Verdict

As a city car, the Aygo makes a convincing case for itself. With a short wheelbase, it’s nimble, while the engine is peppy enough to cope with urban environments with ease. Add in light controls and mostly good visibility and it suits the urban environment.

It’s not quite so at home on the motorway, where the tiny engine is starting to show its age.

It gets off the line sharply enough, but then runs out of puff quicker than you might expect.

A slightly sloppy gear change doesn’t help matters, but once it’s up to speed the ride is fine.

Introduce a bend and it’s still perfectly acceptable, thanks to a stiffer body and less weight.

A bump mid-bend doesn’t upset the car too much, allowing you to make reasonably swift progress.

There’s some cheap plastics on show, especially when compared to the likes of the Volkswagen up!, although the excellent touchscreen system distracts from that on higher spec models.

All told, it’s a convincing city car. The Volkswagen up! is a little smarter in its packaging, while the Hyundai i10 provides a more pleasant environment, but the Aygo never falters too much in any one area.

The only thing really counting against the Aygo is the competition from its siblings at Citroen and Peugeot, both of which are a little bit cheaper. Add in a few extra equipment options, such as a fabric sliding roof and a more powerful and modern 1.2-litre engine, and it starts to become a little difficult to recommend the Aygo directly.

However, there’s no doubting which of the trio is the boldest model, and that should go a long way to enticing customers in to Toyota’s showrooms.

More on the Toyota Aygo

Find out our editor’s view here