A TINY turbo is on the way from Toyota and it will be making its debut in the new Auris due out later this year.

The 1.2-litre engine is lively and economical and gives the Japanese car giant a real alternative to the likes of Ford's award winning EcoBoost engines.

In the new Auris line up it is the quickest of the bunch and its fuel return is not far off that of a diesel.

Toyota claims the new turbo is good for 58.9mpg with emissions of 112g/km as a six-speed manual model - the autos are said to be even more frugal at 61.4mpg - and in the real world you can expect to achieve a fuel return in the high 40s without trying.

It is one of two new engines Toyota is introducing in the latest Auris hatchback and estates which will be arriving in September.

The other is a 1.6-litre diesel which is sourced from BMW and both engines transform the Auris's driving characteristics.

The suspension on the new models has been uprated and so has the feel of the steering and on the road it feels much more planted than before.

The turbo is a four cylinder engine boosted to 114bhp and the power comes on stream from as low as 1,500 revs creating some responsive acceleration through the gears.

In the Auris hatch it delivers 0 to 60mph in 10.1 seconds with a top speed of 124mph and the engine suits the family-sized car to a tee.

UK specification cars come with stop/start as standard which should improve fuel economy even more and they will be priced from £18,295 while the diesels cost from £19,495.

Toyota is keeping the 1.33-litre VVT petrol engine in the range as the £15,245 entry level Auris - Touring Sports estates cost £1,100 more - and the line up continues to feature the top selling hybrid and the ultra fuel efficient 1.4-litre diesel which is tuned specifically for economy.

Both the hybrid and the little diesel are rated at 80.7mph and the hybrid, which now costs from £19,645 has a CO2 figure as low as 79g/km. We managed to average a shade under 60mpg in the Auris hybrid over the same route as we took in the turbo and the petrol-electric set up makes the Auris an easy driver.

The new Auris - one of two models Toyota builds in Britain - has been spruced up inside and out and the nose now features some distinctive brightwork stretching from wing to wing.

All versions come with automatic air conditioning, electric front windows, Bluetooth and LED tail lights which have been restyled to wrap around the tailgate.

Inside, the new Auris has moved on considerably and the layout of the dash is very contemporary with all but the base model featuring a seven-inch colour display screen housed in a gloss black panel which illuminates on start up to show the control touch buttons.

The dash is a mixture of textures including a fine leather strip which is nicely stitched while the instrumentation is backlit and includes a 4.5-inch TFT panel that delivers trip information.

A safety pack which includes emergency braking, lane departure warning, automatic high beam and traffic sign recognition is a £400 extra, although not available on the base model in Active trim.

Sat nav is standard on the new mid-grade Business Edition versions priced from £19,095 and on the top specification Excel models which start from £21,685.

Both the hatch and the estate have sleek body lines and include a 'shark fin' antenna situated towards the back of the roof.

Cargo space ranges from 360 litres in the hatch to a useful 530 litres in the Touring Sports which makes it a very usable mid-sized estate. Underfloor compartments and an adjustable boot floor are added convenience features.

Toyota has set its sights on a five per cent share of the UK car market, up from its current stake of 3.9 per cent, and with cars like the freshly improved Auris coming on stream that looks highly achievable.

The Auris may have to contend with the likes of the Ford Focus and VW Golf which also vie for attention in this part of the car market but pound for pound Toyota's offering makes an awful lot of sense - and it's now become quite trendy inside and out.