Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

Rating:

We drive Toyota's first C-segment (mid-size sedan) offering for India — the Yaris.

Does the Yaris tempt buyers away from the Honda City, Hyundai Verna and the Maruti Ciaz? Is it a match or an over-engineered car from Toyota? Let's find out.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The Yaris is a global nameplate for Toyota. But, the model offered in India differs from the car sold in European markets. Also, the Yaris for India is offered only in petrol as globally Toyota is witnessing a dip in diesel car sales.

Design & Styling

The Toyota Yaris looks ‘different' in terms of styling. Its unveiling at the Auto Expo 2018 in India, invited some mixed reviews on the design front. In the end, liking a car design is one's personal preference, and the trust of Indians in Toyota will make up for it.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

While there are a lot of grille formations at the front of the car, the face of the Toyota Yaris is dominated by a large inverted-trapezoidal grille on the bumper. At the bottom centre, rests a small body-coloured garnish. The fog lamps lie on either side of the bumper, in a curvy enclosure.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

Look closer and you will find the sleek LED DRLs hiding under the headlamps. The elongated headlamps flank the Toyota logo. A pair of horizontal slats on either side of the logo, advance into the headlamps as well.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

Coming to the side profile, the new Toyota Yaris sits on a set of 15-inch six-spoke alloys. Being a toned-down version of an international variant, the sedan has large wheel wells to accompany the rather small wheels.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The tail section presents perhaps the best aesthetics in the Toyota Yaris. The sleek semi-LED tail lamps blend neatly with the curvy proportions. Down at the extreme corners of the bumper, rest the rear fog lamps.

Interior

The Toyota Yaris is a smart buy if you are feature-focused. Under the bulky design is a spacious cabin with an abundance of functional and aesthetic elements.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The dual-tone dashboard with silver accents running across offers an upmarket finish. Also, the soft-touch climate control buttons are illuminated and offer good readability. The centre console follows a pattern Toyota refers to as the ‘Waterfall Design'.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

Resting at the centre of the dashboard is the seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The highlight of the system is its gesture control function. By moving your palm in front of the unit, you can change the track or adjust the volume without touching the screen. In spite of having this party trick, the Yaris's infotainment system misses out on both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The manual stick is wrapped in premium black leather and fits well in the palm. The cup holders sit in front of the lever. As for the automatic variant, the gated shifter gets a neat combination of leather, brushed metal and chrome.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The three-spoke steering wheel gets button controls on either side, along with a silver garnish that swoops down. The black leather offers good grip and feel to the otherwise unassuming design. Opt for the automatic Toyota Yaris and you get a pair of silver paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The instrument cluster looks modern with an analogue + digital combination. The instrument console shows real-time data of the Yaris's mileage. The panel is easy to read with white dials against black and a trippy blue backlight. There is also a gear-shift indicator.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

Those at the back will have little to complain about. The rear seats of the Yaris are roomy and relaxing. The seats are wide and offer good support to the back and thighs. In addition to this, the Yaris gets roof-mounted air-conditioning vents and a flat floor that offers decent middle-seat comfort.

Engine, Performance & Driving Impressions

The Yaris is only available in a petrol variant. The engine is a 1.5-litre, inline four-cylinder dual variable valve timing intelligence (VVT-i) unit. The engine is rated at 105bhp and 140Nm of torque paired with either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed continuously variable transmission (CVT). The addition of the dual VVT-i system allows both the intake and exhaust valves to have variable timing.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

In a regular VVT-i system, only the intake valves have variable timing. But in a dual VVT-i system, both the intake and exhaust valves have variable timing. The variable timing on exhaust valves helps regulate emissions and efficiency.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

Driving engagement isn't really the Yaris's strong suit, and leisurely speeds up to 100kph. The petrol engine is slow to respond and has some vigour only between 4000 – 6000rpm. Also, any overtaking manoeuvres need to be well-planned as you will have to lug it through its gears for the revs to build up. And when you plant the throttle, the thrum from the all-aluminium engine is audible; but, the vibration sounds from the engine compartment is kept well distanced from the cabin due to the excellent noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

On the transmission front, the manual gearbox is reasonably light with short throws to engage gears; the clutch is nicely weighted too. The CVT, on the other hand, works well and delivers a smooth and quiet driving experience, if you're gentle on the throttle. Go hard on the gas pedal, and it hits a rev point and stays there, while the car accelerates (a typical 'rubber band' feeling of traditional CVTs). For those interested in controlling the CVT, it comes with paddle shifters behind the steering with seven ratios to choose from, namely D1 – D7.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The steering is precise, albeit a little light and numb. The big talking point is the suspension that delivers a cosseted and well-balanced ride nearly everywhere. On highways, the Yaris settles down into a relaxed cruise and glides over rough surfaces and hits back at potholes and speed bumps impressively. On the braking front, the Yaris is offered with all-wheel disc brakes (V and VX variant). The brakes are strong and a light tap on the brake pedal offers superb stopping power.

Toyota Yaris Variant-wise Price, Mileage & Colours

The Yaris is offered in four variants and six colours: Super White, Pearl White, Silver, Wildfire Red (review car), Phantom Brown and Grey.

Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

The fuel tank capacity of the Yaris is 42-litres. The ARAI mileage claims are 17.1km/l for the six-speed manual and 17.8km/l for the seven-speed CVT.

Variant Manual
CVT
J ₹ 8,75,000 ₹ 9,95,000
G ₹ 10,56,000 ₹ 11,76,000
V ₹ 11,70,000 ₹ 12,90,000
VX ₹ 12,85,000 ₹ 14,07,000

Safety & Key Features

The Yaris comes with a first-in-segment seven supplemental restraint system (SRS) airbags. These include driver + passenger units, side, curtain bags and knee airbags.

Here are some of the other safety features of the Yaris:

  • Disc brakes on all four wheels **
  • Electronic stability control ***
  • Impact-sensing door lock *
  • Hill start assist ***
  • Front & rear parking sensors *
  • Reverse camera **
  • Cruise control **
  • Tyre pressure monitoring system **
  • ABS + EBD + BA
  • Availability On Variants: *G, **V, ***VX

    Other notable first-in-segment features include:

    • 60:40 rear split seats
    • 8-way adjustable driver seat
    • Infotainment with gesture control and navigation
    • Roof-mounted air-conditioning vents for the rear passengers
    • Front and rear parking sensors
    • In addition to all this, the international variant of the Yaris also holds a five-star crash test rating in The New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia (ASEAN NCAP).

      C-Segment Sedans Fact Sheet

      Petrol (Manual) cc bhp/Nm Mileage (km/l)
      Toyota Yaris 1496cc 106/140 17.1
      Honda City 1497cc 117/145 17.4
      Hyundai Verna* 1396cc 99/132 17.4
      Maruti Ciaz 1373cc 91/130 20.73
      Petrol (Automatic) cc bhp/Nm Mileage (km/l)
      Toyota Yaris
      1496cc 106/140 17.8
      Honda City
      1497cc 117/145 18
      Hyundai Verna
      1591cc 121/151 17.1
      Maruti Ciaz
      1373cc 91/130 19.12

      *The Hyundai Verna given here is the 1.4-litre petrol (manual) variant. There is also a 1.6-litre petrol (manual) variant.

      Booking & Launch Details

      The Toyota Yaris can be booked for an amount of Rs 50,000. The Yaris will be launched in India on May 18, 2018.

      Verdict

      Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

      A limited engine line-up and a bland driving experience restrict the Yaris's appeal. Even so, Toyota's aggressive pricing makes the Yaris a solid contender that buyers should not overlook.

      Model Manual (Petrol) Automatic (Petrol)
      Toyota Yaris ₹ 8,75,000 ₹ 9,95,000 (CVT)
      Honda City ₹ 8,91,000 ₹ 9,95,000 (CVT)
      Hyundai Verna ₹ 7,80,000 ₹ 10,56,000 (AT)
      Maruti Ciaz ₹ 8,04,000 ₹ 9,64,000 (AT)

      ₹ Prices are ex-showroom.

      Jobo Kuruvilla Thinks!

      Toyota Yaris Review — A Family Sedan That’s Easy To Like But Difficult To Love

      The Toyota Yaris is a sensible family runaround sedan that's easy to like, but difficult to love. And range-extenders such as Honda City, Hyundai Verna and Maruti Ciaz should not take this capable all-rounder from Toyota, breezily.

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Read more on: #toyota #review
Article Published On: Saturday, April 28, 2018, 16:04 [IST]
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