My employer has asked me to change my current lease car as it’s a euro 5 diesel and they’re moving to a more eco friendly fleet. It looks like I’ll be getting a Auris 1.8 hybrid tourer, possibly the only car that could be more boring than my existing Kia 1.4 diesel! Does anyone drive one on here and can give any opinions on what they’re like? Plus sides are the boot is big and it’s got a few more toys I guess. Anyone care to give a decent first hand impression?
Not driven one but they are on our company car list and according to our transport manager they are crap and was advised against getting one . Was very happy when I was told I could keep my Kia Cee'd.
Haha, not what i want to hear!
Autoexpress wasn't very kind to it I'm sorry to say and particularly with reference to motorway/long haul driving.
Ive had one since February - bought second hand. It works, does the job and was an improvement on my bangernomics for the last 10 years.
I have the Icon Plus 2014 plate but actually a January release so bought at 3 years old. Wife and I like it - it does 55 mph on a bad day and 60-62 mph on long journeys. Put it in cruise control and there are no issues with it - not sure why people slate it.
Power mode engages engine and motors and it accelerates well into traffic. Size wise - due to sickness I haven't put a bike in it yet however have taken it camping and it fitted everything fine. Under a full load (5 adults) it does feel a little sluggish but you would have to pay a lot more to not get that in an estate.
The newer ones have lots of clever toys - mine has what I needed.
Hope thats useful.
A hybrid isn't going to set your hair on fire, I looked at the Auris as an upgrade to our Hybrid Yaris but decided we didn't need to spend the extra outlay.
The electric motor pull is nice, but the engine is pretty much disconnected from your foot input, it gets to the RPM it requires to do the required task, and when you boot it boy it doesn't sound good...well the 1.5 in the Yaris doesn't. In and about the town they are a dream, no changing gear and no jumps between gears as in a slushbox, no hill starts etc, my wife who hated driving will actually go out in this without having a panic attack and doesn't feel sick as a passenger in it, taken it on the ferry to Ireland from Cornwall a few times now near 70mpg on runs.
But we're turbo pleased with it, had it 4 years and would recommend a Toyota Hybrid to anyone, old man bought a Yaris Hybrid last year, and some of out white fleet was Prius, drivers seemed to like them on the airport runs. I wish I could warrant changing my RAV4 D4D to the Hybrid one.... I'm passed my days of driving about like my arseholes on fire.
Not for everyone, try and get one for a couple of days, Toyota down here let my old man have one for 3 days to try before he gave them any cash.
I had a Auris hybrid hatch on a 66 plate from Motorline for two months but it had front end damage and a smokers car so they took it back and had the 1.2 turbo estate. Can't see anything wrong with either of them. You unfortunately can't put a towhitch on the hybrid as they're not allowed. The new one out early next year will. Anyway the wife has the Auris and I've just picked up a Yaris, not in the hybrid as I live in the country and it was more expensive. If I lived in a more urban setting I'd be on a hybrid they're so relaxing drive. Test drive if you can.
Thanks all, some useful stuff there
In a bit of a contrast opinion to some of those above, I've had one for nearly 4 years as a company car. Done almost 80k miles and it's never missed a beat. I'd agree it's not going to rip up any trees but I wanted a reasonable sized car to carry the bike easily, or all our kit and dog for hols, or as an occasional metal tent in Scotland, and for those things it's been perfect. Good spec, leather, glass roof, satnav, cruise control. It rarely does less than 60mpg, but I'm quite light of foot, and much of my commute is up & down the Brum part of the M6 so it's running in ideal conditions to be on the battery quite a lot. I'd have another in the autumn quite happily when its lease is up, but the extra 8 or 10mpg on the Prius is hard to ignore, as is a pretty good Bose sound system.
As implied, if you're an enthusiastic driver, probably not for you. If you want things easy, gotta be worth a test drive.
Thanks. What are they like for overtaking? My C’eed is fairly glacial but has a decent slug of torque which helps. On paper the Auris is more powerful and quicker to 60, but I’m more interested in acceleration for overtaking.
Not <span style="text-decoration: underline;">really</span> their strong point. There's a 'power' button, along with 'normal' and 'eco' and you can tell they each change the engine map & response. Power gives you quick revs, and it gets up and goes fine (for me) albeit with a certain amount of pre-revving. That's just the way the transmission works. It's different, but effective. All I'd say is - test drive one and see what you think.
To the OP. I think you work for the same place as I do.
I just got my Auris hatchback this week. I quite like it - you have to drive it differently to other cars to make use of the battery and therefore get decent mpg but it’s comfy and relaxing to drive, especially in traffic. It’s got a decent turn of speed if you floor it, more so than my Focus diesel I jus returned to Hitachi Capital, but it will drink fuel if you use it all the time.
The CVT gearbox is a bit weird but I’m liking it already as a car to cruise around in. It’s quieter than my Focus too but when you floor it the petrol engine you can certainly hear but it’s not too bad. It just sounds different to a normal petrol engine - the revs don’t build up they go high straightaway then the car accelerates.
I would recommend speccing the protection pack for our jobs - I didn’t and wish I had done. You’ll get mudflaps and a boot liner and sill protectors I think. It’s pretty cheap per month - I’m going to buy a couple of parts of it separately.
it does 55 mph on a bad day and 60-62 mph on long journeys
I would hope it can do 55mph and 62mph! Wouldnt be much use if it couldnt 😉
I am guessing you meant mpg, I get 50mpg on gentle local journeys and 55-60mpg on long trips out of a 6 year old E class estate with over 200hp. Round town with traffic is where I struggle though as I only get 40-45mpg.
Next stop for me will be full electric, not sure about hybrids as the petrol engine always seems to let them down in mpg terms.
@newrobdob-I suspect we might yes. Glad to hear it’s got some merit, as I say, I dont have a choice unfortunately! Was tempted by the Mini Countryman PHEV but nowhere to plug it in means it’s a no-go. Shame, 220bhp would’ve been nice! I manage about 55ish mpg from the Kia so if I can match that I’ll be happy.