Auris Handling... Or Lack Of...

[Aurissimo]

Reading the continual stream of complaints about fuel economy, poor quality feel etc etc etc ...

i am surprised there has been little comment about the ride and handling of Auris, specifically for me the T180.

Whilst I bought this car with a different focus (Reliability, straight line motorway stability, and big engine so that it runs unstressed on motorways, whilst still having the oomph to "go" when needed), I have never really been impressed by the ride and the handling of this car, to much lateral roll, feels too heavy, and brakes needs upgrading...

The mags have never said this is a Hot Hatch ( perhaps, tepid hatch is a better description) I would agree

Is it just me or do you have any comments on this subject? what was your focus when buying these cars?

[T Sport 1978]

Reading the continual stream of complaints about fuel economy, poor quality feel etc etc etc ...

i am surprised there has been little comment about the ride and handling of Auris, specifically for me the T180.

Whilst I bought this car with a different focus (Reliability, straight line motorway stability, and big engine so that it runs unstressed on motorways, whilst still having the oomph to "go" when needed), I have never really been impressed by the ride and the handling of this car, to much lateral roll, feels too heavy, and brakes needs upgrading...

The mags have never said this is a Hot Hatch ( perhaps, tepid hatch is a better description) I would agree

Is it just me or do you have any comments on this subject? what was your focus when buying these cars?

For performance:

I had no illusion that the car would be any kind of Type R killer when i bought it, my focus was that it had the power to be useful in any condition and the space to accomodate anything that i will have to throw at it.

For ride:

It does crash over bumps and not friendly on bad roads, but i think it is fair for spirited driving except for excessive roll. It actually has very good grip for a high car (could be due to independent suspensions all round), and I have not suffered any under steering thus far. Overall no complaints.

The interior was always contentious, but i have grown to like it.

[Sean007]

The rear setup of the Auris is similar to the Honda with a trailing axle which is still poorer than the old Type R ( True independant suspension)

Its pretty decent and I tend to feel that the tyres give way long before the suspension does, though I was pushed by a Cupra some time ago , I had to tapp of at 170ish on a hard left hand turn on the freeway. The power steering needs to be less senstive at speed is my only complaint!

[T Sport 1978]

The rear setup of the Auris is similar to the Honda with a trailing axle which is still poorer than the old Type R ( True independant suspension)

Its pretty decent and I tend to feel that the tyres give way long before the suspension does, though I was pushed by a Cupra some time ago , I had to tapp of at 170ish on a hard left hand turn on the freeway. The power steering needs to be less senstive at speed is my only complaint!

You will find that the Auris T180 and SR180 has independent suspensions all round, all other trims has trailing arms instead.

[Aurissimo]

As Jimmy Carr would put it, the aurisT180 should stop driving on the roads and drive on paper, because "on-paper" it's a good setup...

Full independant susp, Big(ish) wheels, lowered(ish) ride, 400Nm torque , 180 Bhp, the stats are there... but not quite...

A bit like the England team really... (England should play on paper and not in turf also...)

[T Sport 1978]

As Jimmy Carr would put it, the aurisT180 should stop driving on the roads and drive on paper, because "on-paper" it's a good setup...

Full independant susp, Big(ish) wheels, lowered(ish) ride, 400Nm torque , 180 Bhp, the stats are there... but not quite...

A bit like the England team really... (England should play on paper and not in turf also...)

Just like your analogy, your expectations were probably wrong and hence created your disappointment.

It was never a hot hatch that some people here think it should have been, it was a family hatch with decent power. The T180 wasn't even styled that way, granted that the SR180 had a sportier setup and might have been marketed that way too, but the T180 was never marketed as a hot hatch.

So on paper and on the road, the T180 is a fine car in my opinion because i am not expecting it to corner like a house fly. If you did then you would think it was a bit of a let down, but that is probably due to lack of research/testing before you bought it and your initial expectations were wrong for the car.

My 2 pennies.

BTW, England never had a chance... I never bought the hype and hence i was never surprised that we did so badly.

[Aurissimo]

Don't get me wrong ... I am happy with the car as it does what I required it to do.

Big engine to run unstressed on motorway,, decent wheel base for stability, low(ish) running costs, and reliable.

Coming from a flat cornering Nissan 350Z you are right ... my expectations of the amount of roll round corners is probably "unrealistic".

My thoughts were that some Auris users would have thought this was a Golf GTI, Civic Type R "type" car, and hence there would be more complaints, but the fact that there isn't that much said, indicates most drivers knew what they were getting, which I find worthy of praise, a very level headed group of owners.

[boozehound]

thought the handling wasnt too bad actually.

[PADDYLAD]

I DIDNT THINK IT HANDELED BADLY EITHER, AND PICK UP IN THIRD IS FANTASTIC. I ARGREE IT IS NO GTI KILLER, BUT A TDGTI REDEYE IS A DIFFERENT KETTLE OF FISH. WHY DONT PEOPLE MATCH THIS UP AGAINST THE 170 TDI GOLF AND THE 2.2 CDTI CIVIC, ITS REAL COMPATITION BEFORE THEY MAKE A STATEMENT.

I ROAD TESTED THE CIVIC 2.2 CDTI AND IT WAS LIKE SITTING IN THE ENTERPRISE, AND TO BE HONEST IN MAY WAYS AN INFERIOIR CAR THAN THE SR. I WOULD NOT HAVE INVESTED MY HARD EARNED CASH IN THE SR IF I HAD NOT THOUGHT THIS WAS A BETTER CAR.

[DigiMan]

Sinttruijen did get his auris to handle pretty decent...

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=72631

[Badgers]

I find the T180 not to really excel at anything, but again, not really be poor at anything either.

It's very much an all rounder to me.

I do agree though the figures suggest the car should be a bit sportier than it really is. However it's got a very usable power band, and you've plenty of grunt and acceleration in the 50-80 speed range, which is where most folk spend the vast majority of time driving.

The rides and handling are ok, but nothing spectacular. It's comfortable enough, whilst still having decent grip. Being a tall car, I find it's deceptive. I tend to ease off when I probably don't need to for corners, just because my instinct tells me it won't take the corner, when in reality it has plenty of grip.

[Djw John]

I felt it handled much better with the VSC off but it was annoying that I could only do this when stopped.

It could still be fun, easily get a rear wheel cocked in the air and decent, controllable lift off oversteer was availble if thats your bag ;)

No complaints about ride comfort so long as you're not sat in the back!

[forevered]

has the petrol 1.6 sr that i have got the same suspension as the t180 and sr 180 ?

[boozehound]

no, single torsion beam for the back on all models except for thr t180 and sr180 which have full independent multi link rear suspension

[bobbo7070]

thought the handling wasnt too bad actually.

Very pleased with mine too. Sure, it does roll a bit, but it sticks like glue...