Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £13,420 to £19,490
Roomy, sturdy hatchback with good ride quality.
Steering lacks feel, some of the engines struggle.
It may lack sparkle, but this is a well thought-through car you can rely on to do the job.
It's lower than a mini-MPV, but the neatly designed Auris has a low, flat floor in the back, thanks in large part to a cleverly routed exhaust system. The result is a relaxed seating position for four adults, with good head, leg and elbow room all round. The rear seats don't do anything tremendously clever. Their backs have two positions, and they can be folded down to increase the boot space from 354 to 761 litres, although the resulting expanded load area is far from flat.
Despite its height, the Auris has the best coefficient of drag in its class, which must contribute to the remarkable lack of noise. Wind, road and engine all seem much more remote than you'd expect in a car of this size.
Every Auris comes with air conditioning, an MP3-compatible CD player, electric front windows and a useful amount of in-cabin storage space, including two gloveboxes and a tray under the front passenger seat.
T3 replaces the T2's 15" steel wheels with 16" alloys, and the T Spirit adds automatic wipers and lights. The hot diesel's unique specification, called T180, has 17" alloys and comes with traction and stability control as standard; it's optional on other versions.
