Toyota Aygo review

Small cars are designed and built on tiny budgets because the return on that investment is so small. It stands to reason - no matter how many Aygos you flog, you’re not going to make as much profit as if you were selling the same number of a bigger car.

The surprise, then, is that Toyota didn’t just add retina-troubling new paint options and minor styling tweaks with the Aygo’s last facelift, but it has also had a go at the steering and suspension to make the Aygo sharper to drive, something we suspect most owners will never even notice.

The electrically boosted steering has been given new software, while the dampers and springs of the suspension have had a bit of a tweak and the result is… rather good, actually.

Okay, we’re not talking GR Yaris or GT86 levels of fun here, but the Aygo’s steering is well-weighted, quite quick and tells you at least a little of what’s happening under the tyres. Meanwhile the suspension does a pretty good job of balancing the need for the Aygo to be good at dealing with city centre lumps and craters (which is, after all, its defining purpose) and yet being stable and sure-footed on bigger roads (which isn’t, really, the point).

The 1.0-litre engine is game, too; 71bhp isn’t bad for a tiny unit like this, and as with almost all three-cylinder engines, it revs with a fizzy enthusiasm. The 0-62mph time of 13.8 seconds means you’re in danger of being overtaken by erosion if you’re on a coastal road, but once on the move it’s fine.