Road Test: Toyota Yaris

Review by Feann Torr - 18/March/2009

More car buyers are downsizing to smaller vehicles which is good news for small and compact cars, including this one: the Toyota Yaris.

With such a glowing reputation, it's not surprising that one of Toyota's most popular models, globally and here in Australia, is the Yaris.

It's an ultra-compact car with the carbon footprint of a dandelion and the practicality of a mini van.

The Japanese car maker has a reputation for building reliable vehicles that hold their value rather well and the Yaris sticks to this plan.

Buyers know exactly what they're getting with cars like the Yaris, and with a mild facelift to increase interest the new model deserves a closer inspection.

Based on a tried-and-tested recipe, the Yaris ticks a lot of boxes for traditional compact car buyers. 

But as new customers enter the fold with higher expectations and a number of sharp new rivals join the fray, can Toyota's Yaris retain it's crown?

As the smallest Toyota model sold in Australia, the Yaris is also one of the most affordable and easiest to drive.

We tested the upper-range YRX model which comes with a slightly larger engine than the standard 1.3-litre mill, a sports body kit and alloy wheels.

But for all this Toyota decided not to include cruise control on its range-topping compact car. Woe betide the driver who decides to take this car for a road trip...

In all honesty, I found the lack of cruise control to be a real problem at first. It's been quite some time since we tested a car without cruise control, yet it made me realise how complacent I had become as a highway driver. 

I found I was much more attentive on the freeway without cruise control, and was more aware of cars around me and those merging from on-ramps.

Even so, it still counts as a con rather than a pro.

Basic driving systems aside, the Yaris isn't a bad little car.

It steers nicely and due to its compact size the Yaris is a doddle to park. Best of all it will cruise along on the scent of an oily rag. 

While it is the sports model, Toyota claims that the Yaris YRX sips an average of 6.7 litres of petrol per 100km travelled. We recorded figures of around 7.0L/100km, which is fairly impressive.

While big cars like the SS Commodore belch out 343 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, this little tacker is far less polluting with a rating of 160g/km.

Being the sports model in the Yaris range, it has quite a spring in its step when launching from standstill but this is mostly due to a short first gear than a profusion of kilowatts. 

It tends to run out of puff at about 45km/h, but considering a lot of urban and city driving occurs at these speeds it moves rather nicely.

The 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine cranks out 80kW of power and 141Nm of torque, which it fires down the crankshaft with the vehemence of sleepy rabbit. This energy reaches the front wheels via a 4-speed automatic.

Though I'm loathe to use the term, this car is rather 'zippy' (for an automatic model) but after the initially rapid take-offs the engine tends to get a bit breathless if you keep the throttle nailed.

The efficient 4-cylinder engine isn't really built for performance and even with the Yaris's low 1070kg kerb weight, the engine is unhappy when you rev it to the redline, emitting a raspy whine that is an unwelcome noise intruding into the cabin.

The 4-speed automatic gearbox performs excellently in traffic and slow-to-medium speed scenarios, but when you're on the freeway and give it some gas to overtake, it drops back a gear and revs itself into a coma with virtually no increase in acceleration.

It steers very nicely and as mentioned it's a great city runabout and the auto - while not perfect - does a decent job of picking the right gear for the situation.

Ride quality isn't too bad, but because this is the YRX model it's more stiffly sprung than its stablemates and sometimes gets a bit jiggly and skittish over level crossings and on poor quality surfaces.

It rides on 15-inch alloy wheels shod with Dunlop SP Sport 2030 tyres with 185/60 R15 aspect ratios. Toyota calls the YRX the sporty alternative but in reality it is underwhelming when pushed to its limits. Though the brakes are pretty good, ageing drums brakes at the rear don't instill confidence.

We took it through our usual test loop and Toyota Yaris YRX felt ill-equipped to be tackling corners at mid-to-high speeds, losing traction with alarming frequency.

Without high tech parking technologies, such as reverse parking sensors or cameras, the Yaris is nevertheless one of the easiest cars in existence to park. It has an excellent turning circle of 9.4 metres kerb-to-kerb and makes an art form out of U-turns.

We did a little test at Chadstone shopping mall on a Saturday morning, which is always complete bedlam, and the Yaris passed the test with good grades.

It's a very small car, measuring just 3.78 metres long and 1.69 metres wide, which meant navigating around half-parked cars and people doddering around (with no regard for others) was effortless.

Rearward vision wasn't too bad, though the C-pillars were a bit chunkier than some of its more modern rivals like the Ford Fiesta and Mazda2, making its blind spots slightly larger.

Though it boasts basic seats upholstered in hard-wearing fabrics, the cushions are fairly soft so longer journeys won't leave you with a sore bum.

Toyota's refreshed Yaris is relatively easy to get in and out of. We tested the 5-door model and it took a little bit of bending and shimmying for 6-foot+ occupants to get in, but everyone else had no such troubles.

One of things that has always earmarked the Yaris (a.k.a Echo) as a tidy compact car has been the abundance of storage cubbies. Most cars have one glovebox - this one has three. 

Such a setup is possible thanks to the clever (albeit dated-looking) centrally-mounted digital instrument display, allowing for one glove box directly in front of the driver and two glove boxes stacked neatly in the dashboard in the usual position in front of the passenger.

While the Yaris's interior is quite a nice place to be, it has pros and cons.

The pros? It boasts a pleasant design theme and the ivory highlights found on the door inserts provide a nice contrast from the dull greys, plus all Yaris models get electric windows, mirrors and door locks. 

The myriad storage devices are practical, as is the tall body shape that provides good headroom. Easy folding 60:40 split rear seats give it decent boot space to load larger items, expanding from 272 litres to a more useful 737 litres.

The rear seats are slightly elevated which makes rear seat passengers feel more involved in conversations and provides a good position to regard the scenery.

A single CD stereo unit pumps out the tunes and has an auxiliary jack for plugging in iPods, MP3 and other audio devices.

And the cons? It's a practical little car this Yaris but it is, well, little. 

Shoulder room is not great: if the front passenger is manipulating the radio or the air conditioning controls and you reach for the handbrake, prepare for an awkward and/or fortuitous touching moment.

Also the dash plastics are rock hard and feel cheap. Compared to the soft-touch dash plastics of its newest rival, the Ford Fiesta, it doesn't even rate. Durable perhaps, but the harshness and unyielding quality does the interior no favours.

Together with its ultra-compact city-friendly dimensions and easy-to-drive nature, the Toyota Yaris remains a good looking motor car.

Given a face-lift late in 2008, comprising of larger headlights, new look LED brake light clusters and minor changes to the front and rear bumpers, the Yaris is a trendy little car.

Even though the design has been around for a while now, the Yaris has a modern aesthetic that I reckon will age quite nicely.

Though it's not the safest car in its class, the Yaris does offer twin front airbags, plus ABS, electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and brake assist (BA) as standard. An safety pack is optional and that will take the total number of airbags to seven.

Overall: 3/5

The Toyota Yaris is a simple car. It's not as sophisticated as many of its rivals but it is based on a tried-and-tested recipe and in the main, the Yaris is a solid product.

With excellent fuel economy and a low carbon footprint, oodles of storage spaces, an appealing design and twin airbags, it will meet most of the expectations of the modern-day compact car buyer.

Though it doesn't cover all the bases, it does come with Toyota's solid build quality and reputation for reliability. However, considering you don't get cruise control in this range-topping YRX model I'd recommend looking at the entry-level Yaris YR model which starts at $15,690 for the 3-door model.

The Ford Fiesta has raised the bar so high that it'll be quite some time before its rivals catch up, but overall the Yaris is still a very handy compact car with a bright personality that is easy to live with.