Toyota NOAH

The Toyota Noah is an eight-seater MPV with two rear sliding doors built by Toyota Motor Company and sold only in Asia. A five-seater version without the third seat row is available (YY grade). Its predecessor was the Toyota Liteace Noah. The Noah has a twin version named Toyota Voxy, with lower ground clearance.


The Noah's 154 hp engine takes 9.8 seconds to reach 100 km/h (60 mph) up to a top speed of 175 km/h. The Noah was the first Toyota car to be equipped with its next generation technology called valvematic in 2007. Compared to Toyota’s previous topline 2-liter 4-cylinder, the 3ZR-FAE with Valvematic is more powerful by eleven horses.

While conventional engines control air intake using a throttle valve, Valvematic adjusts the volume of air taken in by continuously controlling the intake valve lift volume and timing of valve opening and closing. This ensures optimal performance based on the engine’s operational condition, thus helping vehicles achieve both high fuel efficiency and dynamic performance.



Toyota dubbed the technology a “further evolution of the gasoline engine”. Valvematic, it said, improves fuel efficiency by 5-10 percent, reduces CO2 emissions and boosts output by at least 10 percent.

Technically speaking, the official output numbers for the first Valvematic engine, the 3ZR-FAE 2.0 litre put out 158 PS at 6200rpm, 196Nm at 4,400rpm, and goes 14.2km per litre of fuel used. A non-Valvematic engine 3ZR-FE outputting 143 PS at 5,600rpm and 194Nm of torque at 3,900rpm and went 13.4km per litre of fuel.

The CO2 emissions for the Valvematic engine was also lower at 164k/gm compared to the 173g/km figure of the non-Valvematic engine.

The Noah is positioned as a C-segment MPV similar to the Toyota Wish, and has since 2001 been competing with the Honda StepWGN and the Nissan Serena in the family car category.

Some think it is nothing to look at beauty-wise. And for most city dwellers it’s a total nightmare when parking space is a premium. But ask any owner of the Toyota Noah and you will get an endless list of attributes that excite about this eight-seater Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV)/ mini-van.

Most buyers love it for its spaciousness, easy handling, and cool interior, ample baggage and storage spaces. It can seat eight people comfortably even for long hauls. For most however, the appeal is in the power and fuel economy.

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Toyota AGYO

Toyota made its first venture into the UK car market back in the swinging sixties, with the launch of the Toyota Corona in 1965. A decade on from opening its two UK manufacturing bases, Toyota won European Car of the Year 1999 for the first time with the Toyota Yaris, and in March 2006 – just forty years on from its first foray into the UK market, Toyota achieved its two millionth UK new car sale.There are 20 variants of Toyota AYGO.

Rewarded with the 2006 Green Award from What Car? magazine for its pioneering work in developing environmentally friendly vehicle technologies, Toyota has shown an ongoing commitment to building cars that address the environmental needs and challenges faced in the 21st century, without compromising the standards of performance, safety and practicality expected by today's motorists.


The Toyota Aygo is a fun and funky city car that has a zippy 1.0-litre engine. It’s great about town, and the car’s compact dimensions are ideal for nipping into tight parking spaces. The engine can struggle once you hit the motorway, though.

The Aygo isn’t as agile as the best city cars because the initial steering response is sluggish and the small tyres quickly lose grip. The ride is also rather firm.

The no-frills cabin is starting to show its age, because it’s made from cheap-looking and flimsy-feeling materials. There is reasonable space for four adults, but the boot is too cramped to hold much luggage. That said, running costs are very low; with CO2 emissions at 99g/km and has average fuel economy of around 66mpg.

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Toyota Auris, Corolla evolution?

There’s never been any question that the Toyota Corolla is anything but a huge global success. The world’s best-selling model has set standards for profitability and popularity that are the envy of every other manufacturer on the planet. Well, the Toyota Auris is not bad – it’s just  uninspiring. Toyota promised us a giant leap forward from the Corolla. This isn’t it.

Comfort

The Toyota Auris serves up more-than-competitive space inside, thanks to its height. All versions are tuned for good ride comfort, which is a good solution given the likely buyers. The ‘bridge' console puts the gear lever close to the driver and the instruments are clear. Petrol engines are a bit buzzy at motorway speed, though.

Rated 6 out of 10

  

Performance

Avoid the 1.33 petrol, but the 1.6 is OK, and has useful torque. On the diesel side, there's a 1.4 litre diesel with 90bhp and 152lb ft of mid-range goodness.

Rated 6 out of 10

   

Cool

The Corolla was the default motoring appliance, and the Auris doesn't change much. It's not a bad car or an ugly one, but when there are so many compact hatchbacks around it takes something special to stand out. The Auris definitely isn't it.

Rated 4 out of 10

   

Quality

The Auris's dash is an array of cheap plastics in a random multiplicity of textures. Oh dear. But there's great underlying quality. The controls have well-oiled actions, the body panel gaps are accurate and you know reliability isn't an issue.

Rated 6 out of 10

   

Handling

Strangely, there are two different suspensions for the Auris. The first, used on nearly all models, results in soggy handling with lots of roll and unimpressive grip. The second is sharper and nearly as good as the Focus or Golf.

Rated 5 out of 10

Practicality

The tall body is roomy, and the rear seat-fold works a charm. The one interior piece of flair, a gear lever mounted on a ‘bridge' console, adds an extra storage space, but not one that turns out to be especially useful.

Rated 5 out of 10

  

 Running costs

As with Vauxhall or Ford, Toyota fields an Auris line-up with separate versions to suit private buyers and the fleets. The idea is to keep a handle on depreciation. CO2 is also generally under control, so you get good economy, although there's no sub-120g version.

Rated 9 out of 10

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