Toyota Avensis D-4D Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Toyota Avensis D-4D diesel range
Prices: £18,555-£27,725 – on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 6-9
Emissions: 134-160g/km
Performance: [D-CAT 180] 0-60mph 8.5s / Top Speed 137mph
Fuel Consumption: [D-CAT 180] 38.2 (urban), 56.5 (extra urban), 47.9 (combined)
Safety: ABS, EBD, BA, VSC+, ESS.
Dimensions: length/width/heightmm [saloon] 4695/1810/1480

SLOW BURNER

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

In diesel form Toyota’s dependable Avensis is at its most cost-effective. Steve Walker reports.

Excitement, flair, passion these qualities can be overrated in a car. Yes you did read that correctly, just bear with me on this one. There’s no question that beautiful, fast cars are the ones that motorists yearn to own but novelties can wear off. Once you’ve had your spine compacted by the ‘sports’ suspension, fed the engine’s insatiable appetite for fuel with your hard earned cash and received your thousandth disdainful sneer from a jealous pedestrian, a car that’s comfortable, economical and unobtrusive might suddenly look very appealing. Toyota’s Avensis revels in just such a steady-Eddy image and it’s never steadier than with a D-4D diesel engine.

Toyotas tend to be slow burners. They might lack the wow-factor that’s evident in some rivals but try living with one for a month or so and the practicality and depth of engineering usually shines through. That didn’t stop Toyota striving to up its game by instilling some extra sparkle into its third generation Avensis. We’re told that the car has ‘athletic styling’ and ‘dynamic handling’ as well as the more prosaic attributes we’ve come to expect. A thrilling Toyota Avensis is a prospect that will have family saloon rivals mightily worried.

A number of choices are presented to the Avensis diesel customer. The entry-level option is the D-4D 130 which serves up 124bhp from its 2.0-litre capacity. Next comes the 2.2-litre D-4D 150 with 148bhp and the 2.2 D-CAT 150 engine with the same power output and Toyota’s advanced particulate filter technology. Topping the line-up is the 175bhp 2.2-litre D-CAT 180. All the engines use the same four-cylinder common-rail injection configuration and all can cover the 0-60mph sprint in under 10 seconds. Even the D-4D 130 engine can deliver 310Nm or torque and it does so all the way from 1,800 to 2,400rpm. It pulls powerfully through the gears and its 9.7s 0-60mph acceleration coupled with a 124mph top speed should be enough for most. Choose the D-CAT 180 unit and there’s an 8.5s sprint and a 137mph top speed which is quick for a family saloon with a diesel engine.

Toyota announced on unveiling this Avensis that "agility is nothing without stability". The Avensis has always felt a stable car and the latest model continues to emphatically tick that box but agility? The steering isn’t as pointy or communicative as the best handling models in the medium range marketplace and the Avensis never feels quite as light on its feet through corners or when changing direction quickly. What it does do is serve up a comfortable ride and a relaxed experience on the motorway where the lack of cabin noise is particularly noteworthy. The diesel engines are less hushed at lower speeds, particularly before they’ve had the chance to warm up but refinement generally is first rate.

Does the latest Avensis have the visual drama to set hearts aflutter? The shallow side windows, defined shoulder line and steeply raked windscreen give some purpose and there are nice touches, particularly around the rear of the saloon version, but the unusual headlamps and deep grille still need work. Inside, the cabin is sober but predictably well put together. There are some upmarket finishes and the controls layout is as easy to fathom as you could wish for. The centre armrest with its sliding lid and generous storage space beneath is very well executed and the Tourer estate model features a load area that’s cleverly thought out. In general, everything works and feels like it will continue to do so for a long time to come.

The Avensis has resisted the trend amongst large family cars to indulge in serious middle age spread between generations. It’s scarcely any bigger than the MKII car. This means that it lags behind the sector’s most spacious offerings but there’s still room for a couple of six-footers in the rear and the boot is nothing to be sniffed at. There’s 543-litres of luggage capacity on offer in the Tourer and that only drops to 509-litres in the saloon.

There are four Avensis trim levels; entry-level T2, the second rung TR, then T4 and T-Spirit. The ba