Just spent a week in Spain test-driving the competition (i.e. we hired a Toyota Aygo).


Anyhoo.......it surprised me. Got in, fired it up - lovely 3-cylinder thrum and free revving. Very snappy in 1st gear...........and then it all goes wrong. The gear spacing is outrageous. I think it must be geared for 160mph in 5th.


I tested it and it's capable of 60+ mph in 2nd gear! Though it takes a while.


PLUS POINTS
Ride comfort not bad, steering good. Economy fair (47mpg over 600 miles). Engine noise.


MINUS POINTS
Pig ugly, bicycle tyres, Fisher-Price interior and a huge black dashboard which makes driving in bright sun seem like you've got some "Fly-Eyes" on your eyeballs.


Very light, clangy doors - seem to be made of cheap-lager-tin metal.


The high-lipped boot is a rubbish idea, though cheap to make.


CONCLUSION
Who buys these?


When I got back in our Seicento it's like a sports car. When I then got in the 100hp.....welll.......


I'd often wondered if these Aygo/Citroen/Peugeots were worth a try. I'll pass.


Does make me think the Twinair Panda might be a gas though.

One of my mates drove an Aygo when we were in the 6th form at school. It was horrendously slow and understeered at the first hint of enthusiastic cornering. It may well feel like it's geared for 160mph in 5th, but in reality it really struggles to crack 100; you certainly wouldn't want to cruise at 90 on the motorway (not that you would do that in any car in the UK, of course...).

I guess its good points were the fact it was cheap to buy/insure/tax/service/repair and it did about a million MPG if you drove it even half sensibly.

I agree with you about the interior and I'd add that although the stereo had an AUX input to appeal to youngsters, the speakers were truly awful and sounded like Toyota had borrowed them from a cheap laptop.

Overall, it's one of those cars which is designed to be cheap and basic short distance A to B transport for people who couldn't care less about driving dynamics or driving in general. It's just an appliance on wheels, it's clear that no love went into the design or creation of it or its Peugeot/Citroen siblings.

Yes and this is why I don't get the negativity about the MK4, when there are cars like that about.
Cars are coming into two classes in my view.
Cars that people buy because they buy with their heads.
And car people buy with their hearts.
Finding the heart cars are getting harder without spending lots of money.

Only driven a Citroen C1 once, I went in with an open mind as I quite wanted to like it. I think the Aygo looks OK, the Peugeot not great and the Citroen pig ugly. It was nice enough to drive and felt quick enough, when I got out though my hands felt weird from the vibration through the steering wheel, even though I didn't notice it on the move.

It felt a bit too small and claustrophobic, obviously it is small! Possibly even smaller than a Panda? When I see other Pandas on the road I always notice how small they look but they're alright inside. Dashboard is terrible and looks like the quality of a £15 Alba CD player. I couldn't own one. Matt100HP has hit the nail on the head, it's designed to be cheap to buy, cheap to run then be scrapped after a few years with no tears shed.

Matt100HP said:

One of my mates drove an Aygo when we were in the 6th form at school. It was horrendously slow and understeered at the first hint of enthusiastic cornering.

Click to expand...

I did find the lift-off oversteer a little embarrassing when we did barrel into a tight bend (downhill you see). At that speed the Seicento would have rolled slightly. The 100hp would simply yawn and then ask "is that it?".


Excellent size glovebox in the Aygo though. Also, I found that I could get my Nexus7 in its cover and 'trap' the flap behind the tailgate. Thus I could use the tablet as a low-level camera and record some driving (in crap quality video). Good steering lock too.


I'll not be ordering one.

I had one as a hire car once. Only had to drive 150 miles in it, but couldn't wait to get out of it. It felt cramped and the seats were possibly the most uncomfortable I've ever sat on.

Wee Smurf said:

I had one as a hire car once. Only had to drive 150 miles in it, but couldn't wait to get out of it. It felt cramped and the seats were possibly the most uncomfortable I've ever sat on.

Click to expand...

Ahh, yes, I'd totally forgotten about the god-awful seats. They have nowhere near enough padding or support; it's like going around corners sat on a park bench.

Honestly, even if you couldn't care less about cars, I don't see how you could find the Aygo/C1/107s front seats pleasant enough to part with several thousand pounds and put up with them for a few years. I've never sat in the back of one, but I can imagine it's a similar, if not worse, experience.

AB100 said:

I did find the lift-off oversteer a little embarrassing when we did barrel into a tight bend (downhill you see). At that speed the Seicento would have rolled slightly. The 100hp would simply yawn and then ask "is that it?".


Excellent size glovebox in the Aygo though. Also, I found that I could get my Nexus7 in its cover and 'trap' the flap behind the tailgate. Thus I could use the tablet as a low-level camera and record some driving (in crap quality video). Good steering lock too.


I'll not be ordering one.

Click to expand...

You know it's a crap car when "excellent sized glove box" and "good steering lock" are the most positive points things you can think of haha .

Admittedly, the steering lock on the 100HP is awful (seriously, there are cruise ships with smaller turning circles), but it's a tiny inconvenience to put up with when you consider the rest of the car and driving experience.

I own a evo sporting and had a 500 my daughter had a mk3 panda and has a mk4 right now.my wife is on her second c1 and totally loves them.very basic and simple motor which does what she wants from a car .personally I don't mind driving it now and again but prefer not to.each to their own I guess

How to define cruelty?


You have a 100hp sat at home on your drive and you get to drive on this empty road up to 1400 metres..............in an Aygo.

AB100 said:

How to define cruelty?


You have a 100hp sat at home on your drive and you get to drive on this empty road up to 1400 metres..............in an Aygo.

Click to expand...

Looks a bit like the road we had to drive the Aygo on - Norway.

Aygo/ci/pug are all built down to a price and have replacements waiting to be launched later this year.

Most interesting new car coming out later this year is the rear engined/rear wheel drive all new reno twingo - now that I want to drive!

BTW I had an original Yaris and the Panda sits in exactly the same footprint!

AB100 said:

How to define cruelty?


You have a 100hp sat at home on your drive and you get to drive on this empty road up to 1400 metres..............in an Aygo.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Article 3 bans inhuman or degrading punishment; having to drive that beauty in an Aygo, with a 100HP sat at home, is definitely both inhuman and degrading .

panda panda said:

Most interesting new car coming out later this year is the rear engined/rear wheel drive all new reno twingo - now that I want to drive!

Click to expand...

I'm with you there.........I wanna try that.


Also - the (overpriced) new Panda Cross and the 105bhp Panda if they can be arsed.

Aygo will out do Panda on reliability, durability and resale value, C1 and 107 are just cheaper versions, which I can't understand the purpose of.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Aygo will out do Panda on reliability, durability and resale value, C1 and 107 are just cheaper versions, which I can't understand the purpose of.

Click to expand...

On resale you're probably right - the Toyota badge is enough. It's better than the 107/C1.


Reliability? Dunno. Durability.......hmmm. Our 15000 mile hire car had more rattles than a skeleton playing dominoes in a dustbin. Add to that a gear knob that rotated easily (presumably not by design) corrosion on a light scratch (and this in Spain!) and a lumpy idle with very odd power delivery when thrashed up the the redline and I have my doubts.


Why the 107 and C1? Who knows. Toyota presumably brought the engine to the party and Peugeot-Citroen the 'build quality'.

AB100 said:

On resale you're probably right - the Toyota badge is enough. It's better than the 107/C1.


Reliability? Dunno. Durability.......hmmm. Our 15000 mile hire car had more rattles than a skeleton playing dominoes in a dustbin. Add to that a gear knob that rotated easily (presumably not by design) corrosion on a light scratch (and this in Spain!) and a lumpy idle with very odd power delivery when thrashed up the the redline and I have my doubts.


Why the 107 and C1? Who knows. Toyota presumably brought the engine to the party and Peugeot-Citroen the 'build quality'.

Click to expand...

The engine in them all is a Toyota lump, re your hire car though, I suspect that's had more abuse in 15k than most cars will get in 150k, this had to be taken into account imo.

Going by our Yaris which we've had from new and has 185k on the clock now (and original clutch) the Aygo as a whole will generally out do the Panda, but then again its all down to maintenance and type of use etc.

I agree in lack of character and all round practicality though, unlike the Panda with a mark large hole /tailgate to load things into the boot from.

The mk1 Yaris was/is a great car and such a shame it's just got bigger with every new mark.
I always wanted the sporty one, still a few around here but saw loads when I drove through leeds and bradford last week!

AB100 said:

How to define cruelty?


You have a 100hp sat at home on your drive and you get to drive on this empty road up to 1400 metres..............in an Aygo.

Click to expand...

Theres a feeling I can relate to driving holiday in scotland, the dukes pass in the early evening running to loch katrine from aberfoyle, the sun going down, no other cars to be seen and the car for this perfect moment...a 1.2 micra..:bang:

This is related because my fiancee actually looked at aygos and we settled on the micra as the better option. Kinda like being asked would sir like to be set on fire or skinned?

Went car browsing today (Not for myself) the car supermarket had a billion 107/C1's, but weirdly not one Aygo. I thought it was an awful appliance.

p.s. I also sat in a PanKA, somehow it was cramped and the fashionista white parts of the dash were chipped.