- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 7 seats
- Engine
2.4i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
118kW, 221Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 9.2L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
A spacious sort of shuttle … but it’s no rocket
The clever people-and gear-carrying ideas in the Avensis are outweighed by the thrash and buzz of the automatic.
Good: Toyota build and finish quality. Comfortable seats (except one.) Dynamics. Round town manoeuvrability. Equipment. Long, wide load area with easily varied layout. Clever back seat arrangement. Driving position. Dash layout. Ease of access. Occupant space.
Bad: Engine unsuited to people-mover use, exacerbated by automatic. Excessive engine and road noise, plus some harshness. Uncomfortable middle seat in row two, with lap-only belt. Brake feel. Suspension can be harsh on rough roads. Location of gear lever. Space-saver spare.
Verdict: Space oddity.
Stars: 3 (out of 5).
When it comes to choosing a seven- or eight-seater wagon, Australians much prefer a Pajero or Prado to a people-mover. Against the outback's siren call, the people-mover's pragmatic, versatile but distinctly unglamorous character doesn't stand a chance in the desirability stakes.
People-mover sales reached a measly 12,791 last year; medium/large 4WDs, most of which have seven seats, totalled more than 110,000.
Having a couple of clowns thrashing (and probably trashing) a Pajero across the red sand dunes, accompanied by an idiotically distorted soundtrack, seems the most effective way to sell suburban family transport. No, I can't work out why, either.
Toyota's class-leading Tarago -- every rock'n'roll band's favourite bus -- is now priced on the high side of $50,000. It's the ace of space, with eight seats and plenty of room for gear, and sells in significant numbers to commercial operators.
Private families largely comprise the rest of the people-mover market. Given the high cost of kids, there's a strong price sensitive element. Holden's Zafira and Kia's Carnival, both in the low-$30,000 range, are the current driveway favourites.
The Avensis Verso replaces the Spacia, and is smaller than the Tarago. It is accurately described as a big five-seater wagon with two extra seats for those times when a couple of in-laws, or the kids' mates, come along for the ride.
It uses an all-alloy 2.0-litre engine with variable inlet valve timing. The lightweight four-cylinder is as used (with tuning modifications) in the RAV4.
A four-speed automatic is the only transmission. A five-speed manual GLX was available for short time after launch, but is no longer available.
Toyota claims 18 configuration options for the Avensis's 2-3-2 seat layout. Up front, you slide straight into the high, plush driver's seat. There's plenty of travel, the wheel is height-adjustable and the seat itself is also height- and tilt-adjustable. The driving position is excellent for short and tall people alike.
Vision is clear around the car except for the thick base of the windscreen pillar which, when turning, slightly obscures the view between the steeply angled screen and the side windows.
The dash is beautifully clean, simple and efficient in its design, as is usually the case from Toyota.
There's a surfeit of oddment storage bins, while the space between the two front seats is clear, so you can swing around and administer the Texas treatment to a rogue child.
A blot on the book is the column shift automatic lever on the left. A tall driver may find it difficult to select 2 or L because a knee is in the way. It's also possible to accidentally knock the transmission out of gear.
One wonders how this piece of clumsy design got past the whitecoats.
Standard equipment in the GLX includes two front airbags, anti-lock brakes with emergency full power assist, efficient air-conditioning (with roof vents to seating rows two and three, plus a fan control behind the driver's seat), CD player, remote central locking and one-touch power windows with jam protection on all four doors.
The Ultima adds side and curtain airbags on the front seats, alloy wheels, roof rails, cassette player, tinted windows and a few decor frills.
The 60-40 split-folding row two seat is adjustable for travel, so you can tailor leg room to suit. Comfort is fine for the two outboard occupants, the backrest angle can be adjusted -- but the middle passenger gets a raw deal, with a hard, lumpy cushion adjacent to the split bench and a lap-only belt.
Several other people-movers have superior row two seating for three occupants.
Access to row three is very easy with a simple tilt/slide mechanism on both sides of the row two seat.
Leg room depends upon where you have the row two seat positioned on its track, but it is possible to set this so that all passengers have reasonable space.
The row three seats are quite comfortable (for back stalls), with firm padding, high, adjustable backrests and a covered bin/cup-holder on both sides.
Both row three seats fold easily forward into the load floor when not required. The load area in this configuration is long and wide, and floor length can be adjusted by moving row two.
A deep bin is provided under the floor for extra storage; the space saver spare is carried externally under the front of the cabin.
Both sides of the row two seat double-fold forward without compromising front seat travel. This gives you nearly two metres of floor to play with.
Child-restraint anchors are provided on the back of each row two and three seating position. A shopping bag hook is also fitted to the back of the driver's seat.
Build, fit and finish quality are first class.
Despite the Avensis being fairly light, the 2.0 is too small, peaky and underdone in the torque department for a wagon of this carrying capacity.
The engine produces strong performance above 3500rpm. However, a full load exaggerates its lack of low-down pulling power, and it has to be worked quite hard around the suburbs.
The deleted five-speed manual transmission would be a happier match with the 2.0 than the four-speed auto, which has widely spaced ratios and frequently finds itself becalmed below 3000rpm.
It then kicks back to thrash-and-buzz mode in search of power. This constant hunting by the transmission, especially in hilly country, gets annoying and probably explains the absence of cruise control.
The Avensis is relatively short and manoeuvrable, which makes it very easy to drive and park around town. On the highway, its dynamics are at the better end of the people-mover scale, while on rough roads it is quite taut and secure, with precise steering.
The suspension can crash and thump on very choppy surfaces, but generally the ride is compliant and comfortable.
The tyres (205/60 Dunlops) generate quite a lot of road noise. Reverberation levels in the cabin are high.
On the test Ultima, the front discs were warped, which caused some shimmy at the wheel and loss of effectiveness. The Avensis has some clever people- and gear-carrying ideas, is built and finished to high standards and is well equipped. In terms of outright space, it also has more than enough.
However the 2.0/four-speed auto drivetrain is unsuited to the people-mover application (the Camry/Tarago 2.4 would be a much better fit), the row two seat is not properly equipped or designed for three and, on the test car at least, overall refinement and braking performance were significantly below par.
Vital signs
Toyota Avensis
Engine: 2.0-litre 16-valve fuel-injected four-cylinder.
Power: 110kW at 6000rpm (average).
Performance: 0-100kmh in 12.5 seconds (unladen; average).
Brakes: Discs with ABS (unable to properly test; see text).
Economy: 8-9 litres/100km highway; 12-13 city (unladen; good).
Prices: Recommended retail -- GLX $41,900; Ultima $46,900. Street price -- $4000 off.
Main options: Satellite navigation $4290 plus dealer fitting charge.
Warranty: Three years/100,000km (average).
Residual value: No model history.
Safety rating: Not yet tested.
Alternatives (automatics):
Holden Zafira 2.2 -- $33,990
Honda Odyssey 2.3 -- $47,990
Hyundai Trajet 2.7 V6 GL -- $36,880
Kia Carnival 2.5 V6 LS -- $32,500
Mazda MPV 3.0 V6 -- $49,850
Mitsubishi Nimbus 2.4 -- $41,990
VW Kombi 2.5 -- $39,990
Prices correct at publication date.