Full Specs for New Toyota Auris Touring Sports Revealed

Last September at the 2012 Paris Motor Show was the first time we saw the Toyota Auris Touring Sports. The addition of a station wagon variant seemed fitting because the Auris hatchback has always felt… Unidentified. Vague. Without purpose. In its original form it felt too similar to the Corolla to catch anyone’s attention, but the station wagon looks somehow more noteworthy. It did in Paris back in September, and it will in March when Toyota brings the final production model to Geneva.

In an effort to pique our interest ahead of time, Toyota has released full specs for the new Auris Touring Sports estate telling us everything except for pricing. So, what’s the scoop?

The most important thing that Toyota wants us to recognize is that the new Auris Touring Sports is the first vehicle in its class to offer drivers a hybrid option. Apparently the hybrid will use a 1.8L petrol-engine paired with an electric motor capable of outputting 134bhp, which Toyota claims is powerful enough to enable a 0-60 time under 11 seconds while emitting a measly 86g/km of CO2.

Toyota believes that their hybrid configuration is one of the key distinctions between the Auris estate and its competitors, two of which just so happen to be making their debuts at the very same auto show. That’s right – the Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia will both be at Geneva, and they are the two station wagons the Touring must beat in order to claim the top of the segment in the UK. Clearly, Toyota believes in their wagon.

The new Auris Touring Sports will have the same exact wheelbase with as the hatchback version, but it will be slightly longer to give drivers more storage space. In fact, with the seats folded down drivers will have almost 1700 liters to work with. With the seats up you’re looking at a little over 530 liters, which is still quite good. In addition, the Touring Sports will be 100mm lower to the ground than the hatchback version, so loading and unloading heavy cargo will be easier to manage.

As far as features, every trim package will include luggage nets and shopping bag hooks in the trunk, with aluminum roof rails on top. Shifting from passenger-friendly to cargo-friendly is easy thanks to Toyota’s Easy-Flat folding rear seat system and dual-level boot floor. Depending on the trim package, drivers will also get a classy two-way soft-folding tonneau cover. There are four trim packages available – Active (entry-level), Icon, Sport and Excel.

As I said at the beginning of this article, we still don’t know prices for the new Toyota Auris Touring. The car goes on sale in the UK in July, and chances are we’ll get pricing information closer to that time. In the mean time, keep yours eyes peeled for this car at Geneva… We need to see how it compares to the offerings from Volkswagen and Skoda in order to determine whether the Auris Touring Sports will finally bring the Auris into the limelight or push it further back into obscurity.

Source: Autocar