TOYOTA Auris Hybrid Review

Just look at it - gone is the attitude of the previous generation, which was like a shy teenager hiding under his hood. The new Auris has the same light-hearted visual attitude shown by its newer sedan brother, the Corolla. Nonetheless, it expresses itself in a more youthful manner.

The wheelbase has remained the same, 2,600 mm (102 inches), but the front and rear overhangs have gained 15 mm (0.6 inches) each - this is a pretty important hint about just how focused this 4,275 mm (168 inches) compact is when comes to practicality and comfort.

They’ve also made the Auris 55 mm (2.2 inches) lower, of which 10 mm (0.4 inches) come from a ride height reduction. And since they were there, the designers also managed to reduce the frontal projected surface by 4 percent.

Further aerodynamic changes were made, such as the use of a stepped roof profile and an integrated rear spoiler. What’s more, a lot of the underbody elements are now covered. All these upgrades have brought the drag coefficient from 0.292 to 0.28. Oh, by the way, the Toyota Prius’ fancy shape means its Cd sits at 0.25. Aero battle decided then.

The engineers weren’t too lazy either. Aside from making the Auris larger, they also added reinforcement elements to the front and rear structures, as well as to the front suspension. As a result, the body is now more rigid. Before they went home, they also settled for some high tensile steel in the bodyshell. A good choice, since this contributed to a 40 kg (88 lbs) weight reduction.

At the same time, the center of gravity was lowered. No, they didn’t use this advantage to win a couple of seconds on the Nurburgring. What this did instead was allow Toyota to relax the spring rates and anti-roll bar diameters a little. Comfort is the word here.

And since we got under the new Toyota Auris, we have to talk suspension a bit. The Hybrid does come with independent rear suspension and so do the 1.6-liter petrol and 2.0-liter diesel.

At the same time, the cheaper versions, those fitted with the 1.33-liter petrol and the 1.4-liter diesel get torsion beams at the back. Like the Prius.

Battery packs have such a difficult life - people like their benefits, but nobody wants to see them or wear their burden. Well, the new Auris has relocated the juice providers under the rear seat.