Louth Motors: Toyota Aygo X: Fit for Purpose

Following last week’s revelation of driving a new saloon car I have a double revelation this week.

I was in a small petrol-engined car that for transportation purposes is probably all the car we’d ever need.

Most journeys are short journeys with the majority of these, borne out of census data, undertaken on a solitary basis.
So how big a car do you need for just one?

It has a 231litre boot which is par for the class of car it is in, but when the rear seats were folded I transported a Harry push lawnmower in it.

It won’t take an American fridge for sure, but I was genuinely surprised at how easy it was to arrange the car to take a big load.

I also think Fiat/Citroen are missing a big trick here with the delay in selling the Ami/Topolino here from the get-go.

It would be ideal for all-electric urban driving and meet quite a lot of peoples motoring requirements.

Power in the Aygo-X comes in at 71 hp from a 1.0 litre 3-cylinder petrol engine.

Whatever the motives of car companies are to relieve us of our hard-earned cash, they do tend to get the engine/car balance right.

For sure, we’d all love a powerful engine in our cars but in these days of constant monitoring of our road behaviours we can’t use it nor, for a lot of reasons, should we.

With two up and the lawnmower onboard the car didn’t feel as sprightly as when I was on my own but that’s exactly my point.

I was using it out of my usual configuration and for the brief time I was doing that I had to compromise.

If you get the car and engine combo right for your usual use then you can’t go wrong and that includes what form of engine too be it hybrid, petrol, diesel or electric.

On my own in the Aygo you could be in any other full-sized car.

Driver space and comfort is optimum with the only real tell-tale sign you are in a small car is its performance on a motorway.

You won’t set a blistering pace and overtaking isn’t done without thought and planning because the engine won’t get to the level of performance it is capable of quickly.

Not an issue in town but on the motorway you’ll be keeping left a lot which isn’t a dreadful thing, leads to more relaxed driving and less fuel use. I managed 5.1l/100kms in the Aygo-X.

The Aygo-X is the SUV version of the Aygo and now the only one you can get so it caters to the demand for higher seating.

Consequently, that gives the suspension more travel that makes for a much more bigger car ride experience with no small car bouncy feel here.

Mine was a fetching green colour with some orange decals that in the meatal look cool and I’d opt for this despite my father’s “green for grief” mantra.

Whatever about car companies getting the car/engine combination right I do worry about their group-think consensus in terms of equipment.

My car had no central air vent but had a wireless charger and wireless Apple Car play.

I’d adaptive cruise control but no rear winding windows, just pop-out ones.

The mirror wasn’t auto-dimming which I feel is always a requirement, but the handbrake was manual which is becoming unnecessarily rare these days.

You get a very decent glovebox and the doors have particularly good storage space too.

There are three trim levels with pricing starting at €20,180 rising to €22,990. I find the extra moola and buy the Envy trim version which is only a 14% additional cost for all the bells and whistles like automatic climate control, rain sensor, fabric and synthetic leather upholstery, 9" multimedia screen with HD display and projector LED headlamps.

Small is certainly big in terms of specification and value for money.

Competitors in the small car space are the Kia Picanto which is the shortest car currently on sale, the Hyundai i10, the Suzuki Ignis, which is the same length at 3,700mm and the new Volkswagen e-Up which is, get this, 100mm shorter but an incredible 233kg/11% heavier.

Batteries certainly pile on the weight which is the prime range diminishing factor.

In a head-to-head price comparison with the smallest car currently on sale, the Kia Picanto, Toyota will ask you for €3,690 more.

I’ve driven and see merits in both but on balance I’d probably opt for the Aygo-X as it has that bit more style about it with its SUV wannabe elevation that provides a better ride and feels more fun, an important factor.

Against that, the price is extremely attractive for the Picanto and if I adhered to my advice above and picked a car based on regular needs/use, then it would make sense to opt for the Picanto.

As ever, do your own homework carefully and then decide.