Toyota Aurion Sportivo 2012 review

Toyota launched its second-generation Aurion across the road from a graveyard. Seriously.

Tombstones and locally made six-cylinder sedans are a good match at the moment, but it's unusual for carmakers to highlight the fact.

It probably wasn't deliberate. Toyota's large Adelaide dealership just happens to be nearby. But the event began at the very moment Toyota security staff were rounding up 350 workers at its Victorian plant for compulsory redundancy.

If it had the makings of a wake, the company's executives failed to notice. Toyota is moving in the right direction, they said, and had never invested more in its Altona factory and its people. Including the ones getting the sack?

They even presented the fact the Aurion was the 38th bestselling car in Australia with the enthusiasm you would expect if it had just claimed top spot. It doesn't matter how you say it, 38th is terrible for a company used to winning every segment in which it competes.

But Aurion has a history of underperformance. Of the three locally made vehicles in the large-car class, Aurion has run a clear and consistent last. Sales fell to just 8917 last year, well short of the 25,000 anticipated at the 2006 launch.

Not to worry, says Toyota, this will change. It predicts the new Aurion will swim against the tide and sell more, although it declines to say how many.

VALUE

Toyota pitches the Aurion as affordable luxury and says that with a starting price of $36,490 it's better value than the Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore, whose fleet models start higher.

The Aurion's equipment list is strong, but Ford and Holden dealers have a long and painful history of discounting, so list prices don't reflect reality. What you'll actually pay is determined by how long it has been since their last meal.

TECHNOLOGY

Toyota has largely left alone the 3.5-litre quad-cam V6 as it does a good job producing 200kW and 336Nm, all of which heads for the front wheels. That's enough for it to get up and go in a hurry -- and it's superior to the raucous revving of Camry's four-cylinder -- although Toyota's claim it is faster than the Falcon and Commodore remains unproven.

Not that owners are likely to care. A reduction in fuel use to 9.3 litres per 100km will be of more interest, along with the interior upgrades. There's a better impression of prestige thanks to improved surfaces, good leather trim and reduced road noise.

It's a competent cruiser with a strong engine but limited thrills. The only uncertainty is whether this Aurion could match, for the first time, Toyota's optimistic sales expectations.

DESIGN

Aurion is the V6 version of the new seventh-generation Camry, with some styling and specification differences to the four-cylinder car. In some markets it's known simply as a Camry V6.

So, like the new Camry, the Aurion has a restyled body that is ever so slightly larger, but also 50kg lighter than before. It has fuel-efficient electronic steering assistance for the first time and a new dashboard.

There are two types of Aurion: an allegedly sporty Sportivo, which attempts to lure (relatively) young people with gung-ho bumpers, boot-mounted wing and two-tone seats. Then there are three grades of chrome-plated conservative models focused on comfort. These are better suited to the vehicle's market, which Toyota sales and marketing chief Matthew Callachor describes as “experienced motorists”.

That's another way of saying old. The new car has been developed in the traditional Toyota way. That means comfort, safety and reliability top the list of priorities and driving fun is largely overlooked.

DRIVING

There's no better example of this than the steering-wheel mounted shift paddles fitted to some models. Put the six-speed automatic transmission into manual mode and you can control the gearbox, or at least that is what's supposed to happen.

Get near the top of the rev band and the gearbox changes up whether or not the driver wants it to. More annoying is the fact the gearbox will overrule the driver and change down when it thinks a better gear can be found.

It did this to me as I charged up a hill in third. I was happy in that gear because I was nearing the crest, but the gearbox decided it knew better. Most automatics with paddles will kickdown in an emergency, but only when the driver pushes the pedal to the floor.

The chief engineer says the override is there in case inexperienced drivers forget they are in manual mode. In effect, it has made an allowance for dementia. So why bother with paddles at all? Benign is the key word when it comes to chassis tune and the suspension has been calibrated for plushness.

Get used to a fair amount of pitching under acceleration, diving under brakes and body roll when pressed. This is not necessarily bad, but it doesn't encourage sporty driving. It's the same with the steering, tuned for easy parking rather than attacking twisty tarmac. It feels light and numb.

VERDICT

So no alarms and no surprises. Aurion sticks to Toyota's proven method of simple design done well.