Toyota Yaris 2015 Review

While it’s refreshing to see Toyota take a bold styling step with the latest version of the Yaris hatch, it’s equally as disappointing the company has retained much of the safe-but-staid overall character of the now five-door-only range.

Even the yowling banshee face, the groovy single blade wiper system and the adoption of LED headlights in the top-spec ZR variant sees the little Toyota falling short of having an innovative "European" flavour.

Essentially, the Yaris is the same as it ever was: Sound and enduring, but hardly enough to inspire a pounding heart and a headlong rush to the nearest Toyota showroom.

In context, the Yaris is, however, a worthy competitor in the light-car class. If it doesn’t stand head and shoulders over its competition – Mazda3, Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz, Ford Fiesta and even Volkswagen Polo – there are plenty of reasons why you should buy it: Good packaging, durability, low running costs and best-in-class resale value.

It is less inspirational to drive than the best of its competitors, but at least it won’t disappoint come trade-in time. And there’s little doubt it will serve you well.

For starters the Yaris, for a light car, is surprisingly accommodating. No problems piling at least four adult passengers on board as there is a satisfying amount of all-round legroom, and the bi-level boot is a tad better than class-average at 286 litres.

The seats are comfortable enough for a light hatch and the driving position (tilt and reach steering adjustment is now standard across the range), if not perfect, is acceptable for most people except the very tall – a frailty for which it can be partly forgiven considering its aspirations.

The kit, especially in the $22,690 (plus on-roads) top-of-the-range ZR model, is pretty good – as you’d expect given the price.

This version of the Yaris comes with standard touch-screen sat-nav, auto-levelling LED headlights, climate-control and Sports front seats with a bit more shaping than the prosaic versions. There’s also Toyota Link connectivity in addition to an across-the-board standard equipment list that includes seven airbags, a reversing camera, cruise control and Bluetooth functionality.

The interior is presented well enough with no issues around driver-control interface, and the quality brings no complaints even if all plastics are hard-touch and the silver-painted trim on the door armrests looks as if it would scratch-up after a couple of years.

Unfortunately the Yaris doesn’t supply a heap of small-item storage space around the cabin apart from the usual cup-holders and a little exposed shelf above the glovebox.

Standard on the ZR is Toyota’s four-speed auto transmission that struggles to impress with what it asks of the already-basic 80kW/141Nm 1.5-litre engine. It offers no true manual override despite the gated shift pattern and can place the Yaris at a disadvantage on the open road when the already-raucous engine runs out of puff – due in part to a relatively high fourth gear – on a long upward climb and asks for a downshift.

Yep, the VVT equipped, 16-valve twin-camshaft four is neither endowed with a good spread of mid-range torque (the maximum comes in at 4200rpm), nor a willingness to rev to its 6400rpm redline.

And the car’s handling, while it has improved over the previous version via a general stiffening-up of the body and a recalibration of the suspension, is about what you’d expect of a price-focussed (if you call $22,690 price-focussed) light car.

The electrically assisted steering still doesn’t feel very precise despite the handling upgrades brought about by the stiffer body and reworked suspension. The ride, though generally absorbent, tends to suffer some impact harshness despite riding on relatively high profile 175/65-series tyres wrapped around 15-inch alloy wheels.

As expected, we didn’t match the claimed 6.3L/100km fuel consumption in our week-long Yaris experience. The test car retuned an average 7.8 in what we would call a fair mix of driving conditions, from urban to country roads and freeways.

For all this, the Toyota Yaris is not at all a bad car to live with.

Servicing intervals may not be entirely generous with six-monthly trips to the workshop, but at least there’s a capped-price servicing programme ($130 per service) for the period of the three-year warranty.

We liked the Yaris’ audacious front-end styling, its interior space and the sense of solidity that comes with just about any Toyota. Bring the engine into the 21st century and connect it up to a higher-tech transmission (a Corolla-style CVT perhaps?) and the car’s character would change a lot.

Smoother, more responsive performance, better fuel economy and lower exhaust emissions for example...