06/06/2008 19:48. TOYOTA'S Yaris is about as close you will get to the ideal city car.

Frugal, safe, reliable, a doddle to drive and eager to please, it will squeeze through narrow streets, sprint from traffic lights, give a fairly composed ride and, when it comes to parking, make do with the tightest of spots in the municipal car park.

But you might think the same could be said about its smaller sibling, the Aygo. And you would be right.

What enables the Yaris to stand out in the crowded marketplace of city cars and superminis is its so-called "big car thinking", which can make it seem both as small as the Aygo and nearly as big as the company's Auris family hatchback.

First launched in 1999, the versatility of the Yaris saw it become Toyota's top performer, accounting at one point for one in... // York Press