A month and 1000 miles with a mk3 Hybrid

[preperationlaunch]

Just some thoughts after having my 2016 Mk3 Design Hybrid for nearly a month now.

So, the good:

1) It's a fantastic car, it's small but comfortable. I've been getting 50-60mpg everywhere from it, it's low mileage (7k when I got it) though so I don't think the engine has quite had time to free up properly yet. The highest I've had has been 62 so far. Low 50s include lots of very short trips where the engine is staying near cold.

2) Sneaking around in EV mode is fun, and it spends a surprising amount of time being eagerly in EV mode. It's also great for waiting in the car with the radio and heater going.

3) The Speakers aren't bad at all for what is a small mid-range car. The sat nav for an older factory fit system isn't bad in operation, but it is slow and clunky. Having to dive into settings to adjust the volume when it's not speaking is a pain too.

4) The de-mister is fantastic. It clears very quickly.

5) The headlights aren't nearly as bad as I'd expected, being a common source of complaint here.

The technical:

1) Where I live means I can fill the Battery up to the 80% cap fairly easily. The car will be pumping energy into the Battery at 50 amps or more, I've seen as high as 90, and you see it start to slow down as the Battery gets nearly full. It'll give a couple of bursts of spinning the ICE to burn off power before it gets to the cap. When it gets to full, it'll sound very angry as it spins to burn off the excess. It's weirdest as you come into a 30 zone and it's still sounding positively furious. Though, you can get quite some distance on battery at that stage.

The complaints:

1) 16" wheel turning circle - it's atrocious for the size of the car. It's the biggest bugbear I have with it. That and the cost of getting diamond cut wheels refurbed.

2) No door auto-locking - I miss this from other cars I've had, can it be enabled with techstream?

3) Lack of one-press indicators for three flashes on the motorway. That would be nice.

4) Since getting the Yaris, I've noticed more people taking optimistic gaps. I think they assume that the driver is more likely to be hesitant.

[Cyker]

re. the last point, I'm doing my best to help dispel that myth in my Mk4 Yaris Hybrid with my enthusiastic driving style    

 

[ashmj]

I couldn't agree more about complaints 2 & 3.

I don't know myself but point 2 on my Focus was just a change in FoCCCus software.

Even my wifes previous Fiat 500 had auto locking.

I am glad you mentioned the one-press indicators as I thought our stalk was broken 😀