Yaris on Motorway

[Eddie G]

14 hours ago, Cyker said:

Depends what you mean by refinement, but I will say the Mk4 is the noisiest Yaris of all the models I've owned. It's great to drive but the road noise is very high - It has less sound-proofing than the Mk1!!   

Quietest are probably the Mk2 or Mk3.

It's definitely nowhere near the same league as, say, a Mondeo or Passat!

Spot on about the road noise, it was like being in an Aygo again when i had mine on the motorway! one thought is this what it is like being on a motorbike? 😆 but the CVT was great when stuck in traffic jams, luckily don't do many motorways miles in any car.

[Ralph H]

7 minutes ago, Eddie G said:

Spot on about the road noise, it was like being in an a Aygo again when i had mine on the motorway! one thought is this what it is like being on a motorbike? 😆 but the CVT was great when stuck in traffic jams, luckily don't do many motorways miles in any car.

I take mine on the motorway every day but only for 20 miles after many years commuting on a motorbike I can tell you that the mk4 is luxury by comparison🤣

[BlueMike1972]

I noticed a bit of wind noise when I took my Excel on a decent run the other day, but it wasn't much worse really than my Fiesta had been, just different. Not a problem for me, anyway.

[Mojo1010]

Can't say I noticed much difference in road noise from the MK1 - though a long time ago, mk3 to the mk4. If anything the mk4 may edge it with the acoustic windscreen. Better sound insulation are only now on the newer 2024 corolla and chr  onwards, lexus lbx.

Cannot tell any difference to a 2015 Audi A1 I had either. Don't think the Aygo/X will be better road noise than the Mk4. 

Edit: had the 1.3 MK1 so less engine noise than the 1.0 naturally. 

[hind]

Not sure about yours but in my previous base version 2002 1.0 litre Yaris mk1 when you reached the 100 km/h speed, the headphone set fell from the overhead compartment so you can talk with your passengers without the need to shout 😄 For me mk4 is really light years ahead in terms of the noise during the high speed driving 😉 

[Rhymes with Paris]

4 hours ago, Eddie G said:

one thought is this what it is like being on a motorbike? 😆

I miss my motorbikes, but can easily replicate the feeling by waiting for a cold,wet day, and opening all the windows and the sunroof, and driving at er.. quite fast.

I soon get that familiar feeling of being wet through, and numb fingers and toes.

My MK1 Yaris Tsport is pretty quiet round town, but does get a bit buzzy around 4000 rpm out on the open road.

 

[Big_D]

We’re currently away on a midweek break (3 adults and the dog). So far, we’ve covered around 200 miles in our Yaris Excel. Some of this has been  on motorways, some on country A and B roads. We have had no problems with excess noise and have found it to be a nice comfortable ride. To top it all, the car is showing a figure of 72.2 mpg

[skidlid]

On 8/27/2024 at 10:37 PM, TonyHSD said:

Small cars aren’t any good for long motorway trips and often because of the short wheel base.

IMHO the Yaris is not a small car. We had 2 Golf GTi's Mk 2 between 1986 and 2006 which were 3985mm long, 1700mm wide and 1410mm high and these were never considered small cars, they were in reality family hatch backs. The Yaris Mk 4 is 3949mm long, 1745mm wide and 1500mm high so in reality its bigger. The Golf GTi had 112 bhp and 112 lbs of torque. The combined bhp of the Yaris is 116 bhp but whilst the combined torque is not quoted it easy enough to see its more than adequate in normal driving.

So in size and power its pretty much a draw.

I did about 163,000 miles over those 10 years in the Golfs and many of those were on motorways and I never had an issue. The one long journey we have done so far in the Yaris was about 250 miles in the day and it was a pleasure on the M1, A64 and roads over the North Yorks Moors. 

The main difference is economy, the Golfs averaged about 35mpg, the calculated for the Yaris so far is about 75mpg.

We had 2 x K12 Micra 1200's and dimensionally they were smaller than the Yaris and they felt like small cars. On motorways they were happy enough at 70 mph (3500rpm) but they never felt totally at ease. We did no trips over about 100 miles in them over the 10 years we had them, always took an alternative.

The Yaris is 100% fine on motorways.

[ninanina]

I’ve been tempted by a Skoda Fabia/Kamiq DSG

Please tell me this is a bad idea….😟

 

[Mooly]

Skoda/VW/Audi/Seat/Porsche all part of the same group.

Been there and done that twice with Audi. Worst cars ever for problems and reliability. Got a full refund on the second one when it spectacularly self destructed 3 weeks into ownership.

7 minutes ago, ninanina said:

Please tell me this is a bad idea….

Its a bad idea...

    

[Cyker]

7 hours ago, Mooly said:

The high road noise would be an instant turn off I'm afraid but I know I would love the 'squirtability' of driving one. Lack of refinement would win out though meaning no deal for me unfortunately.

This is what is so frustrating to me. You would think in the last 3 or 4 decades that design improvements would give us at least similar refinement to what we had all those years ago but it seems not to be so.

Years ago (2002) I loan of a Peugeot 206??? (due to more Audi woes) and was really impressed at the refinement and ride quality. I think it was a 1.4L.

We had a 1.6GL Sierra at work and that was great on the motorway. Big car in its day but a wheelbase only 6cm more than a MK4 Yaris.

To my way of thinking and especially given 30 to 40 years design improvements a car the size of a Yaris should in every way be the equal of these old timers... but it seems they are not sadly. 

The thing people forget (Which is understandable considering the cost!) is the Yaris is a *budget* car so it's never going to have the refinement of a higher-spec car, that's not what its design direction is. It's just supposed to be (relatively) cheap efficient transport; The improved driving dynamics in the newest model thanks to Akio Toyoda is just a massive bonus.

Also, Toyota are known for prioritising reliability, which means compromises elsewhere to hit a target cost - This is why people still buy VW and French cars; They spend a lot more on the interiors.

That's been the tradeoff for some time now - You go with a French/German car for something that's really plush and nice to be in, or you go with Toyota if you want something that will still be working properly after 3 years and beyond.

Or you pay a load of money more and buy a Lexus to get both  

 

I do find the thinning of metal and reduction of noise absorbing material in the Mk4 compared to the Mk2 very noticeable, but I think of it this way - You'd have to pay £20,000+ for this kind of weight reduction on a Ferrari   

 

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, skidlid said:

IMHO the Yaris is not a small car. We had 2 Golf GTi's Mk 2 between 1986 and 2006 which were 3985mm long, 1700mm wide and 1410mm high and these were never considered small cars, they were in reality family hatch backs. The Yaris Mk 4 is 3949mm long, 1745mm wide and 1500mm high so in reality its bigger. The Golf GTi had 112 bhp and 112 lbs of torque. The combined bhp of the Yaris is 116 bhp but whilst the combined torque is not quoted it easy enough to see its more than adequate in normal driving.

So in size and power its pretty much a draw.

I did about 163,000 miles over those 10 years in the Golfs and many of those were on motorways and I never had an issue. The one long journey we have done so far in the Yaris was about 250 miles in the day and it was a pleasure on the M1, A64 and roads over the North Yorks Moors. 

The main difference is economy, the Golfs averaged about 35mpg, the calculated for the Yaris so far is about 75mpg.

We had 2 x K12 Micra 1200's and dimensionally they were smaller than the Yaris and they felt like small cars. On motorways they were happy enough at 70 mph (3500rpm) but they never felt totally at ease. We did no trips over about 100 miles in them over the 10 years we had them, always took an alternative.

The Yaris is 100% fine on motorways.

I also barely consider the Yaris a small car, but really it's pretty big.

There are very few new cars I'd still consider genuinely small, Fiat 500 is the only one that springs to mind.

But they are very small compared to current average car sizes! I'm amazed all these SUVs don't scrape their sides on each other all the time, watching them trying to pass each other on narrow roads!  

When you look at the original RAV4 next to the current one, or even the original Golf next to the current one, it does make you wonder if they had a few too McD's on the assembly lines  

[Mooly]

4 minutes ago, Cyker said:

The thing people forget (Which is understandable considering the cost!) is the Yaris is a *budget* car so it's never going to have the refinement of a higher-spec car, that's not what its design direction is.

That's an excellent point...

The Carina II I bought in June 1990 cost under 10k on the road and the Audi A4 in 1995 was around 17.5 to 18k.

Throwing those figures into this:

Inflation calculator | Bank of England

Gives me:

 

 

Something like the Carina seems like it would be priced similar to a Yaris today. The Corolla TSport I got in 2002 was around 14.5 to 15k as I recall and that comes in at just over £25k today.

[Mooly]

3 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I'm amazed all these SUVs don't scrape their sides on each other all the time, watching them trying to pass each other on narrow roads!

This is what I like in the old Corolla 4 door I still have and to a lesser extent the 2010 Auris. They are not wide and if a car in front turns right you can fly by on the inside. Others following see what I have just done and then suddenly realise they can't fit and you see the nose dip down as the brakes are hastily applied. I'm 1/4 of a mile further up the road by the time they get going again. 

[BlueMike1972]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I'm amazed all these SUVs don't scrape their sides on each other all the time, watching them trying to pass each other on narrow roads!  

No, they save it for scraping everyone else in car parks! 

[Chas G]

@ninanina I can understand your dilemma in choosing a new car and the more you read the more difficult the decision becomes.  

My family has had about 45 years of owning various models and none of them suffered anything but minor issues. In my 20 years of owning toyotas the only fault I had was a weeping water pump which was spotted at a service and replaced under warranty. My problem with Toyota now is that all the newer models are noisy and, with the exception of the Rav and Yaris Cross, are very small and gloomy inside. I dont think they certainly stand comparison with a Prius for space, comfort of quietness.

I sat in a new Yaris and a Corolla Gr sport hatchback at Steven Eagell in Watford this morning in the hope that one of them might appeal but I found both too small.

VAG group cars in general have a poor reputation for reliability.... from dsg gearbox clutches failing early to kangarooing at low speed and difficulty starting. Having said that, I know plenty of vag owners who haven't had any problems with their cars. Have a drive in a Kamiq and you will probably find it spacious, comfortable and nice to drive.

Peugeot and small Fords with wet timing belts that fall apart, block the oil pick up and go boom but 3 of my neighbours cars with the dreaded 1.2 pure tech engine but haven't had any problems.

I will almost certainly replace my Yaris Cross with a nearly new Honda Civic Hybrid but I will have to pay to get the warranty extended up to 8 years old. The Civic will almost certainly though not be as reliable as any of my Toyotas but "you pay your money and take your choice"

Good luck with your search - maybe have a look at Hyundai, Kia or Mazda.

[TonyHSD]

3 hours ago, ninanina said:

I’ve been tempted by a Skoda Fabia/Kamiq DSG

Please tell me this is a bad idea….😟

 

Just buy one and tell us what do you think. 
A fellow member went away from Toyota and got a Vw then shortly after he is back in Toyota hybrid. He seems happy 

[Chas G]

@ninanina  just remembered that I bought my daughter a 3 year old Skoda Octavia in 2012 and pretty much faultless despite huge mileages in the Scottish highlands  until the gearbox packed up earlier this year and it wasnt worth repairing. She replaced it with a Skoda Fabia.

Ps the new Prius starts at about £36k.............completely different league than a Yaris.

[Tommy X]

20 hours ago, ninanina said:

I’ve been tempted by a Skoda Fabia/Kamiq DSG

Please tell me this is a bad idea….😟

 

Bev, IMO not a bad idea, these two cars are very good to drive and have good solid build quality, DSG problems were sorted years ago, I have owned two with DSG never had a problem, any car brand is not fault free even Toyota's, I've owned many different makes of new cars and the only one to leave me stranded (non starter) was a 2002 Toyota Corolla, got shut after six months for a Honda Jazz, had four Jazzes, best cars I ever owned, I have on order a new Jazz Hybrid, bit expensive but well worth the money, brake problems apparently sorted on new 2023 /2024 models, mirror problem done under warranty      

[Tommy X]

17 hours ago, Chas G said:

@ninanina The Civic will almost certainly though not be as reliable as any of my Toyotas but "you pay your money and take your choice"

Good luck with your search - maybe have a look at Hyundai, Kia or Mazda.

I would bet my last pound that it will 👍

[Dezzer21]

21 hours ago, Mooly said:

Skoda/VW/Audi/Seat/Porsche all part of the same group.

Been there and done that twice with Audi. Worst cars ever for problems and reliability. Got a full refund on the second one when it spectacularly self destructed 3 weeks into ownership.

Its a bad idea...

    

Had VW group cars since 1974 until my YC and never had a problem with them the cross is the worst car suspension wise I’ve ever had.

[Mooly]

1 hour ago, Dezzer21 said:

Had VW group cars since 1974 until my YC and never had a problem with them

Interesting...

I have to take as I find and my experience with two Audi's was the polar opposite. A elderly friend of a friend has a newish VW (Golf or Polo, I'm not sure which) and its had numerous niggling issues according to the first friend. 

[TonyHSD]

There are problems with cars that owners never become aware off mainly because of a short term possession and problems that will stop you from driving your car since early days. The later are more apparent and Toyota obviously aren’t excluded, ( batteries) , clutch plates, corrosion…
Other things like suspension, road noise, handling, acceleration, overall performance and feel are very subjective and down to personal preferences and mindset. 
German cars and other like French Swedish etc has always been more refined than the Japanese equivalents, but never been and will never be more reliable simply because the Japanese cars are better engineered and much simpler. In mechanics the simplest is the best. And Yaris might look bigger than previous models it is a small car by all means. Big car I mean Avensis/Camry or rav4 . Even Corolla it’s a small car but so slightly bigger than Yaris and slightly heavier, weight also means something and add when cruising along the open roads, heavy cars are more suited. 
Yaris cross suspension set up I think is great as it’s so high of the ground ad at the same time handling seems great plus I can see how wheels travel up and down when driving, I am watching others cars 😅👌

[RedYarisMan]

When I had my 2013 Yaris Hybrid T4 it was ok for the occasional motorway trip but it did feel out of its depth. If I had to commute using a motorway even for a few weeks I would have considered changing it for something larger very quickly. It was suitable for my usage though.

The Yaris Cross I own now is a totally different experience. In particular I think the Radar (Adaptive) Cruise that works to a stand still is fantastic. I also find the vision much better in the Yaris Cross and that the absence of the tinted rear and side glass also improves vision and safety.

[BlueMike1972]

On 8/29/2024 at 11:52 AM, BlueMike1972 said:

I noticed a bit of wind noise when I took my Excel on a decent run the other day, but it wasn't much worse really than my Fiesta had been, just different. Not a problem for me, anyway.

Quoting myself there to expand on what I meant by 'different'- on another run today, I concluded that the wind noise was about the same as the Fiesta but that it had moved back from ahead of me at the top of the A pillar to behind me at the B pillar; my partner agreed. Perfectly liveable!