Stylish Avensis ticks all the boxes

By Michael Moroney

Toyota's third-generationAvensis model offers improved levels of style, comfort and economy.

Toyota waited until the New Year to launch the third-generation model of one of its most successful cars in Ireland. The new Avensis has a fresh design while remaining noticeably Toyota. The styling changes are significant enough to give the new Avensis a more modern and Lexus-type look. However, it needed to do more than just look different. The targets set for this new car included lower emissions, lower fuel consumption and improved safety. Toyota claims that all of these targets have been achieved in a design that has a smooth and reliable feel to it.

My test car was the Strata grade diesel-powered model. It faced a typical Irish winter road challenge, with floods and hidden potholes adding to fun. Toyota claims that the new car has an improved suspension that's well tuned to the needs of road like ours here in Ireland. The car has Irish-specific longer suspension coils, which remained solid and smooth despite the challenging conditions. Toyota's build quality ensures the Avensis meets the objective of long life comfort and smoothness.

In addition, the new 2.0-litre entry-level turbo-diesel needed to deliver even more economy. And it does so while achieving the target of lower CO2 emissions.

Toyota has improved the engine technology, added a six-speed gearbox and wrapped the full deal up in a car design that is smoother and more aerodynamic. And better economy was the end result.

The new wedge-shaped Avensis has less wind resistance, with a drag Cd figure of 0.28 (this is as low as it gets in a saloon car). Add diesel engine improvements to give better fuel burning by increasing the fuel injection pressure and you get more economy. The economy savings are up to 10% in some models.

Toyota has opted for new fuel injectors and a new engine management system to bring further economy benefits to the new Avensis. The CO2 rating has dropped from 146g/km to 135g/km. The economy figures improve from 5.5 litres/100km to 5.1 litres/100km (51mpg to 55mpg) without compromising on acceleration.

That's the measure of the performance from this new Avensis; the acceleration figures have improved by one second to 9.7 seconds in a 0 to 100km/hr race, while the economy has improved by 10% and the CO2 emissions have been lowered by 7% to 135g/km. These improvements drop the diesel-powered Avensis into the cheaper Band B road tax category, costing just €156 annually.

Toyota claims that adequate power is present at lower speeds and less frequent gear shifting is needed. They claim that the low-speed torque performance is increased by up to 5.5%, depending on engine choice. In practice, you will feel this good torque as engine revs drop when the car heads into steep hills even in fourth gear.

The engine smoothness with its 125bhp performance is impressive. This car is easy to drive, with very smooth gear changes across the six speeds. It has a gear shift indicator on the dash to help the driver achieve the most efficient gear selection for the engine revs and road conditions.

The Avensis has ap dated look on the inside with new materials used for the dash area. The radio is clear with easy-to-use buttons. The car's information display system is also easy to use and modestly informative. I'm disappointed that Toyota does not fit a Bluetooth mobile phone system as standard. This is a very practical safety feature.

Despite this, Toyota is aiming for a high safety rating for the new Avensis. The car has seven airbags, including a driver's knee airbag, front airbags for the driver and front passenger, two front side airbags and side curtain shield airbags, front and rear. And there's Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) as standard on all models.

The entry price for the Avensis diesel is €26,015 (stg£18,225 in Norhtern Ireland) before delivery charges. That's a lower price than the previous model. It's also more competitive than the 2.0-litre TDCi Ford Mondeo, which has similar acceleration but slightly poorer economy levels.

There's lots of competition for the new Avensis, including the new 2.0-litre Opel Insignia S, another good looker, which is slightly slower, has higher emissions and poorer economy.

This new Avensis has the pedigree to be reliable and easy to drive. The service interval has been extended to 15,000km and the car uses a maintenance-free timing chain, low cost "element" filter where only the part has to be replaced (a cost reduction of 45%) and long-life spark plugs (cost reduction of 23%).

The new Avensis looks modern and attractive without being exceptional. The buying package is good in terms of economy, safety and value. Toyota's Avensis pricing is relatively keen. Unfortunately, Toyota's cashback offer does not apply to the Avensis, otherwise it would be a sell-out.'

Toyota Avensis D4D

Engine	2.0L turbo-diesel
Engine power	125bhp
0-100km/hr	9.7 seconds
Economy	5.1L/100km
CO2 emissions	135g/km
Road Tax Band	B (€156)
Price	€26,015
NI Price	£18,225