New Toyota Aygo looks like a tiny Darth Vader

6 years, 9 months ago - 26 February 2018, Autoblog
New Toyota Aygo looks like a tiny Darth Vader
The smallest Toyota we're familiar with in the United States is the rapidly aging Yaris, but in in the words of Jedi master Yoda, "there is another," and it's smaller.

It's a European-market Toyota called the Aygo, and the Japanese automaker has revealed an updated version that bears an uncanny resemblance to another Star Wars character, Darth Vader. Even more so than the 2018 Mustang, which Ford said was partly inspired by the infamous Sith lord.

The resemblance is all in the front grille. It's the same kind of triangular shape as the mouth section of Vader's helmet. It also has fog lights in each corner, like the silver accents of the helmet. Even the Toyota badge at the top matches the silver circle around the nose section of Vader's headgear. While the same could be said for the previous version, the removal of the black decals that stretched upward from the grille seems to put more emphasis on the big lower triangle.

Among the actual differences between this and the old model, besides the slightly reshaped grille, are headlights that are much wider, and little triangular grilles directly below each of them. These new grilles prompted one of our editors to say it makes the Aygo look like a chipmunk with two black eyes. At the back, the only major change is in the taillights, which now have a zig-zagging LED light strip like what you'll find on a Toyota Prius.

Toyota also claims a few mechanical improvements. The company added more sound-absorption materials throughout the car to make it quieter and more refined. It also bumped up the power of the tiny 1.0-liter three-cylinder. It goes to 71 horsepower from 68, but torque dips by 1 pound-foot to 69. This allows it to hit 62 mph in a claimed, wait for it (no, really), 13.8 seconds.

Do we wish we got the Aygo here? Er, not really. It's too small and too slow. Though an all black one would probably be fun for taking to San Diego Comic Con as part of a costume.

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