TOYOTA’S Prius might be the Hollywood must-have – even donut burnin’ tyre smokin’ Cameron Diaz owns one. But the looks are not to everyone’s taste.

Nor does everyone want to wear their green heart on their sleeve.

So enter the Auris Hybrid.

It’s got the Prius’s 1.8-litre Atkinson cycle engine – the inlet valve stays open longer than usual, into the beginning of the compression stroke.

For reasons that physicists might be able to explain to you, that leads to improved efficiency – although power density (bhp/litre) is reduced.

And it’s got the Prius’s Hybrid Synergy Drive electric motor and a lithium ion battery pack.

But it looks just like an ordinary Auris.

No bad thing, that. A slightly tall C-segment hatch but not a bad looker.

The only giveaway that it’s the hybrid version is the discreet Hybrid Synergy Drive badge and blue detailing on the triple-ellipse Toyota emblem.

The interior looks pretty normal, too.

Just two pedals in the footwell, of course, and a slightly different and rather dinky auto selector.

But the instrument panel looks conventional, with two large major dials.

One is a speedometer but the other is not as you might expect a tacho but a Hybrid System Indicator aimed at helping the driver refine their eco driving skills.

Not that one need be a committed environmentalist for the Auris Hybrid to be an attractive proposition.

It comes in well-equipped T4 or T Spirit spec and is priced competitively against similarly-specified diesel rivals.

Just as importantly, it’s a doddle to drive – and passengers love it.

Even an initially-reluctant school-run passenger – underwhelmed at the external appearance – was won over as we swept away in electrically-powered silence.

We could do that because the Toyota is a full, rather than a mild, hybrid.

That means it can run in electric-only mode and, assuming the battery pack is sufficiently charged, will usually set off that way.

Full acceleration will see the petrol engine supplemented by the electric for sharp overtaking.

And when cruising, the Synergy Drive system manages the flow of power between the electric and petrol powerplants to maximise efficiency.

Every time you lift off or brake, regenerative braking captures the energy and tops up the battery.

And when stationary, everything is shut off for perfect peace and zero emissions.

Although the Auris Hybrid’s brain does a pretty fair job left to its own devices, you can also choose from three modes: EV for electric-only driving, Eco for extra economy when full power is not needed and Power to maximise responsiveness and performance.

But back from the technical to the living-with experience.

Front seats are easy to access, thanks to the Auris being tall-ish, and rear seats are pretty spacious too.

But it’s the totally smooth progress in near silence that makes the Auris Hybrid such a special place to be in.

The transmission is continuously variable, so there are no potentially jolting changes and most of the time when the petrol motor does chime in it does so almost inaudibly.

Factor in climate control, a decent audio package, cruise control and Alcantara seats and it’s easy to believe you are in something altogether grander.

Even in Eco mode and three up, performance is entirely adequate – it was my turn to be 0.375 of our euchre team’s dedicated driver.

That meant a pretty dry night and I am pleased to report that our transport was similarly abstemious.

The average fuel consumption of 42.9mpg showing after all the manoeuvring around for our photoshoot rose over the next day to 46.4mpg, suggesting that I was getting somewhere around 50mpg.

Just one thing puzzles me. The trip computer was showing an average of 42.9mpg over 552 miles, which I calculate involved burning 12.867 gallons of fuel.

By 595 miles the average had risen to 46.4mpg, so only 12.823 gallons had been burned.

Who put that 0.44 gallons back into the tank?

The shoemaker’s elves, I guess.

Under my light right foot, would the tank eventually have overflowed?

Seriously, though, is an utterly undemanding car to drive but still offers tidy handling when you need to press on.

And when you are not in a hurry, it complements the quiet motor and ultra-smooth transmission with a great ride.

The battery pack compromises boot space, but not too badly.

And it offers pretty spectacular economy.

Yes, some diesels can do even better than even full hybrids.

But it looks as if oil burners will get their comeuppance in 2014 when Euro VI emissions standards will make life hard for them.

Diesels might be able to cock a snook at petrol hybrids when it comes to outright mpg, but diesels have nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions that are going to be hard to overcome.

And of course, the Auris Hybrid is perfect at the sort of gentle local driving that gets diesel particulate filters clogged.

But it’s good at a lot more than that.

If you can afford to lose a bit of the standard Auris’s boot – and most could – and if you don’t want to tow anything – and most don’t – you will find this a surprisingly rounded package.

And that’s whether you are a covert green or not.