2017-18 Toyota 1.5L petrol Yaris for daily commute of motorway

[AVarma]

Hi everyone, new to this forum and I need some advice. I am a first time buyer and the yaris seems to be a perfect choice as a first car but i dont know if its the right car for my day to day commute to my job. I need to drive on the M4 UK motorway for 24miles. Is the yaris suitable for highway drive or should I look for something else.

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

[kevinj93]

Are you commuting on your own or with others in the car?

I have a 2012 Yaris hatch 1.3 and a 2014 Camry V6 (called an Aurion here in Australia).

If I have 2 adults in the back seats of the Yaris, the rear suspension feels like it needs stiffer shock absorbers. On my own or with only a front seat passenger, I can happily sit on our motorway speed limit of 110 km/h. The Yaris isn't the quietest of cars at that speed, but it still feels quite stable on the road.

[AVarma]

Yea i'm going to be commuting by myself, not too bothered about noise as long as the speakers can compensate with music haha.

[bronsin]

I drove my 2009 Yaris that’s Yaris 10,400 miles from New Jersey to Alaska and back in 16 days in two 2011. We’re not in Canada I went about 80 miles an hour or 10 miles an hour over the speed limit. Canada in most places there’s only 100 km an hour and I didn’t want A ticket!

So I feel sure it will be fine on a motorway in England.

[stykerdk]

The 2017-18 is much better Sound dampened than a 2012 1gen xp13 Yaris.
And the 1.5 is also doing it much better than the 1.33.

[kevinj93]

My 2012 Yaris is a 3rd gen hatchback with the 2NZ-FE motor. The 2015 Yaris with 1.5 will have different gearing. It probably would be slightly taller gearing, so possibly less engine noise at motorway speeds. A lot of the noise I get is wind noise from the driver's door seal.

[mitch9521]

I drove my 2009 Yaris that’s Yaris 10,400 miles from New Jersey to Alaska and back in 16 days in two 2011. We’re not in Canada I went about 80 miles an hour or 10 miles an hour over the speed limit. Canada in most places there’s only 100 km an hour and I didn’t want A ticket!

So I feel sure it will be fine on a motorway in England.

Most of our highways are 100km/h(62mph), but everyone is doing 75mph+ anyways. Cops generally won't bother with anything under 120km/h(75mph). :biggrin:

[bronsin]

I knew what you could get away with in the USA, but I had no idea how Canadian laws were enforced! Also that was the problem of whether a gas station would be open in the Yukon and Alaska. Sometimes he would drive 200 miles and the gas station was closed! Better to get all the mpg you can!

[WeeYari]

This thing will cruise happily at 120kph all day long. Experience talking.

[mitch9521]

Can confirm too, mine has cruised at 120km/h for 5+ hours non-stop happily humming away at ~3200rpm on the highway.

[rayfloyd170]

Had a blast experience with my 1.3 2nz-fe last December 2020 while heading home from the famous Al-Ula wonders to Riyadh driving at above 130-140kph (4000-4500rpm) for 13 straight hours with my family under stressful terrain and alternate rain showers and sandstorms (peeled a lot of my top coat from front nose).

Convoy with 2 yaris and one chevy cruze and ford expedition ranch, we are excited to do it again.

[stykerdk]

My 2012 Yaris is a 3rd gen hatchback with the 2NZ-FE motor. The 2015 Yaris with 1.5 will have different gearing. It probably would be slightly taller gearing, so possibly less engine noise at motorway speeds. A lot of the noise I get is wind noise from the driver's door seal.

In europe the 1,5 was first introduced with the last facelift, i dont know the engine code.
But it is the special type that switches between otto and atkinson cykle, it runs good my mom has one with CVT transmission.
Manual transmission is 6 speed here in Europe.

The driver door seal was already improved by the first facelift, the inner seal in the door frame goes all the way round, instead of the missing part by the kick panel.

[AVarma]

Thanks for all the super useful comments guys! This was the only real concern I had about the yaris, since the consensus from what i had heard from the reviews was that the Yaris is a city car. But it's clearly able to do long hauls.