Toyota Aygo review

Ah, if only the Aygo’s cabin looked and felt as sophisticated as the chassis and steering. Remember we said that this was a car that, in its fundamental form, had been around since 2005? Well inside, it really shows.

The main instrument binnacle tries to ape the Fiat 500’s all-in-one layout, and it has been jazzed up a little by giving the big analogue speedo a ‘jet-turbine’ style background, but the central digital display looks like a cheap watch and it’s certainly not what you’d call inspiring.

Things liven up a bit if you look to the centre of the dash, because there you’ll find a smart seven-inch touchscreen, built for Toyota by audio experts Pioneer. It’s a neat unit, which looks nice and works well – especially given how quickly it hooks up to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and in really high-def, too – so millennials can minimise the seconds spent away from their Spotify playlists.

The front seats are good, with tolerable comfort and support, but the rest of the cabin is a bit of a let-down. You can liven things up, if you like, with some body-coloured panels, but for the most part it’s just a small box filled with cheap grey plastic.

And it’s really small - legroom in the back is tight for anyone who’s outgrown Pokémon, and the boot - at 168 litres - is properly tiny, almost 100 litres smaller than you’ll find in the back of a Volkswagen Up or a Kia Picanto. The way the doors clang shut is hardly confidence-inspiring, either.

On the upside, the extra sound-deadening work has been successful, and the Aygo is quite refined at a 70mph cruise. You’d not really mind taking it on a long motorway journey, so long as you’re not sat in the back.

And as for that optional JBL stereo? Well, it’s decent, but the Aygo doesn’t feel like the best environment for it to be punching out in. Pop your fancy home cinema system in a shed and it won’t sound at its best. But the orange flashes it brings to both interior and exterior sit right at home in a cheap ‘n’ cheerful prospect like this, and the rest of the upgrade (nicer alloys and automatic air con) probably justify the price premium as much as the punchier audio.