2014 Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVTi review

Welcome to the Cheap Seats

Or to put it another way, a week with an Aygo. How did we get on?

It began with a bump. Somebody reversed into the Jag, while it was innocently minding its own business. The damage while not great, will likely be expensive, given the manner in which cars such as the XF are constructed these days. Still, with the guilty party’s insurers footing the bill, such matters are perhaps somewhat academic. The upshot being that while the Jaguar is in for a course of rhinoplasty, we’ve been slumming it in a courtesy car.

I must dutifully point out that Toyota’s smallest offering is not exactly a stranger to DTW’s pages, our resident Mr. Herriott having already written at some length upon his experience with a conventional manual version, but the example we are considering today has been fitted with Toyota’s X-Shift automated manual transmission.

Employing a manual gearbox with an electronically automated clutch, it allows the driver to Continue reading “Welcome to the Cheap Seats”

2016 Citroen C1: Not Really a Road Test, Not Really a Drive

People judge the Sorrento-Amalfi coast road to be among the most beautiful in Europe and I drove it. But…

…night had fallen even before I got there. The last shred of daylight flickered out as I turned off the motorway for Sorrento. How did I leave it so late? The car rental process wasted a precious 40 minutes of my time and it took an hour to escape Naples. The walk from the terminal to the car rental bus-stop took a while. So two or more hours slipped through my fingers after touchdown.

So, the street lights glowed by the time I emerged from the last of the long, crumbling, littered, grimy sewer-like tunnels that connect the outskirts of the fringe of the sprawl of Naples to the Sorrento road.

After the last tunnel you reach the Sorrento-Amalfi road (it’s a lane) and you Continue reading “2016 Citroen C1: Not Really a Road Test, Not Really a Drive”

2014 Toyota Aygo 1.1 VVTi Review – Part 3

This has turned into something of a long-term test. With a third chance to drive the car, DTW has some extra insight on living with Toyota’s second smallest car.

Perhaps the most illuminating aspect of adding another four days to the tally of six, is that a few important details have turned up, all of them bad. DTW conducted most of the original testing when the days were longer. This time, night driving in humid weather has shown up two details that might irritate or perhaps prove too grating to live with. Continue reading “2014 Toyota Aygo 1.1 VVTi Review – Part 3”

Take Two: 2014 Toyota Aygo Road Tested a Bit More

How did a second chance to drive the 2014 Toyota Aygo alter my view?

2014 Toyota Aygo and a Seat Cordoba. Compare. Contrast.

A while back I tested the Toyota Aygo and reported here on my impressions. I have had another chance to sample the same car (Sept. 19-21). This time I did a bit of silly driving and paid attention to a strange characteristic of the gear shift recommendations. Continue reading “Take Two: 2014 Toyota Aygo Road Tested a Bit More”

2014 Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVT-i Review

This week DTW has the new Toyota Aygo on test. Launched at the 2014 Geneva motor show, it’s only just arrived on the market. So, how did the car fare during a punishing three day investigation involving child-seats, sand and small pebbles?

2014 Toyota Aygo: it´s small but is it practical? — 2014 Toyota Aygo: it’s small but is it practical?

The technicalities.
The engine is the 59 HP 1.0 VVTi in-line three pot. The “VVT” part stands for variable valve timing which has been around since 1996. The bore and stroke are 71 mm and 84 mm respectively. The Aygo comes with stop-start technology and this functioned well enough for me to learn to trust it. It can start the car faster than I could and this eliminated a lot of useless idling while waiting at lights. Continue reading “2014 Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVT-i Review”