Toyota Avensis T180 : ABOUT FACE FOR THE AVENSIS

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Toyotas Avensis has long been the benchmark for the sector when it comes to build quality but now the Japanese giants want it to challenge in terms of driving dynamics. Andy Enright tries the range-topping T180 diesel model and assesses Toyotas efforts

Some assignments are a little more appetizing than others. When the call came to drive the latest generation Toyota Avensis, I must admit to a certain degree of resignation. Id driven the old car extensively and while it made a great motorway cruiser and was built like no other medium range family car, it didnt exactly juice the old adrenal gland. Think of it as the spiritual successor to the Rover 75s title of wheeled Werthers Original and youre not far from the mark.

When the news came in that Toyota were planning on giving the revised car a whole package of chassis improvements however, my interest was piqued. The T180 diesel model I tested barely puts a foot wrong.

Its not perfect though. The styling has been updated but its still rather staid. Look really closely and youll spot the subtly tweaked front and rear ends and if you line the old and new cars up back to back, youll be able to count off the changes. The front grille and headlights are revised and there are now indicators incorporated into the door mirrors, Mercedes style.

A range of updated colours is also offered. The T180 diesel engine is one thats being rolled out across much of the Toyota range. Its the same powerplant youll find in the range-topping RAV4 and the Corolla Verso and youll even find a variant of it under the bonnet of the Lexus IS220d. As its name suggests, its good for 180bhp which is a decent return in this corner of the market, and can be slipped into either the four-door saloon, the five-door hatch or the Tourer estate body styles.

The four and five-door versions cost £22,055 and tack another £1,000 on if you need the additional luggage room of the Tourer. Thats not a lot of cash when one pauses to consider that youll need another £6,000 to snag a similarly-powered Lexus IS220d. That does buy you a rather sassier shape but if youve got family to haul about, the Avensis will be eminently more practical.

"The Avensis T180 is so well-equipped it makes an equivalently priced German rival feel as if its been broken into and looted"

Theres not even a lot in it these days when it comes to driving manners. The old Avensis rode beautifully but when shown a corner, it would run through a fascinating repertoire that encompassed lurching, wallowing and lumbering. The bigger the roads, the better the Avensis would appear. When Toyota claimed they were going to sharpen up the Avensis cornering skills it was easy to see the car losing its high speed cruising comfort and being subsumed into a very average morass.

That hasnt happened. Toyota have retained the hushed motorway abilities of the car and added a welcome dose of poise when its pitched into a corner with a little enthusiasm. The suspension has benefited from a beefier anti-roll bar up front and a thinner one at the back to sharpen turn in. Changes to the shock absorbers and the suspension bushes have also given the Avensis a welcome dose of tactility.

Best of all, the steering has been retuned with reinforced steering members, stiffer joints in the main shaft and beefier steering housing mounting bushes. The result of all of this is a car with vastly improved body control and one which feels reassuringly safe and secure through corners rather than slightly white knuckle. The engine makes some decent figures without feeling particularly rapid. Toyota claim a sprint to 60mph of just 8.

3 seconds with a top speed of 136mph attainable. The six-speed manual gearbox is precise without possessing the sort of shift youd flick up and down the box just for the fun of it. The standout figure is the 46.3mpg fuel economy, although on our road test route the only time I got near this mark on the instant consumption gauge was when the meter went to 99.

9mpg as I freewheeled downhill. When accelerating from a standing start uphill, the figure can drop momentarily to less than 4mpg! After almost driving into the back of a tractor while monitoring my fuel-sipping progress, I decided to switch the display to something less distracting. What hasnt changed a great deal is the Avensis inherent quality. If anything, its become even more refined with a longer equipment list and plusher interior finishes.

The doors thunk shut like a Lexus and it was to their luxury division that Toyota looked to imbue the Avensis interior with a genuinely upmarket feel. It seems to have worked. Soft touch plastics, neat metallic finishes and a huge cabin make the Avensis feel a class up. Standard kit for the plush T180 trim includes satellite navigation, leather and alcantara trim, smoked alloy wheels, and a six-disc CD autochanger.

If youre weighing up a choice between this and a base specification BMW, Audi or Mercedes, this kit list could well swing the decision. Effective sound insulation has reduced weight and decreased noise. To give some illustration as to how seriously Toyota took refinement, they didnt choose the most refined car in the class lets say the Vauxhall Vectra as a comparison when developing this Avensis. Instead they chose the super-luxury Lexus LS430 saloon as a benchmark and, as a result, can claim that even at 124mph, there is zero wind noise from the door mirrors.

The arguments for buying an Avensis T180 are quite compelling. None of its direct rivals offer a diesel engine thats quite so powerful and neither can any of them match this cars build quality. Throw in improved dynamic responses, a vast standard equipment list and a manageable asking price and you have a car that, to a certain extent, creates its own sub niche. If Toyota had managed to engineer in a little sex appeal it would be the complete package.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Toyota Avensis T180 range
PRICES: £22,055 - £23,205 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 12E
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 8.3s / Max Speed 136mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 46.3mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Dual front, side, and curtain airbags, drivers knee airbag, ABS, EBD, VSC, TRC, BA, ISOFIX child seat fixings
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: (length/width/height mm) 4630/1760/1480