1 Week And 600 Mile Report

[aygoal]

Now we have had our Yaris 1.33 TR with Tech pack for a week and 600 miles, I thought, if you don't mind, I'd share my thoughts.

Getting a brand new Yaris was a bit of an impulsive purchase as we were actually at the garage to look at a 58 red 1.3 SR (Nav and 16" Motorsport wheels) and a 58 plate TR D4D 5 speed (also red). However both the cars we drove (D4D more so surprisingly) were a lot less relaxed at 70 on the motorway (where we do 90%+ of our driving) than the 1.33. I was gutted as I really fancied the SR with the Tomtom.

Compared to the car's external size the interior space is fantastic with nearly as much space in the back seats as in our Zafira, granted that is with the rear seats pushed right back, but neither a Corsa or a Fiesta offer you the choice. This allows our daughter to have a headrest mounted DVD player at a safe enought distance away from her face, in a Corsa I probably would not let her have the DVD player in there so that is a huge thumbs up for the Toyota.

Both my wife and I we would like a slightly longer front seat squab, not a problem on my commute, but it was noticable on a 3 hour motorway journey.

Performance is fine as long as you use the gearbox as the car needs 2000 rpm to mack decent progress (our Zafira is a 150 hp CDTi so this has taken a bit of adjustment). On an almost 400 mile return motorway run over the weekend I was able to keep up with the flow of the right hand lane (within sensible limits) of the M25 and the M1. If there is any incline then 5th gear is needed, 4th if the speed drops below 45 mph. As the gearchange and clutch are light, this is no real issue.

Handling is in my opinion the weakest point of the car, but perfectly adequate for the type of car. On this score the Corsa we drove was far better. For me the steering is far too light and has no feel at all (in my opinion this was better in the Aygo). Roadholding and grip are fine though, apart from a susceptability to cross winds (although this is far better than the Aygo!!), possibly more noticable due to the lifeless steering, however boby roll is not too pronounced. The upside of this is a compliant ride.

Considering the type of car motorway refinement is good with a very quiet engine (in 6th) and pretty good wind noise supression. Road noise is surface dependent and to my mind not quite as good as the Corsa 1.3 CDTi (90 hp) we drove, but not bad.

For a petrol engine the economy is fantastic, on the day we picked it up, I got 50mpg on my 31 mile drive to work (and this was when the car only had 30 miles on the clock!!) so over time I am sure this will improve. The stop start is seamless and only really apparent by the dash light and rev counter if the radio is on. Even trying to catch it out with a brisk start didn't flumox it.

The sound of the stereo is good compared to the Aygo and with the Tech pack the ipod integration and bluetooth very impressive. Programming the bluetooth is fiddly, but this only has to be done once. Compared to my Parrot visor mount bluetooth in the Zafia, the sound quality is excellent.

Niggles are few:

The steering wheel radio controls are unlit.

The gearchange is a bit notchy (especially 1st and reverse), but that could be down to the newness of the car so I'll reserve judgement on that.

The dashboard top (elephant hide) material is very hard and cheap looking and the glove box operation and shut lines are below the rest of the interior quality.

To sum up, the againsts are niggles rather than glaring faults so you can take it we are more than happy with our Yaris.

[aygoal]

As an update, we have now done 1100 miles in less than two weeks and now the car is run in, it is just geting better!!

The steering especially at speeds above 50 mph is still lacking in feel, perhaps that is down to the eco tyres fitted to improve the economy / emissions. However the motorway refinement contines to impress for such a small car.

The engine has loosened up nicely and now pulls better from low revs and with the running in restrictions no longer necessary, it really sings round to the red line!!

Fuel economy is still good and I find the car's mpg reading to be a little conservative. The range to empty is especially cautious saying that there are no miles left when you still have at least 7 litres in the tank (of a 42 litre tank)!! Also accessing the different modes on the trip computer is not really possible when driving owing to the stretch to the far side of the instrument binacle.

All in all a surprisingly capable small car.

[reece]

The trip computer would be better if it could be scrolled through on a button on one of the stalks or on the steering wheel.

The steering wheel control being unlit is just a cosmetic preference. Yes it would look nice at night but you can’t go wrong with up/down as the only options!

Not sure if it fitted with speed sensitive steering?

[aygoal]

The trip computer would be better if it could be scrolled through on a button on one of the stalks or on the steering wheel.

The steering wheel control being unlit is just a cosmetic preference. Yes it would look nice at night but you can’t go wrong with up/down as the only options!

Not sure if it fitted with speed sensitive steering?

I am sure the lack of stalk control for the trip computer and the lack of illumination for stereo controls are just penny pinching like the fact that the Aygo's passenger door didn't operate the interior light. It is a shame as it is little niggles like that which let a car down. As the stereo controls also the only controls for the bluetooth on our one it is doubly annoying.

I understood that the car should have speed sensitive power steering, but I could be wrong.