| First Drive | Lisbon, Portugal | Toyota Verso |

Apparently this new Verso 'represents a lifestyle choice rather than just a life-stage consequence,' which is Toyota's way of admitting that nobody traditionally buys an MPV because they want one, but solely because they have kids. That's obvious. However, it's a bold claim indeed to propose that an MPV could appeal viscerally: I mean, surely the very reason people who live in three-bedroom semis buy crossovers and 4x4s is because MPVs are about as appealing as an entire weekend at a free form Jazz festival. With no bar.

Still, Toyota reckons only 57 percent of the 57,000-ish people it guesses will buy a Verso (4,500 of them in the UK) will be family buyers. Eh? What will the other 43 percent buy one for? Is the new Verso a Transformer, able to robotically change from a family box into a girl-magnet Ferrari clone? Probably not. So in lieu of that, the only thing it could be is that the Verso serves up an astonishing driving experience combined with looks to die for...

In the Metal

Give Toyota its credit; the Verso is a decent take on the tall, one-box MPV norm, utilising some intelligent sheet metal origami to spruce up a fundamentally vapid silhouette: unfortunately it's also embarrassingly similar to the outgoing Verso, to the point that from some angles (most notably in profile) it could be the very same car. More an aesthetic facelift than a redesign, then, but a mild improvement nonetheless.

And Toyota can forget its dreams of making this a non-familial lifestyle wagon: step inside and it is concentrated MPV blandness, except it's not actually as practical as you might hope. The problem is, the Verso doesn't stray from the 'maximising a minimum amount of space' brief of all these traditional MPVs; Toyota has tried to squeeze as much room as possible from a smallish box, when it should have just made the box bigger. Legroom in the middle row is tight; in the third nonexistent. As before, though, the Verso gets Toyota's Easy Flat-7 seating arrangement, but improved so that all it takes is a quick tug of the lever in the back and your MPV is a handy little flat-floored van. In fact, there are 32 seating possibilities because all five rear seats fold individually. We got bored at 19.

But the most disappointing thing about the Verso is its distinct lack of cabin cubbyholes. Instead of a massive storage bin between the front seats, for example, there's a piddly little armrest (that doesn't even adjust for height) resting on top of a fag packet of an oddments box. The door pockets are too thin to be of much use, and the glove box is in two small parts rather than one big one. There is some under floor storage behind the front seats, and a box under the passenger seat - but you just expect more, that's all; at least you won't be losing iPods and mobile phones all over the place, though. The problem is that there's a set of van-based MPVs that do the space thing much better - and Toyota is kidding itself if it thinks this is a stylish alternative: people buy these cars because they need room, full stop.

What you get for your Money

Five useable seats plus two semi-useable ones, and the dull ache of having exchanged your rock and roll existence for a more mundane one. Price and specification-wise, the Verso is pitched slightly too high in the former regard, too low the latter, subjectively. It gets the full complement of crash protection kit so the kids are safe (enough, Toyota thinks, to bag the Verso a full five-star safety rating in the more stringent new Euro NCAP tests), which includes seven airbags, stability control and traction control as standard. Mind, if you can get the last of those to kick in at any point, we salute you.

Two engines are available from launch: a 1.8-litre petrol unit with 145bhp, capable of 40.4mpg and 165g/km of CO₂, and a 2.0-litre D-4D diesel with 125bhp, 229lb.ft of torque, 143g/km of CO₂ and 51.4mpg. For the time being, that's the version to go for because of its economy and torque advantage (nothing new there, then) - though a stronger 2.2-litre diesel will arrive later, with 22lb.ft and 23bhp more. Mind, economy drops by 10mpg with the jump - not ideal. There are three trim levels, with a base petrol-powered T2 stacking up at £16,475, and a diesel T-Spirit tipping the fiscal scales at £20,670 - not including an auto 'box. Mid-range is TR spec, which should account for the bulk of sales because it adds alloys, Bluetooth phone prep and electric rear windows - which means base models don't get them, and for our money that's not really good enough.

Driving it

...is tediously, mind-numbingly, exasperatingly dull. Really, this car epitomises sensible motoring with a capital (and deeply ironic) S and M. But let's put our enthusiasm for driving aside for one moment and look at this objectively, lest we get a splurge of hate mail from furious paternal motorists. The Verso is not bad, and here's why.

It's easy to find an appropriate driving position and the dashboard is logically laid out (save for a few too many buttons around the satnav screen, if you order that) and the ride is good - a fundamentally important quality for cars like this. It's quiet too, with as little wind, tyre and engine noise seeping into the cabin as you could ask for in most circumstances (i.e. below 75mph and at less than about 3,500rpm in any gear). The petrol and diesel engines available at launch - one of each - are adequate for the job, if a little lacklustre, and the gearboxes are all easy to work with: the manual has a slick action and both autos (a slushbox and a CVT) serve up a hassle-free 'point and go' drive, perfect for relaxed school runs and such.

Worth Noting

Despite our slight flippancy earlier about Toyota's projected customer base, there are a percentage of 'empty nesters' that will take up a chunk of Verso sales - the phrase Toyota uses to describe grandparents who might want this kind of car for the space it offers when the grandkids come to stay. We'd say they were still family buyers, but whatever. We can understand why a car like this might appeal on that basis: it's small enough to make a decent runabout, yet big enough to cope with the demands of an extended family.

But, if you after some sort of pub stat here; something to abate the cavalcade of predictable 'over the hill' gags you may encounter as a younger Verso buyer, know this: Toyota's MPV has the best drag coefficient of any car in the class - a slippery 0.295. Who's bought a boring box now, eh?

Summary

The MPV epoch has changed quite a lot since the Corolla Verso first appeared: for a start, the Ford S- and C-Maxes have both proved that boxy MPVs can look good, handle properly and be interesting, The Verso just doesn't cut it on those fronts. More importantly, though, cars like the Peugeot Expert Teepee and Fiat Qubo are much cheaper and much more spacious (albeit without the tiny rear seats in the boot). Plus, if you really need the seats, a Nissan Qashqai+2 is much cooler, drives and rides better and costs about the same. Truthfully, as decent as the Verso is, it just seems a little antiquated.