Skip advert
Advertisement

Toyota Auris T180

Better than the Corolla T Sport it replaces

Toyota Auris T180
Evo rating
Price
from £18,295
  • Unexpectedly entertaining
  • Expensive for a commodity car

Remember the Toyota Corolla T Sport? Unfortunately we can. You had to rev it to death to wake it up, and even then it wasn’t really interested. Same went for the chassis. It was a pointless car.

So how about this for a new take on a Toyota warm hatch? After four decades of world sales domination the Corolla line is finally dead, and in its European place is the French-styled, UK-built Auris. It looks like a pumped-up second-generation Yaris and has a nose so short it needs MPV-like extra windows ahead of the doors.

Advertisement - Article continues below

That’s true of every Auris, but we’re interested in this, the T180 version, which has a 2.2-litre, 177bhp engine. That doesn’t sound especially great until you take into account the 295lb ft of torque. It is, of course, a turbodiesel.

Something else to set the T180 apart from lesser Aurises is its rear suspension. Instead of a torsion beam it gets its own full-on double-wishbone-with-extra-toe-link system, designed to keep the rear wheels pointing where they should be when all that torque is piling through the fronts on a bend.

The T180 is about as big a contrast to the T Sport as it could possibly be. It builds up a hefty head of steam from minimal revs and overtakes with insistent authority. It doesn’t torque-steer, it steers accurately (thank that precise rear end). It rides well. I even like the way it looks. Not cheap, though.

Specifications

Engine4-cyl, 2231cc, turbodiesel
Max power177bhp @ 3600rpm
Max torque295lb ft @ 2000-2600rpm
0-608.1sec (claimed)
Top speed130mph (claimed)
On saleNow
Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

More on Auris

Golf-rivalling Toyota Auris revealed at Geneva motor show
Toyota Auris – front quarter
News

Golf-rivalling Toyota Auris revealed at Geneva motor show

The third-generation Toyota Auris is built on the marque’s new platform and promises ‘a more dynamic, engaging driving experience’.
6 Mar 2018
Toyota Auris Verso
Spy shots

Toyota Auris Verso

Toyota's working on a new MPV, likely to be called the Auris Verso, and the name suggests the car is sharing a lot with the hatchback Auris
10 Sep 2008
Toyota Auris Verso
Spy shots

Toyota Auris Verso

Toyota's new MPV takes shape
8 Jul 2008