The New Toyota Yaris Is A Spacious And Reliable Supermini
The current model of Toyota Yaris was launched at the end of 2011. It has more space, more efficiency and more kit than before. Its main rivals are Ford Fiesta, Suzuki Swift and Mazda 2 and it is offered as a three or five door car. There are four versions; the mid-spec TR cars get 15-inch alloys, air-con and Toyota’s efficient 6.1-inch touch screen sat-nav which can also be used as a reversing camera. There are two petrol engines, one diesel engine a hybrid to choose from in the Yaris range. The hybrid engine emits 79g/km and claims to do 80.7mpg. Sporty SR version gets a roof spoiler and sports suspension, while T Spirit cars get a panoramic roof, front fog lights, dual-zone air-con, automatic lights and wipers as well as keyless entry and start.
If you love Petrol engines than you can either have a 1.0-litre with 69bhp or a four-cylinder 1.33-litre with 99bhp. There is also a 1.4-litre D-4D diesel, which produces 89bhp and 205Nm of torque and has a 0-62mph time of 10.8 seconds and a top speed of 109mph. The power train for the hybrid version is a noisy 1.5-litre petrol which produces 98bhp, working together with the compact electric motor. The Yaris Hybrid accelerates from 0-62mph in 11.8seconds and is mated with a CVT gearbox. The Toyota Yaris has been awarded a full five-star EuroNCAP crash test rating. It is very safe as it received 89 per cent for adult occupancy and 86 per cent of safety assist. Seven airbags, ESP, ABS, traction control and brake assist as standard.
The new Yaris is reliable car as Toyota is renowned for its consistency. The engines are tried and tested as they are from the model this car is replacing. All Toyota’s are offered with a five-year, 100,000 mile warranty. The base level three-cylinder 1.0 petrol gives an average of 58.9mpg and CO2 emissions of 111g/km. The 1.33-litre petrol returns 52.3mpg and emits 123g/km CO2, but it becomes more efficient when mated with the Multidrive S automatic gearbox than it emits 118g/km of CO2 and does 55.4mpg. The diesel is even more economical and environmental friendly as it gives 72.4mpg and emits 104g/km of CO2 which means low tax. The hybrid version is tax free as it only has emissions of just 79g/km and acclaimed economy figure of 80.7mpg.
Toyota Yaris has very economical figures but is no match to those of the 88mpg Kia Rio 1.1D. The Toyota Yaris is very reliable too as it was awarded a full five start Euro NCAP crash test rating. Safety kit in the base version includes ABS, ESP, seven airbags, brake assist and traction control. All Toyota’s have a five year warranty which makes it a very reliable vehicle. The boot space has also increased 25% to 286 litres which is more the VW Polo and less than Ford Fiesta. When rear seats are folded the boot space increases to 768 litres. It has a spacious interior, is solidly engineered and well equipped.
