06 Nov 07
The 1.6-litre petrol-engined Auris in T3 spec wasn't exciting to drive, but it was pleasant enough to use for hundreds of miles at a time without making me annoyed or uncomfortable. It was also large enough to carry two or even three adults in the back without them complaining. It was small enough to park easily and inoffensive to the eye.
With flat-folding rear seats and a long load bay, it was even a decent load carrier. Our Skoda Roomster, although shorter, is designed to be practical and versatile, and its figures are impressive: 450 litres of luggage space with the seats up, 1,780 litres with them down. There is, after all, a clue in the name.
The Toyota, on the other hand, makes no great claims for its load-swallowing ability, but the way it makes bags disappear is always a pleasant surprise.
If all this sounds like damning the Auris with faint praise, I don't mean to be negative. It's just not my sort of thing: were I to spend £12,000-plus on a car I'd want something that gave me more of a warm glow of affection, more of a feelgood factor. I'd want a car that I could look at outside my house and feel proud of, or one that I just really enjoyed driving.
Like my former chair, the Auris is too generic and too unexceptional for my liking.
