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The What Van? Road Test: Toyota Proace City (2020)

Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2020   |   Author: Steve Banner

Driving

With 100hp to call on and next to no weight onboard, the Proace City Short turned out to be a real flyer. It nipped sharply away from rest, accelerated strongly through the gears, and was happy to maintain the maximum legal motorway speed against all-comers. 

A smooth gear change aided its progress. The only problem with the gears was that there weren’t enough of them. While a five-speed transmission may be fine if you spend most of your life in city centres or trundling around country lanes, most light commercials have to tackle dual-carriageways and motorways from time to time. It is then that a sixth gear comes in handy, and helps keep fuel consumption in check. 

Although the steering initially felt a little over-assisted, Toyota’s newest offering handled well, enabling us to tackle tight bends on rural roads with a fair degree of confidence. It struggled a little on uneven road surfaces when lightly laden however, and in-cab noise levels were a touch too high.

Build quality was exemplary, however, with no creaking or groaning.

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