The Toyota Aygo is the smallest car in the Japanese manufacturer’s range, sitting below the Yaris supermini. It shares its mechanical underpinnings with the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108, but comes with a far more distinctive look on the outside, with dramatic X-themed design and plenty of colour options. 

The Aygo city car is available as five-door body style and has some stiff competition in the form of the Volkswagen Up, not to mention the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10. The Aygo appeals with its bold exterior styling and suprisingly roomy interior (for such a small car), as well as a nippy drive and scope for personalisation.

Dominating the look of the Toyota Aygo is the contrasting coloured ‘X’ across the nose of the car, leading up towards the side windows. This is part of Toyota’s aim to make the Aygo appeal to a younger clientele as the ‘X’ and various other elements of the car’s exterior and interior design can be customised.

The interior is shared with the Aygo’s sister cars and is quite basic, though the standard 7.0-inch colour ‘X-Touch’ infotainment screen does lift it a little. All the plastics are firm and resilient, but they feel well-assembled and are interestingly-styled.

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That X-theme continues with the three Aygo specification grades available: X-Play, X-Trend and X-Clusiv. Standard equipment includes LED daytime running lights, electric front windows, USB and aux-in connections, air-con, Bluetooth, a reversing camera and a height-adjustable driver’s seat.

Under the Toyota Aygo’s bonnet is a modest 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine. Producing 72hp and 93Nm of torque, performance is adequate, and fine for city use. Beware, though, that it’ll quickly feel out of depth on motorways – especially when heavily loaded. Sure, no city car is designed for high-speed cruising, but rivals – such as the Volkswagen Up – are more capable. 

Combined with the light sub-one tonne body, Toyota claims it will average between 53.3-57.6mpg with the manual gearbox, emitting 111-120g/km of CO2 in the process. An automatic gearbox, known as X-Shift, is also available.

Over the next few pages we’ll be thoroughly reviewing all aspects of the Toyota Aygo and rating them in our verdict. Our scores will take into account the driving experience, how pleasant the interior is, the practicality on offer and what it’ll cost you to run.