A stiffer platform made the outgoing Toyota Aygo more reassuring to drive than the original, and with its modified Toyota Yaris underpinnings, the Toyota Aygo X continues that trend.
If you’re after a truly engaging chassis, you would still do well to look elsewhere (preferably at the class above), but the Aygo X possesses enough poise and composure to make the most of the very modest performance.
It may have got heavier, but 974kg is still hardly obese, and this shows in the way the little Toyota goes down the road. That sort of mass doesn’t ask much of the 175-section tyres, so in the dry at least, grip is never an issue.
That said, getting up to the sort of speed that might challenge the chassis is an achievement in itself, and the stability control will intervene if there is even just a slight risk of things getting exciting.
The systems will limit power before any understeer occurs and any hint of lift-off oversteer is decisively nipped in the bud. It’s all done smoothly and nearly undetectably, which is quite appropriate for a city car.
The steering doesn’t provide much intel about what the front wheels are doing and is typically light but feels usefully consistent. Importantly in a city car, the turning circle is tiny, at 9.4m, so parking it is still a doddle. Just watch out for kerbs with those black 18in alloy wheels.
For a small car, the Aygo X has impressively grown-up road behaviour. One area where you do notice its budget-oriented make-up is on uneven roads.
