Aygo X first drive

[Devon Aygo]

Having seen, sat in & played with out new Demonstrator recently tonight I have had the chance to drive one, An Aygo X Edge manual in Juniper blue and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised the new chassis/underpinnings have massively improved the feel of the car it still feels light, nippy and handles as well as the last generation but it is all now accompanied with a grown up, smoothness and poise taken from the New Yaris that really improves higher speed driving were the last Aygo felt a bit choppy and nervous the new one really feels much more stable & planted.

Toyota have really worked on the little things that perhaps marked the last car out as an older/entry level design that were starting to let the old Aygo down, here a few things i noticed on my short trip home:

• Interior plastics, gone is the dark shiny finish, now a nicer to the touch matte finish
• The AC no longer "clonks" as it switches on nor does it cut in/out under load causing that surging sensation the old car could suffer
• The new C554 manual gearbox with stop/start & hydraulic clutch is a huge improvement being light, smooth & precise to select and the clutch now feels smooth with a much lower bite point
• Interior road noise is much better and @ 85 on the m/way the car is much quieter, easily a match for Yaris and noy far short of my New Corolla

It seems as though there are quite a few complaints about the engine remaining/only being the same 1.0 and obviously its never going to win an uphill drag race but the engine feels no slower or lacking from the last generation and it sold very well with Toyota comprehensively outselling Peugeot/Citroen who offered the more powerful 1.2 as an option so I suspect the majority are going to love the car for what it is, a smaller city car with an economical engine.

As soon as I have had the chance to drive the new CVT auto I shall pop back & update.

[paulc1976]

I drove the CVT auto on Tuesday and would agree that its a good step up in quality and driving experience over the MK2 Aygo I currently drive. Going to drive the manual version on Sunday so looking forward to see how it compares.

[Stormchaser]

Would love to know what the CVT is like compared to the MMT although you can,t really compare.

[Tel 2]

Paul,

The 2021 MMT is smooth but puts the power down in a wave of torque in E- Mode.

The CVT is as smooth as butter but loud if pushed.

Tel

[Cyker]

The MMT should feel better when moving and at speed, but the CVT will be far better at low-speed and moving off, which were 2 things the MMT was utterly hopeless at (Trying to launch an MMT at a roundabout is one of the scariest experiences I've had in a car, only matched by my Mk4 when it thinks I'm going to crash into something and cuts power in the middle of a junction!  )

I think the CVT will be superior just because it is more reliable and predictable. Toyota really dropped the ball with the MMT and it was never able to shake its reputation for being unreliable, whereas the CVT was assumed to be very unreliable (Largely thanks to DAF and Nissan), but Toyota have been back on form with their usual voodoo and somehow managed to make it reliable  

 

[haelewyn]

Devonaygo wrote :

""""""""

• The AC no longer "clonks" as it switches on nor does it cut in/out under load causing that surging sensation the old car could suffer
• The new C554 manual gearbox with stop/start & hydraulic clutch is a huge improvement being light, smooth & precise to select and the clutch now feels smooth with a much lower bite point
• Interior road noise is much better and @ 85 on the m/way the car is much quieter, easily a match for Yaris and noy far short of my New Corolla"""""""""

 

Gearbox / clutch improvements are enough for me to consider a change in a year or so.
Other things mentioned are a bonus and so is the new dashboard design, the safety features and standard available seat heating etc on some/all version(s).

I think I am going to trade in mine one day for an X or similar.

I hope I can get a good trade in for the 'old' Aygo at whatever time - that would make me buy the new one immediately.