Winner

My Auris experience was out of this world. The test-drive day was super to say the least. I picked up the car at about 7am, having planned the day to show off the new car. WOW! What an impression it made. It flies. I had an opportunity of choosing the top of the range diesel injection. I must mention though that I was quite overwhelmed by the fact that the fuel tank remained on full the whole day even though I'd travelled a lot of kilometres.

If you're a high-flyer like me and always fall victim to women who target male drivers, on the Auris day there were wonders I tell you. All I can say to Beemer drivers is, watch out - the Auris is here and it's a BABE MAGNET. The reaction I got on the road was awesome, it rules the road. I have always been a big fan of Toyota, being an owner of a RunX, but after the Auris experience my loyalty with Toyota has even grown to a higher level. Congratulations to Toyota for winning my heart!  read more »

Firstly, I would like to thank the great people at Auris City for setting up the competitions and allowing me to attend the Auris Launch party in Johannesburg.

After winning week 4 of the AurisCity competition, my name was to be entered into the live draw for the all new Toyota Auris. To be eligible to win the Auris, entrants were required to be present for the draw, seeing that I reside in Port Elizabeth, I had the small issue of getting to the draw in Johannesburg.

Thanks to the help of Dov Stern of AurisCity and Toyota, flight to Johannesburg and accommodation was arranged for my girlfriend and I. We were flown to Johannesburg first class and booked into a room overlooking the pool at the magnificent Palazzo Hotel at Monte Casino.

After checking into the hotel, we hastily made our way to the penthouse of the Palazzo Hotel to enter into the Toyota Auris competition for the draw, receiving our special Auris swipe cards for the evening’s live draw at Tokyo Sky. Light meals and snacks were available in the penthouse for us to enjoy, but we were too anxious to get back downstairs to the Auris Team who were waiting for us, so I then filled in a few forms and made my way down to the entrance of the Palazzo Hotel where the Auris Team handed me the keys to a brand new silver Toyota Auris 2.0 Diesel to drive for the day.

After receiving the keys to the Auris, we were taken for a quick trip around Monte Casino with a member of the Auris Team to familiarise us with the controls and features of the all new Auris. One of the big features I liked is the fact that the Auris has keyless entry, you have a remote that can manually lock and unlock the vehicle. Once locked, and you are next to the vehicle with the remote in your pocket, the door automatically unlocks for you. Once inside the Auris, there’s a push button engine start that only works if the remote is in the vehicle. A nice touch is that if the steering wheel is slightly off centre when you start the engine, it is corrected automatically. The instrumentation looks really good and the orange display stands out well during the day. I am not a fan of orange lights for instrumentation, but the way Toyota implemented it, it looks really great.

The centre console that stretches down in between the front seats, hosts the gear lever and handbrake. The gear lever is placed high, and from photos, I thought this would be uncomfortable. To my surprise, this positioning of the gear lever is actually quite comfortable and keeps your hands close to the steering wheel. The Auris is well a rounded off car in typical reliable Toyota fashion.

Now that we were set for our drive and accustomed to the Auris’ workings, we took off for a drive around Fourways. Driving the Auris does make one feel pretty special and exclusive, considering
the limited number of Auris’ currently in South Africa. There are probably more Ferraris on our roads currently than there are Auris’. Pulling up to robots and stop streets, we received attention from quite a few people not yet familiar with the shape of Toyota’s newest offering. I remember a particular gentleman and his lady friend driving a certain luxury German branded vehicle that did take an extended look at our Auris. The Auris is such a comfortable and smooth driving vehicle that I am sure it is more enjoyable to drive than the German saloon next to us.

The 2.0 diesel that we drove is the top of the range model and is a definite must. With 300nm of torque, this model is a joy in city driving, quick and responsive. When I say it is quick, I am talking from experience. At one point, I had to quickly accelerate to get into traffic, and upon shifting into 2nd gear, I could hear the tyres screaming for help, purely unintentional. That’s just how much power the 2.0 diesel has. Amazing.