Today's review is going to be a bit different because the car in question, is a bit different. I've driven a fair share of budget hatch backs and this one was probably one of the most impressive ones I've had yet, not because it had a cool trick up it's sleeve either. The Toyota Aygo is the smallest passenger offering by the Japanese motor manufacturer, it was developed in a joint venture with Peugeot and Citroen and assembled in the Czech Republic, each of the other brands had the same car under a different guise and name, Peugeot with the 107 and Citroen with the C1. The cars started out as city cars for the European market, with CO2 emission tax coming into play, developed smaller cars, with less emission was the goal. While the French cars did well in the Northern hemisphere, they failed to catch the local markets attention as well as the Aygo. Could be because of brand loyalty or probably just the reliable legacy that Toyota has built in South Africa over the years, which is why we see the new Aygo on the roads today but not the C1 or 107.
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Now while the Aygo start off as a budget hatch back, it certainly isn't just that anymore and with this new X-Cite model its bound to get the attraction of much of the younger crowds and it won't brake your bank account to get one. The X-Cite comes with the standard Aygo 1L engine, I'll admit, not the best engine Toyota has made and it really makes you work to maintain speed. I often found myself needing to down change to maintain or pick up speed on a regular occurrence, especially on highway driving which annoyed me because Toyota has a perfect good 1.5L engine in the Etios Sprint, why not chuck that in here? It would make a world of a difference! Then I sat at the robot, opened the roof...yes, that's the trick up the sleeve (but more about that later) and cruised off the line, down to the office and thought, this is what this car is for, city driving!
Forgetting the fundamentals of the car can be very easy, the car is meant for the city, or the burbs, not flying up and down the highway and when doing that, its probably one of the best things out there. Lets start with the looks, it's striking, it has a big X on the front which makes it all that more X-Citing, the overall design is quite funky, and the utilization of space is very clever. The front doors are quite long which made me thinking it was a 3 door at first until I realised there are actually doors at the back. Getting to the back, the seats are pretty decent, not some wooden bench places there just to say it can seat people at the back. In front, the cockpit is pretty cool, although, granted there is a lot of plastic which isn't unexpected for the price tag, I wasn't expecting imbuya. I quite like how everything is designed though, it really does appeal to the young side in you, which you hope that won't die. There's lots of lights and even section on the side of the speedo that tells you when to change up or down a gear. The space in the front is great, I'm a big guy and had no issue driving around in the car.
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Now, for the crowd pleaser, not quite sure what Toyota were thinking when they decided to add a fold-able roof to the Aygo, but I'm glad they did! When I first saw pics of it, I thought someone was taking the mickey out of the car and I even compared it to the likes of the Mayback Landaulet but I tell you what, it is genius! The roof folds up in a matter of seconds, quietly and neatly, it will have everyone in traffic confused as hell, as to whats going on here. Since the roof stacks up, it opens up practically just over 80% of the roof, which is a lot compared to most sunroofs. With the fresh air and added scenery to the drive, it really makes for a fun ride. No need to worry about drag or wind noise since with the roof open, you're cruising and its perfect. The large touch screen display connects to your phone in seconds, with bluetooth audio streaming coming through the decent sound system, it just adds to the experience.
While this car might be aimed at the youth, I found it quite practical as my daily run around. It sips fuel, at 4.4L per 100km, the tank size is 35L! After getting just over 450km on a tank, I was pleasantly surprised that R200 of petrol got me over half a tank! Many might look at the car and think of the safety aspects of it, I mean guys, sure it's small, sure its light but they got 4 out of 5 stars in the last safety rating for the car, so if that doesn't give it the thumbs up, I don't know what will. I got many comments while driving this car, one of them being cute, which I don't really mind, the Aygo is a cute car and there's no denying that, the X-Cite just takes the cuteness level up a notch with the folding roof.
SPECIFICATIONS
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| 35L | |
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