Auris van ticks most boxes

SMALL businesses around the country are big buyers of small vans. The competition in the sector, led by sales of large numbers of car-derived vans, is hot and heavy.

Car-derived vans offer the style and comfort of a standard car in many cases with the bonus of extra load space and taxation benefits. And the car-derived van doesn't look out of place outside the door of many houses in the same way that a more commercial-looking van might.

Toyota has made a fresh attack on the market with its van based on the Auris hatchback. The van treatment is done locally here in Ireland to give a comfortable two-seat vehicle with a flat loading area finished with a relatively low bulkhead rim. The rear windows are blackened out to preserve the van look and provide some element of goods security.

The van is based on the successful Auris three-door car. The Auris has a good safety report, having come through the EuroNCAP testing programme with a maximum five-star rating. Toyota fits nine airbags to the Auris van, including a driver's knee airbag, and it comes with a collapsible steering column as a further driver safety aid.

Its safety, comfort and reliability credentials are intact. The Auris pedigree, based on the Corolla hatchback, is solid. So can it compare in other respects?

The new 1.4 D4D van comes with a 1.4 litre turbo-diesel engine that's lively. The relatively small engine develops 90bhp, topped off by an impressive 190Nm of torque. So while the engine power may not be the highest in the sector, it has loads of torque and that's what's needed to boost acceleration. But is it enough?

The Auris commercial can achieve an acceleration figure of 12 seconds in a 0 to 100kmh race. While that's a good performance, the competitors are watching! The Ford Focus, Kia c'eed and Volkswagen Golf all do marginally better in acceleration terms.

The overall economy figures for the Auris are reasonably good. The official rating is five litres/100km (57mpg), which is OK but not the best in the way that we have come to expect from Toyota.

And nowadays one has to consider the all-important CO2 rating. The Auris van comes with a rating of 132g/km. That's higher than the competition and only the Opel Astra van, with its 1.3 litre turbo-diesel engine, comes with a higher CO2 output figure.

Small vans are often used for trailer-towing. Maybe not big trailers, but their towing ability is a good reflection of how well that engine power can be harnessed. In the case of the Auris, the towing rating with a braked trailer stands at 1,000kg, which is the lowest in my comparison group. The Ford Focus van with its 1.6 litre diesel and the Opel Astra van can each add 50 per cent more to give a respectable 1,500kg rating.

Still, Toyota commands a higher price for the Auris van, with starting prices at e21,300, before delivery charges. Yes, there will be a VAT refund for businesses, making the price more competitive, but it's still top of the group in terms of pricing.

The Auris price is high relative to the competition. Volkswagen's 1.9 litre Golf van, which doesn't offer sparkling performance but has an equally strong brand name, is also at the top end.

Ford is selling an equally efficient and powerful Focus van based on the current model for almost e2,000 less, while the slower Renault Megane van is significantly cheaper.

Resale value is also important for van buyers and the Auris and its predecessor have been good in this respect. Van-buyers are looking for economy, space, reliability and comfort. The Auris van ticks some of the boxes, but not the value one.