At last, an Avensis less equal; full chat.

Byline: STEVE ORME

CHILDREN should not leave school without reading Orwell's Animal Farm, the better to understand that only if he has no worries about trouser presses, an adequate supply of chocolate Hob Nobs and a spotlessly clean moat can an MP be expected to vote responsibly on legislation like the proposed new equality bill.

This is how it works. If the main car park in your town is so busy it generates enough in pay and display to finance Peru, while another in a run down area is only used by ten hoodies to skin up and drink cider, nu-logik decrees that if something needs to be built you are on the bus, matey boy, because thirsty asboists have the greater need.

Similarly anyone who keeps a sofa in the garden can expect your tax to top up their income. Well obviously. It is only right and proper that people with Burberry skin are able to give you the finger from a decent standard of uninsured hatchback.

We should remember how equality worked in Communist Russia, where a doctor was considered to be the same as a tractor driver. This was handy should you need minor surgery in the middle of a field but hopeless for wheat production.

Surprisingly, car makers have long been expert at creating this sort of utilitarian blancmange.

In the four-door saloon market it has been well nigh impossible to slip a Rizla between specifications since the days of Ladas built by registrars at Moscow Infirmary's dermatology department.

And much as the chaps at Toyota probably don't want to hear it, they had Albania in a car off to a tee.

Welcome then, to something new. Five-door decadence.

With the Avensis T Spirit 2.2 D4D Tourer, Toyota has managed to integrate some Lexus quality into an exotically decorated ballroom of an interior that would have got Tsar Nicholas thrown down a well. Seats are leather and as well as gently warming the bottom, adjust electrically.

Added to that is smart keyless entry and start, duel zone air conditioning, lights, parking and wiper sensors and an 11-speaker audio system soon to be available on the NHS to all recovering rap addicts. And because you are worth it the expected level of passive safety features.

So at last the Avensis feels as solid as a VW and has a bright and cheerful interior well put together. What then, is it like on the road?

Well, it looks quick and at 9.5 seconds to 60mph is for a 2.2-litre diesel estate. Good torque figures from the 148php D4D engine make the tourer a towing option. Around 50mg is possible and 152g/km of carbons lands you in tax band D.

After some initial engine clatter the D4D settles into a smooth rhythm and is an easily delectable motorway candidate.

Through corners it won't exactly excite but then why should a six-speed family plus dogs car? At pounds 25,000 the Tourer is available on HP, you sign the papers and pay for it over three years. Better still, ask for it on MP. You sign up and the rest of us pay for it over five years..