- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
1.5i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
80kW, 141Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 6.1L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
Toyota Yaris YRS
The new Yaris succeeds the Echo as Toyota's spearhead in Europe, where small cars are fashion accessories and catwalk credibility is their make-or-break factor. Like the Echo, the Yaris was penned at Toyota's European studios, now located in Nice. Where else?
Creating a car where the main customer base lives allows the designers to accurately dial into the potential buyers' aesthetic sensibilities. In the best traditions of Japanese "osmosis" design, it also ensures that your product looks and feels remarkably like the ones they already drive, right down to trim fabrics and plastic textures.
European antecedents bring other benefits beyond a cute, contemporary shape. The Yaris recently scored five stars out of five in Euro NCAP crash tests and it uses petrol as if it hates the stuff. The fact that it's a Toyota, made in Japan, also ensures the best quality, reliability and durability in the business.
Holden may be sticking its Barina badge on the back of hand-me-down Daewoos but the Yaris is the real Toyota deal.
Prices kick in at $14,990 for the 60kW, 1.3-litre manual three-door YR hatch. The 80kW, 1.5-litre three-door starts at $16,790 for the YRS. Five-door versions add $1200. A four-speed auto adds $1500.
Standard equipment in the 1.3 YR includes two front airbags, anti-lock brakes, air-conditioning, a single in-dash CD/MP3 compatible player, power front windows and mirrors, remote central locking and 14-inch steel wheels.
The 1.5 YRS has 15-inch wheels and a height/reach-adjustable, leather-wrapped steering wheel (height-adjustable only in YR) with audio controls.
YRX variants have 15-inch alloys, an in-dash six-stacker CD, foglights, extra storage pockets and flashier trim. Topping the Yaris lineup is the $20,990 five-door YRX auto.
In all versions, you can add five airbags - front seat side/driver's seat knee/full-length curtain - for $750. Drive usually throws rocks at car makers for putting airbags on the options list but given the extreme price constraints in this class and the fact that five airbags for $750 is pretty reasonable, we'll be nice this time. (Be aware that the five-star Euro NCAP score was achieved in a car fitted with seven airbags.)
The Yaris is a larger, heavier car than the Echo, with a 90mm longer wheelbase and wider tracks. Both Yaris engines use Toyota's variable inlet camshaft timing and an electronic accelerator.
We tested the mid-spec 1.5-litre YRS three-door automatic with the five airbags option plus metallic paint - an ambitious $19,255 ask all up, before on-road costs. The 1.5 drives the auto Yaris from rest to 100kmh in only 10.4 seconds - quick in this context.
Mechanically refined the engines may be but the test car's had an intrusive induction whistle at touring speeds. Its electronic accelerator was also far too touchy in the initial few millimetres of its travel, to the extent that it was difficult to drive the car smoothly in slow traffic. The right foot also had to be kept completely still to hold a constant highway speed, which also became painful after a while due to the pedal's positioning high off the floor.
We averaged 6.2 litres/100km, on regular unleaded, on the open road - where at 100kmh the 1.5 is pulling only 2500rpm in fourth - and less than 8 litres/100km in town, a great result for an automatic.
Toyota claims the four-speed has "semi-adaptive" programming. Semi sort of, perhaps. Still, shifts are smooth and, with third and fourth on the same plane in the stepped gate, you can easily hold the lower gear.
Suspension on the Yaris is quite firm, with heavier damping than the Echo, so the ride at low speeds and around town is less compliant but remains comfortable and composed across a wider range of speeds and road conditions.
Handling, by class and price standards, is excellent. The Yaris's larger footprint and the 15-inch wheels assist stability and roadholding. The 185/60 Dunlops grip well. The electric power steering is accurate and communicative; the turning circle is tight.
Tyre noise is excessive, particularly from the rear end, which generates a loud reverberation in the cabin at highway speeds.
The Yaris retains the Echo's key interior design cues, including the big, centrally located digital speedo and illuminated instrument display. If there is a more logical, user friendly dash layout, we have yet to see it.
The driver has 14 - we counted 'em - open and covered storage bins within reach but none has a mat to stop bits and pieces rattling around.
Vision is clear right around the car, although you can't see the bonnet. The Yaris gets more front-seat travel than the Echo, plus reach adjustment for the steering wheel, so tall drivers have more legroom.
Shorter people, and the elderly, will also appreciate the ease of access to the front seats, which are generously padded, if lacking in thigh support from the short cushion. Adjustable upper seat belt anchorages should be fitted.
The front passenger sits facing the front left corner of the car, rather than straight ahead, which feels weird.
Two tall adults enjoy plenty of legroom in the rear-seat when it is pushed right back on its track. The backrest is relatively upright and supportive; three wrap-over head restraints are provided, along with three child-restraint anchors on the seat back.
However, the side windows in the three-door do not open and neither front-seat returns to its pre-set position after being pushed forward for access.
A few bags of shopping will just about fill the tiny boot, which sacrifices some capacity to a full-sized spare. You can extend the short, high floor by sliding the back seat forward but this just creates a deep hole into which small items will fall. There's extra storage in the spare wheel well and two small bins.
If you rarely use the back seat - the usual story with a three-door - it's easy to flip the 60-40 backrest forward to create a long, flat floor.
The Toyota Yaris combines fresh, innovative design with a level of safety, functionality and sophistication that puts it among the top echelon of small cars.
It is vastly superior to any discounted, disposable tin box of dubious quality, durability and safety.
In the small car business, cheap as in price really does mean cheap as in hardware. The Yaris is neither.