Possible Owner : Yaris Cross Yaris Cross 1.5 Hybrid CVT EXCEL

[NigelouttoGrass]

Hi all. Would be grateful for some honest advice from existing owners. Am considering purchasing a new Yaris Cross 1.5 Hybrid Automatic CVT EXCEL . Would welcome thoughts on its speed of acceleration and generally how comfortable / quiet it is on long journeys?  And is it gutsy enough with a full load of 4 adults on board? Thanks... for some honest real world advice.

Nigel

 

[Roy124]

8 minutes ago, NigelouttoGrass said:

Hi all. Would be grateful for some honest advice from existing owners. Am considering purchasing a new Yaris Cross 1.5 Hybrid Automatic CVT EXCEL .

I enjoy ours immensely.

Would welcome thoughts on its speed of acceleration

No slouch off the lights if you need to and easy to overtake a truck doing 60.  You will soon hit 70+.

And generally how comfortable / quiet it is on long journeys? 

Comfortable seats, heated and adjustable in the front.  After 7 hours in a day we did not feel overly fatigued. 

And is it gutsy enough with a full load of 4 adults on board?h

I cant answer that as we only had one little old lady and luggage.  I have to say though that it is not designed for four adults for a long journey.  There is no reading light in the back, passenger controlled ventilation, or seat heating. For short journeys, 30 miles, I had the two grandchildren in the back.  I e is 5-6 and the other is 6-2, but they are not bulky adults.  I had plenty of power to cruise at 70.

Hope that helps 

 

 

[NigelouttoGrass]

Roy, Thanks for the useful advice..Was the little old lady you mention in the back seat, with two of you in the front? Or just you and her on board? Thanks

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Yaris Cross forum

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, NigelouttoGrass said:

Hi all. Would be grateful for some honest advice from existing owners. Am considering purchasing a new Yaris Cross 1.5 Hybrid Automatic CVT EXCEL . Would welcome thoughts on its speed of acceleration and generally how comfortable / quiet it is on long journeys?  And is it gutsy enough with a full load of 4 adults on board? Thanks... for some honest real world advice.

Nigel

Hi Nigel, 

I will recommend to you an extended test drive or if you can rent one for a week before you make your mind. Toyota hybrids are the best cars with internal combustion engines currently but they are also very different in the way how they drive. These cars has no actual gearbox, gears, clutch or anything. When you drive slow they behave and feel like bev but when pushed hard and at high speeds they produce more noise than standard automatic or dsg, they also don’t have direct connection between engine rpm and car speed. If you like the car and get use to it you will never go back to dsg or any other type of cars except electric ones. 👍 

Test drive and see if you gonna like it first. 
Good luck 

[Baytree]

On the carrying front, had no issues at all transporting four well-fed souls to and from a couple of engagements recently. Amazing amount tech vs previous Yaris.

[Roy124]

1 hour ago, NigelouttoGrass said:

Roy, Thanks for the useful advice..Was the little old lady you mention in the back seat, with two of you in the front? Or just you and her on board? Thanks

The full load was my wife and me in front.  MiL 97 in back left with the 20/40 seats folded.  A case was behind my seat to leave an air gap I front of the batteries. A dog nylon covered travel kennel was behind that. 

In the under boot were presents, coats, shoes etc.  This to excellent as it takes most of the odds and ends.  If I had not got the spare wheel I would have had even more space. 

The rest of the boot took overnight bags etc. 

An alternative load out was when we went on holiday. All seats flat.  One large and 2 medium cases, 2 carry on cases and that was that. 

[Roy124]

Following on from Tony's advice.  We only had a short trip in the Cross before signing on the dotted line.  However we had a half day trial on the Corolla two years before. 

Now the dealer said it was normally a quick up the road and back.  As we had told him we did a fair amount of motorway driving he realised we needed that longer test. 

If you can't get a long drive in a YC at least insist on a Corolla or similar. 

[NigelouttoGrass]

Thanks all so far for the information and advices received and recommendation that I try to get a long test drive. Feel a bit more confident now, but anxious about the technology that I don't understand !

[Roy124]

2 minutes ago, NigelouttoGrass said:

, but anxious about the technology that I don't understand !

Ah, that is a whole new ball game.  At least you do get an abbreviated handbook, around 200 pages.  The online version extends to several hundred. 

That said the car is pretty automatic. 

[Baytree]

And if you do go for a long drive, the salesman will hand you a report on your driving performance afterwards…

[Roy124]

I would be very surprised if your driving was worse than the salesman.  When they drove my car they areuvjy to get better than 50 mpg.  When I drive I an surprised if I get less than 60.

[NigelouttoGrass]

Thanks...maybe the Salesmen have heavy feet !😁

[IT Troll]

Once up to speed the ride is quiet and comfortable. The creature comforts are great. However, as others have mentioned, the engine is noisy when pushed; e.g. when hard acceleration is required (Power zone). Normally this is quiet brief and settles once back in the Eco zone. The noise did get quite alarming one time during a sustained, steep hill climb. Began to sound like a diesel tractor!

[Rosgoe]

38 minutes ago, IT Troll said:

Once up to speed the ride is quiet and comfortable. The creature comforts are great. However, as others have mentioned, the engine is noisy when pushed; e.g. when hard acceleration is required (Power zone). Normally this is quiet brief and settles once back in the Eco zone. The noise did get quite alarming one time during a sustained, steep hill climb. Began to sound like a diesel tractor!

Yea I found with the corolla engine noise was intrusive when going up a long steep hill I felt it struggled a bit with 2 people and luggage and I also felt I  wanted to change down a gear if I could. Probably better if I had the 2.0 litre other than that it’s fine less than 2500 rpm when cruising at 65 on the motorway and occasionally goes into ev at that speed if sufficient charge in Battery and on the flat.

[Rosgoe]

See if you can get it over a couple of days I did when I bought the corolla then you can find it’s idiosyncrasies. Personally I am not a fan of 3 cylinder technology as I think you are working the engine harder to get adequate performance but haveing said that I have not tested the new Yaris although if Toyota don’t hurry up and decide if they are going to bring the corolla cross to the uk I may decide on a Yaris cross.

[Bernard Foy]

Another piece of information is if you trawl through the Toyota Website it will give you the 0-60 figure in seconds, for the particular model that you are researching.

[Baytree]

I have no complaints about the engine in the Cross. It’s a revelation compared with the mk3 Yaris and even the first gen CH-R (which is bigger but I found a bit gutless). The noise isn’t even that bad  under load, and , reminds me of an old American V8 at low revs sometimes. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

One can download the owners manuals, multimedia manuals, etc from - Owner's Manual | Customer Information | Toyota UK

See the current owners manual attached below:

1407541492_YarisCrossmanualDec22.pdf

[Roy124]

1 hour ago, Rosgoe said:

 if Toyota don’t hurry up and decide if they are going to bring the corolla cross to the uk I may decide on a Yaris cross.

My dealer said they had been told no Corolla Cross on UK. 

 

[NigelouttoGrass]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

One can download the owners manuals, multimedia manuals, etc from - Owner's Manual | Customer Information | Toyota UK

See the current owners manual attached below:

1407541492_YarisCrossmanualDec22.pdf 147.65 MB · 1 download

Thanks for the link... But it doesn't seem to work ?

[Cyker]

I will say the 3-pot is quite obnoxious at low RPM, esp. when stationary, but at it's desired speed (~2000rpm) it's very civilized, and much smoother.

When you demand beans from it, it does get quite growly which is a bit marmite - Personally I love it but I may secretly be a yobbo  

The engine never feels laboured tho' - Even when I was hauling 4 of us and a load of camping chairs and stuff up that long forest hill on the way to Goodwood, the car was still very responsive to increased accelerator inputs. You do feel the power drop when the Battery runs out if you're giving it some, but if driving up said hill like a normal person the 3-pot has more than enough power, esp. as it can switch to Otto-cycle mode if it feels like it isn't delivering enough torque in Atkinson/Miller-cycle mode.

I do find the car responds better to progressive inputs - It feels like it pulls much better if you progressively and gradually increase accelerator input, rather than if you just floor it suddenly, which instead triggers that nasty rubber-bandy feeling people criticise CVTs for, where the engine jumps almost to redline almost immediately, but there's a noticeable delay before you feel it pull and even then the pull doesn't feel as strong as you'd expect from the engine note!

(I should note that the car feels powerful for a Yaris and not for, say, a Pagani Zonda... so temper your expectations accordingly!  )

[NigelouttoGrass]

6 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I will say the 3-pot is quite obnoxious at low RPM, esp. when stationary, but at it's desired speed (~2000rpm) it's very civilized, and much smoother.

When you demand beans from it, it does get quite growly which is a bit marmite - Personally I love it but I may secretly be a yobbo  

The engine never feels laboured tho' - Even when I was hauling 4 of us and a load of camping chairs and stuff up that long forest hill on the way to Goodwood, the car was still very responsive to increased accelerator inputs. You do feel the power drop when the battery runs out if you're giving it some, but if driving up said hill like a normal person the 3-pot has more than enough power, esp. as it can switch to Otto-cycle mode if it feels like it isn't delivering enough torque in Atkinson/Miller-cycle mode.

I do find the car responds better to progressive inputs - It feels like it pulls much better if you progressively and gradually increase accelerator input, rather than if you just floor it suddenly, which instead triggers that nasty rubber-bandy feeling people criticise CVTs for, where the engine jumps almost to redline almost immediately, but there's a noticeable delay before you feel it pull and even then the pull doesn't feel as strong as you'd expect from the engine note!

(I should note that the car feels powerful for a Yaris and not for, say, a Pagani Zonda... so temper your expectations accordingly!  )

Thanks for taking the time to advise, and detail. Is reassuring. Am waiting for Test Drive availability to try out and will listen for the growler !

[SouperChris]

On 12/11/2022 at 1:14 PM, NigelouttoGrass said:

Hi all. Would be grateful for some honest advice from existing owners. Am considering purchasing a new Yaris Cross 1.5 Hybrid Automatic CVT EXCEL . Would welcome thoughts on its speed of acceleration and generally how comfortable / quiet it is on long journeys?  And is it gutsy enough with a full load of 4 adults on board? Thanks... for some honest real world advice.

Nigel

 

I think you will only discover what you like/don't like after owning for some time. The things I discovered I would never have found during a test. The question you need to answer is what's the alternative? If you want good performance with high MPG and lots of safety and reliability, then it's a very good choice. I couldn't think of a car I would prefer for the price after about 7k miles. It is the best car I've had.

[TonyHSD]

Toyota hybrids are also great for driving in towns and in slippery conditions as they have smoothest drive of all cars with ice, and they are very easy to control on snow and ice.
 Efficiency, drivability, reliability, seriously nothing that consumes petrol or diesel comes any close to them. , only electric cars are as good but these are different category and not necessarily better unless you live in central London.