Alternative review of Toyota Avensis

Most of the people who end up behind the wheel of Toyota's Avensis will be company car users and for that type of customer, the big Toyota is hard to fault. You just know it's going to be peerlessly reliable and studiously well screwed together. Economy looks like being another strong point according to the official figures and even the briefest first hand inspection reveals a roomy cabin. The problem with the Avensis is that, although it does a lot of things extremely well, one thing it doesn't do is excite. At least, that has always been the case in the past. Perhaps a stint in the latest model will reveal otherwise. I tend to like a car that's a bit different from the norm and that's why I approached the Avensis with some trepidation. I'd been through Toyota's literature on the car and it seemed highly competent in a number of areas but where was that spark of originality or flare? Time on the road would provide the answer.

Today's model is instantly a more engaging thing to look at than its predecessor but that isn't saying much. Can it rival the likes of Ford's Mondeo, Vauxhall's Insignia, Mazda's 6 and the Honda Accord in the fashion stakes? That's always going to be a matter of opinion but we can say that Toyota has achieved a suitably sleek shape for both saloon and Tourer estate models. At the front, diamond headlamps smear dramatically back in to the front wings and the chrome-ringed grille sits above a large central air intake. The Avensis has resisted the trend amongst large family cars to indulge in serious middle age spread between generations. It's scarcely any bigger than the MKII car. This means that it lags behind the sector's most spacious offerings but there's still room for a couple of six-footers in the rear and the boot is nothing to be sniffed at. There's 543-litres of luggage capacity on offer in the Tourer and that only drops to 509-litres in the saloon.

Toyota has wheeled out its latest engine technology to power the Avensis. The petrol engines are of the Valvematic configuration which improve efficiency and increase power through an advanced combustion process. There's a 130bhp 1.6-litre unit, a 1.8-litre engine with 145bhp and a 2.0-litre packing 150bhp that can reach 60mph in a swift 9s when fitted to the saloon body. The diesels use the latest generation of Toyota's tried and tested D-4D technology and comprise a 130bhp 2.0-litre with 310Nm or torque, a 150bhp 2.2-litre with 340Nm and another 2.2-litre with 180bhp and 400Nm. That later engine has some serious firepower behind it and is capable of hitting 60mph in 8.5s. There's a manual gearbox as standard or the option for petrol buyers of the Multidrive S CVT gearbox which is available with wheel-mounted paddle shifters. The diesels are available with a conventional six speed automatic. Toyota has been hard at work minimising the cost of running an Avensis and the figures make impressive reading. 41mpg and 163g/km emissions from the 1.8-litre petrol engine is a decent showing but the 2.0-litre diesel trumps it emphatically with a 55mpg average and a tax-friendly CO2 reading of 134g/km. Toyota announced on unveiling this Avensis that "agility is nothing without stability". This has always felt a stable car and the latest model continues to emphatically tick that box but agility? The steering isn't as pointy or communicative as the best handling models in the medium range marketplace and the Avensis never feels quite as light on its feet through corners or when changing direction quickly. What it does do is serve up a comfortable ride and a relaxed experience on the motorway where the lack of cabin noise is particularly noteworthy. The diesel engines are less hushed at lower speeds, particularly before they've had the change to warm up but refinement generally is first rate.

The Avensis is what it is. There are certainly more exciting alternatives out there but how many of them would be as dependable and user friendly as the Avensis over the course of a long ownership period? It's easy to get bogged down with your initial impressions of a car and while the Avensis isn't he most interesting of the various medium range family car contenders, it could easily be the one that you end up being glad you chose after a few years behind the wheel.

TOP 5 AVENSIS DEALS

The results below show the top AVENSIS deals on buyacar

Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D T2 5dr Diesel Tourer
Price £16,867 Read Avensis Reviews	Save £3,613
Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D TR 5dr Diesel Tourer
Price £18,490 Read Avensis Reviews	Save £4,070
Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D T2 4dr Diesel Saloon
Price £16,060 Read Avensis Reviews	Save £3,385
Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D T Spirit 5dr Diesel Tourer
Price £21,816 Read Avensis Reviews	Save £5,009
Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D TR 4dr Diesel Saloon
Price £17,682 Read Avensis Reviews	Save £3,843
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