By Aygo
on 30th Jul 2007
Aygo's Ratings| Year Manufactured | 2007 |
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| Length of ownership | 1 Month |
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| Doors | 5 |
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| Performance | 6/10  |
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| Practicality | 8/10 |
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| Reliability | 10/10 |
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| Value for money | 9/10 |
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| Overall value | 9/10 |
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 Aygo's recommendation |
Good Points
Frugal.
6-Speaker Stereo
Economic.
ABS.
Raspy engine note!
Bad Points
Raspy engine note.
Limited seat/steering adjustment.
Rear bodywork is flimsy.
Lacks power and especially torque.
General Comments
I bought the Blue ltd. edition model, despite the lurid blue bodywork, as it came with Air Con, Bluetooth car-kit, mats, glove-box lid, and body-colour detailing inside (around the instrument binnacle and heating vents).
Fuel economy has been around 50 mpg on mixed motoring, but is increasing with each tank-full of fuel as the engine loosens up, and as I get used to a car without a rev-counter! The engine's eager to rev and noisy throughout the rev range so it's all too easy to find yourself in too low a gear. Performance isn't great, though it's better than I would have expected from the miniscule engine! Two-up it starts to struggle on hills, and with four-up you'd better not have any deadlines to meet!
The raspy exhaust note from the three-pot lump is cute and vaguely reminiscent of a boxer or flat-four engine, though it does become tiring after a few minutes. Luckily the stereo with MP3 jack is loud enough to drown out the din. There's scarce storage for your CD's though, and what there is tends to be the wrong shape or size to efficiently use the available space.
The Bluetooth kit was a great selling point for me, though having used it for a month I'm now not so sure. My 'phone battery life has halved, the Bluetooth voice recognition is fine when stationary, but on the move the engine, wind, and road noise make it all but impossible for her to decipher what I'm saying!
The boot is reasonably sized, and can fit a small shopping-trolleys worth in, however the high lip, narrow opening, and infuriatingly-fixed excuse for a parcel-shelf do their best to rip open bags, and prevent anything from making it safely into the boot itself. The split/fold rear seats work well enough, but don't fold flat enough for my liking.
Inside space is fantastic considering the diminutive exterior dimensions, with plenty of room for two 6 foot + front seat passengers. Even the rear seats afford relative comfort for a 6 footer, so long as there's not another sitting in the front.
The dash plastic is a bit too shiny, and reflections are problematic whenever the sun shines. The car also gets very hot when left in the sun, and the ventilation system takes an age to cool the car, this may be down to the large glass area or the close proximity of the engine, either way at least the air conditioning does a reasonable job of cooling you down again. I wouldn't like to drive a version without the air conditioning though!
The steering is light, and the electrically operated power steering is most peculiar, as it seems to operate even when the engine is off! It's light, without being too light, and you can at least feel what the tiny tyres are up to. Handling is go-kart like, with a minuscule turning circle and slight understeer at the limit. Grip is pretty low overall with the Conti-Eco tyres it comes fitted with.
Ride is quite harsh, and you can really feel any poor quality road surfaces. Motorway cruising on the grippy tarmac isn't a pleasurable experience at all.
The lights are very good, and the odd-shaped front indicators are a real feature. The single front wiper does a good enough job, but the rear is so slow it feels as though it's about to fail completely at any moment!
The bodywork is frighteningly flimsy in places, especially at the rear and I'm surprised it doesn't actually flap in the breeze when you're cruising, though it does seem to be substantial in all the right places. There's a satisfying clunk when you close the front doors, the rears are a little on the light side, but they still feel good when they close.
The front windows are electric, whilst the rears just pop-out on hinges. They're only just effective in providing much ventilation.
For such a small car, the visibility isn't that good. The nose slopes steeply away making accurate positioning difficult and the rear pillars are quite large creating some huge blind spots. Having said that, the cars so short I'm generally 3 feet from anything anyhow!
Side winds, large lorries, and gusty conditions do their best to upset your progress, no doubt due to the very light weight and the relatively high sides, and motorway driving can be a little fraught due to the tiny size of the car and the feeling that the flimsy bodywork won't be doing much to protect you in the event of an accident.
Overall I'm really pleased with the little 'un. It's far better looking than the C1 or 107 and I think offers the best overall value despite being a little more expensive. It gets me from A to B in relative comfort and cheaply which is all that I can ask from a city car.
