Urban Cruiser stands out from the crowd

Nov 30 2009 Peter Hayward

IF you want to stand out from the crowd and still stay small and economical, Toyota's Urban Cruiser could be the practical alternative you're looking for.

It's a small, five door hatchback with either 1.3 petrol or 1.4 diesel power and the same high level of equipment in each.

The difference is that the diesel comes with four wheel drive and the petrol is two wheel drive - there's no other choice.

I drove the petrol version, which has Toyota's ultra-economical 1.33 engine and will return 51mpg driven very carefully.

But it doesn't have any power at low revs, so for reasonable acceleration you have to push it and so your economy figure is unlikely to be more than 40.

There's a six-speed manual gearbox to get the best economy when cruising, but expect to have to change down even for hills on the motorway. Sixth is purely for cruising.

It is comfortable and reasonably refined and feels nippy in town but rather breathless out on the open road.

Interior

The Urban Cruiser is well equipped, but for the same money you can buy a bigger and more practical alternative.

Standard kit includes aircon, electric windows, remote locking, alloys, a very good stereo and a trip computer.

The boot is a good size and the seats fold very quickly and easily to make it much bigger.

FAST FACTS

Toyota Urban Cruiser

Price: £14,500

Mechanical: 99bhp, 1329cc, 4 cylinder petrol engine driving front wheels via 6-speed manual gearbox.

Max speed: 109mph

0-62mph: 12.5 seconds

Combined mpg: 51

Insurance group: 4

CO2 emissions: 129g/km

BIK rating: 15%

Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles

Marks: 8/10

Main rival: Skoda Fabia estate