Yaris Cross AWD order slots

[Impith]

The latest price list on theToyota UK web site shows a Cross Excel AWD-i available. Well, no, - technically it shows what Toyota would charge if it was available. 😀

[IT Troll]

Interesting that they are extending AWD to another grade. Given that the parts have been in constraint for the past year.

[MCatPG]

I hope this isn't a dumb question and I hope it's in the right place.

We live on a farm, 650ft elevation. We need an SUV which can cope with snow and can occasionally drive over a field or unmade roads. We don't need to drive hard on off-road surfaces but a 2WD won't work. We have test driven a Yaris Cross and the sales people (2 of them) at the dealership have told us they expect a 4WD drive Yaris to be available to order in a couple of weeks. But I'm struggling to find details on Toyota's website and based on some other things the sales people have said I think "trust but verify" is the right approach. I'm not even sure whether they are offering us the prospect of 4WD or AWD, or what the difference means in the Toyota Hybrid vehicles, or whether these sales people fully understand the differences themselves. Can anyone help with this?

I am posting separately about the Toyota warranty.

[FROSTYBALLS]

32 minutes ago, MCatPG said:

We have test driven a Yaris Cross and the sales people (2 of them) at the dealership have told us they expect a 4WD drive Yaris to be available to order in a couple of weeks.

See Devon Aygo's post within this topic dated 29th May.

[MCatPG]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

See Devon Aygo's post within this topic dated 29th May.

Thanks, I read the whole thread before I posted and I saw that. I suppose nobody knows the answer to my question until the 2023 models are announced.

[anchorman]

9 hours ago, MCatPG said:

Thanks, I read the whole thread before I posted and I saw that. I suppose nobody knows the answer to my question until the 2023 models are announced.

I can assure you the 2023 Excel AWD is available to order now because I’ve done it.  

[MCatPG]

6 hours ago, anchorman said:

I can assure you the 2023 Excel AWD is available to order now because I’ve done it.  

Do you know if Four Wheel Drive is going to be a separate option? That's what the local dealer is telling me.

[IT Troll]

3 hours ago, MCatPG said:

Do you know if Four Wheel Drive is going to be a separate option?

There is no 4WD option, only AWD. The sales people were just being lazy with their terminology. There is no driveshaft to the rear to power full-time 4WD. In the case of the Yaris Cross, AWD gives you a low-power rear electric motor which activates automatically when loss of traction is detected (front-biased AWD). Plus a couple of manual AWD modes; Snow and Trail. You also get improved rear suspension. I would say it is really a light-duty AWD.

It should be fine for snow (with appropriate winter tyres) and unmade roads. Fields would depend very much on the conditions; e.g. cut meadow vs recently ploughed. The videos posted in this thread should held you assess performance for your use case.

[Cyker]

11 hours ago, MCatPG said:

Do you know if Four Wheel Drive is going to be a separate option? That's what the local dealer is telling me.

Yeah, the Cross models have 2WD and 4WD models so you have to pick when speccing it up.

The 4WD/AWD models use an electric motor for the rear so no centre diff or propshafts or transfer case, which saves a lot of weight, but bear in mind the electric motor in the Yaris one has something like 5HP and I suspect will be less useful for any sort of off-roading or low-traction situations than a more appropriate set of tyres.

 

[anchorman]

22 hours ago, MCatPG said:

Do you know if Four Wheel Drive is going to be a separate option? That's what the local dealer is telling me.

You can order the Excel with FWD or AWD.  I’m not going to lecture you in the difference between AWD and 4WD, I  know what you mean.  They’re taking orders now for them as a 2023 model.  It has some gains over the Dynamic in the heated steering wheel and the kick sensor rear door but it loses the front and rear bumper trims and the nice dark wheels.  I do not like this current trend of two tone wheels.  Frustratingly, you can’t spec the JBL audio due to semiconductor shortages.  
 

There’s the usual scoffing about low power rear motors but it actually puts out 52Nm which anyone who understands vehicle dynamics knows it is more than enough and will make a big difference in snow or the kind of use most people will use it for.   Yes, winter tyres will transform any car but on a pure like for like FWD V AWD, let the doubters sort themselves out when the snow comes.  

[anchorman]

11 hours ago, Cyker said:

Yeah, the Cross models have 2WD and 4WD models so you have to pick when speccing it up.

The 4WD/AWD models use an electric motor for the rear so no centre diff or propshafts or transfer case, which saves a lot of weight, but bear in mind the electric motor in the Yaris one has something like 5HP and I suspect will be less useful for any sort of off-roading or low-traction situations than a more appropriate set of tyres.

 

They’ve only just started again.  There was a period where you couldn’t order AWD.  

[IT Troll]

5 hours ago, anchorman said:

They’ve only just started again.  There was a period where you couldn’t order AWD.  

Still not available to order online. I see they have completely removed the Dynamic trim from the brochure. I assumed this was because of the AWD supply problems, but that is clearly not the case. Bizarrely they have left the bi-tone colour choices in the brochure even those these were only available on the Dynamic and Premiere trims. 

[TonyHSD]

Here some interesting facts about awd in Toyota hybrids, no offence , just the truth. 👍

 

[IT Troll]

4 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Here some interesting facts about awd in Toyota hybrids, no offence , just the truth.

Wow, that is pretty damning. I believe the Suzuki still has a mechanical driveshaft to the rear which clearly makes all the difference.

[anchorman]

On 7/19/2022 at 8:17 PM, TonyHSD said:

Here some interesting facts about awd in Toyota hybrids, no offence , just the truth. 👍

 

The truth from a dealer that wants to sell a Vitara?  There isn’t a hint of the TRC fuse being fitted.  Look, I don’t care who buys what.  I’m buying an AWD.  

[IT Troll]

7 hours ago, anchorman said:

The truth from a dealer that wants to sell a Vitara?

I don’t think that is the case. If you look at some of their past videos they often test at the forecourt of the dealership. Sometimes this is Toyota.

The rear wheels do spin when on the rollers, but only for a short burst. It is just a bit embarrassing that they can’t seem to manage this when on the ground.

[anchorman]

4 hours ago, IT Troll said:

I don’t think that is the case. If you look at some of their past videos they often test at the forecourt of the dealership. Sometimes this is Toyota.

The rear wheels do spin when on the rollers, but only for a short burst. It is just a bit embarrassing that they can’t seem to manage this when on the ground.

It isn’t what the Russian video in the snow demonstrated.

[anchorman]

No idea what they are saying here but it climbs this trail the same as the Vitara.  Take it you’re selling your hopeless UTE?

 

 

[IT Troll]

1 hour ago, anchorman said:

No idea what they are saying here but it climbs this trail the same as the Vitara.

You can turn on auto-translated subtitles for this one to get an idea.

I have probably watched all the same videos as you. I agree that the Yaris Cross appears to handle most likely scenarios well. How much the AWD is actually contributing to that is hard to judge in those videos.

What the roller test does is provide repeatable test conditions that can be used to compare different makes, models and modes, whilst minimising environmental variances. It is somewhat of a torture test because it creates a zero grip scenario. It is of course a synthetic test and so may not be a condition you ever encounter in real life.

The AWD-i system is probably better than nothing, but I'd have more confidence if it performed like the Vitara. I'll have to see what the winter brings, there's not a lot of snow and ice around just now.

[IT Troll]

A little off-topic, but the same guys did the test comparing a 5th gen RAV4 to a 4th gen RAV4. The 4th gen just goes nowhere. The 5th gen (with a revised rear motor) does OK when in Trail mode. So Toyota can pass the test with AWD-i.

 

[TonyHSD]

Toyota hybrids awd are ok ish as long as you don’t relay on the awd system to get you to places or provide extra save driving through winter conditions. If it’s me I will save my money and pay for proper all season or winter tyres and buy fwd Yaris cross, will have extra boot space, less weight and slightly better efficiency. But again we are all different and we have different preferences. 👍 These guys from the test I posted are from Poland and they also mentioned that on some markets Yaris cross has been offered with proper awd system and petrol engine similar to Yaris gr four, this will be the real deal in a awd segment. 👌

[Cyker]

The 4x4 enthusiasts I know generally say that you need something with diff-locks if you want to be serious about off-roading, but outside that Subaru has the best AWD system, and it does seem to do well in those roller tests. Funnily enough they also rate the Fiat Panda 4x4's highly  

 

[forkingabout]

Remember the AWD-i versions also have double wishbone rear suspension fitted.

The front wheel drive versions make do with the old fashioned rear torsion beam suspension.

[Jecosse]

We have a Subaru Legacy and I would certainly agree that Subaru has a great AWD system. However it can`t work miracles-it needs the correct tyres for the conditions i.e. as Tony says, all-season or full winters. Our other cars are FWD and all have a set of all-seasons for winter use. I would have more faith in a FWD with winter-compliant tyres than the Subaru if I chose to run it on summer tyres. I remember the days when I had SAAB V4s and the combination of narrow wheels and a set of winters meant you were unstoppable. And that was in darkest Aberdeenshire in the days when you actually got snow in a winter!!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Please return to the topic subject - Yaris Cross AWD order slots.