Toyota Verso S (2011 - 2013) practicality

Euro NCAP has not tested the Toyota Verso S but expect it to fare well. It should get five stars because it is packed with kit to protect you and your passengers. Standard kit includes driver and front passenger airbags, front side airbags, driver’s knee airbag, curtain airbags, Isofix fixings on the rear seats, passenger airbag cut-off switch, front and rear seatbelt reminder system, front seatbelts with pretensioners and force limiters, ABS with EBD (Emergency Brakeforce Distribution), VSC+ (Steering Assist Vehicle Stability Control) with traction control, EBS (Emergency Brake Signal).

Small, spacious and smart – well that’s the marketing blurb - but, to be fair, it's not a completely inaccurate description. The rear bench can split 60:40 – always a help when carrying awkwardly sized goods but the best part is that the rear seats can be lowered in one movement. The rear seats can also be lowered from the cargo area using tilt-down levers on the inside of the boot and there's also a clever dual-level deck board for flexible load capacity.

With rear seats in place you can have 336 litres of cargo space or this can be increased by lowering the deck board to add an extra 57 litres to the capacity. Choose the top-spec T Spirit and the load space increases. The reason? Well, with the flagship trim level you get a tyre repair kit instead of a spare wheel which means more load space. With seats in place this is equal to 429 litres but if you fold them down you get 1,388 litres of carrying capacity.

The Verso S also boasts 19 storage compartments, which includes an array of well-sized bottle and cup holders and a fairly shallow three-level glovebox.