficult to reach - the boot is short, i.e., from back of seat to bumper (this applies to all versions of the Auris) and the HSD overall volume is reduced by the additional battery.

Overall - an excellent petrol automatic - smooth, quiet running on 15" alloys - good economy

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