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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nH<\/span>ow do you make the Toyota Aygo X (pronounced \u201ccross\u201d, btw) one of the nicest little cars on sale, even better to own and drive? Well, if you\u2019re Toyota, the natural inclination is to turn it into a hybrid, and so here we are: the Toyota Aygo X Hybrid, which means that all Aygo models sold in the UK now have this pseudo-SUV chunky styling plus \u201cself-charging\u201d full hybrid technology as standard, like a Prius (but no heavier plug-in hybrid options for the Aygo). <\/p>\nThe result? More power, superior performance and updated, sharper looks than the outgoing model. Better still, if that were possible, this smallest car in the Toyota range has been given a mild sporty makeover in the GR Sport variant, in which I had the pleasure of scooting around for a few days. It was a lot of fun and, thanks to the significant power upgrades, much better at tackling a long motorway run than its immediate predecessor. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s undoubtedly still primarily urban transport and, frankly, unsuitable for any family unit exceeding two adults and two small children, but it is capable of ranging far and wide without wearying its occupants. Like the best of small cars that have big car pretensions, such as the old and much-missed Smart ForTwo, the VW Up\/Seat Mii\/Skoda Citigo trio, or indeed Toyota\u2019s own quirky iQ, the Aygo has a bit more of a quality, grown-up feel about it. A bit. <\/p>\n
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Inside track: the interior controls won\u2019t disappoint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nCompared to the pre-hybridised Aygo X it supersedes, the new versions have bigger engines (1.5l v 1.0l), more power and extra torque from the electric motor (114 v 71 hp), lower CO2 emissions (well below 100g\/km) and fuel economy \u2013 now in the low 70s miles per gallon, which Toyota claims is best in class. <\/p>\n
They are well built and have decent quality materials inside, and the touchscreen and manual controls are finely weighted. Plus, given that badge, it won\u2019t break down. <\/p>\n\nTHE SPEC<\/h2>\nToyota Aygo X Hybrid GR Sport<\/h3>\nPrice<\/strong>: \u00a326,945 (as tested; range from \u00a321,495)<\/p>\nEngine capacity<\/strong>: 1.5l petrol, 3-cyl, CVT auto<\/p>\nPower (hp)<\/strong>: 114<\/p>\nTop speed (mph)<\/strong>: 107<\/p>\n0-60 (seconds)<\/strong>: 9.2<\/p>\nFuel economy (mpg)<\/strong>: 72.4<\/p>\nCO2 emissions (WLTP, g\/km)<\/strong>: 87<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDo I sound like a Toyota salesman? Well, let me make amends by telling you what the man or woman in the showroom might not. The sting, you see, and it\u2019s a painful one, is a big hike in price \u2013 up by about \u00a34,000 more, about a quarter, in the starting price for the base \u201cIcon\u201d version. It\u2019s more car for more money, if you will, but we\u2019d prefer more motor for less dosh. <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not going to be doing many miles in your Aygo, I\u2019d suggest looking at a lightly used example of the old model, which is still a hoot to chuck about and, I\u2019d hope, possibly even more reliable (less complicated drivetrain). <\/p>\n
Of course, such official figures don\u2019t always translate into real-world experience, but even with a heavy right foot, I found the figures just about plausible \u2013 and the baby all-electric alternatives such as the Hyundai Inster are even cleaner and cheaper to run, and are also excellent value. <\/p>\n
If you can stretch to the Aygo X GR Sport version, it will reward you with even sharper handling, thanks to tweaked steering and suspension, plus \u2013 get this \u2013 a black bonnet, larger, 18-inch alloy wheels and it looks especially good in contrasting mustard yellow. It\u2019s an extremely attractive package and is fully equipped \u2013 but it all pushes the list price even higher. <\/p>\n
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Upwardly mobile: the GR Sport version offers larger wheels and a slick design \u2013 if you like that sort of thing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Aygo X has always enjoyed strong reviews and, money apart, the new hybrid is an improvement on a well-sorted design in every way. The naturally aspirated (non-turbo) three-cylinder petrol unit is still entertainingly thrummy rather than unrefined, and is well suited to the automatic gearbox. It\u2019s just a car that feels good to drive and does everything competently or better, and the only feature I missed on it was a heads-up display, something that would just add that little bit of extra sophistication to the offering. <\/p>\n
With the new generation of city EVs, the small car still has a future in a world where cars are suffering so much from weight and size inflation. It\u2019s just a pity that the manual gearbox option has quietly disappeared, and you can no longer buy a new small Toyota for less than \u00a320,000, like the original non-hybrid, non-SUV model, a proper little city hatch. <\/p>\n
Maybe, given the cost of living crisis, which seems never-ending, Toyota, which has been building exemplary cars for the masses for decades (a noble calling), may bring just such a basic but efficient and dependable machine back one day. A \u00a310k Toyota. Think of that. It\u2019d be good to have the choice. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more How do you make the Toyota Aygo X (pronounced \u201ccross\u201d, btw) one of the nicest little cars on sale, even better to own and drive? Well, if you\u2019re Toyota, the natural inclination is to turn it into a hybrid, and so here we are: the Toyota Aygo X Hybrid, which means that all Aygo models sold in the UK now have this pseudo-SUV chunky styling plus \u201cself-charging\u201d full hybrid technology as standard, like a Prius (but no heavier plug-in hybrid options for the Aygo). The result? More power, superior performance and updated, sharper looks than the outgoing model. Better still, if that were possible, this smallest car in the Toyota range has been given a mild sporty makeover in the GR Sport variant, in which I had the pleasure of scooting around for a few days. It was a lot of fun and, thanks to the significant power upgrades, much better at tackling a long motorway run than its immediate predecessor. It\u2019s undoubtedly still primarily urban transport and, frankly, unsuitable for any family unit exceeding two adults and two smal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}