My 1st Test Drive (Liftback)

[Yaris Revenge]

Well, while cruising around on my Buell Saturday, I decided to yet again stop by the local Toyota dealership to scope out a Liftback. Lo and behold, they finally had one on the lot, a silver automatic. I have no intentions of getting an automatic, but for the sake of experimentation, I decided to take it for a test drive. Here's what I thought of the experience.

PROS:

1.) The Yaris is darn roomy for such a small car. I'm 6' even, and didn't feel at all cramped.

2.) The steering felt exceptionally crisp. Bet it's fun in the curves!

3.) Great visibility. The car is so short that, when you turn to look out the right side window, you can actually see clearly out the rear window as well, like driving a Jeep Wrangler.

4.) Great turn radius.

5.) Seats were adequately comfy. Didn't notice anything bad about them.

6.) Butt-kickin' AC. Anyone that complains about the air conditioning in the Yaris must have technical issues. It was easily 98 degrees (which in Georgia, feels like 105), and the Yaris cooled down very quickly. I actually got cold and had to cut it back.

CONS:

1.) Never in my life have I driven such a sluggish engine. Granted, it was an automatic, and I had the air on, but it was still surprisingly pitiful. I thought my old 90hp Saturn was slow, but I guarantee it would run circles around this Yaris (and it got 38mpg no matter how I drove it). Once I cleared 40mph, the engine reacted just fine, but from 0-35 it was an absolute struggle. Punching it to the floor had no effect at all off the line. There was simply nothing left to give.

2.) This is just my own opinion, but I don't think I like the rock-hard plastic used for the dash. Seemed excessively cheap to me.

3.) The controls layout really seems boring when compared to the xA (being closely related, it seems a fair comparison). I thought perhaps it was only the photos that looked bland, that in person the design would come across as sofisticatedly minimalist, but such was not the case. It really is just bland.

NUTSHELL:

I still like the Yaris, and it seems to be a good car for the money. I'm hoping the manual transmission will somewhat redeem the 1.5L, because there's no way in the world I could stand fighting the automatic. Though I love the exterior styling, the interior leaves me wanting more.

I'm a bit disappointed. I had too-high hopes, I believe, for a car that starts at $10,000 US. We'll see how I feel in the following year or so, when I'm actually ready to buy. The T-Sport version (should we get it here in the States) may be the answer I'm looking for.

~YR

[Jem_hadar]

Good review. ^5

Jem

[ECHOKnight2000]

Great review, thanks. I still want to test drive a hatch, I already test drove the sedan but the hatch is the one I like...besides being an automactic I think cause the car wasn't broken in, it may feel more sluggish. Yeah its too bad they "watered" down the U.S. version but its what the market is here (although changing), we'll see!

[fnkngrv]

Very nice review, but one note would be that the T-Sport had the same powerplant and tranny that we received here in the states...the 1.5L which is a standard powerplant as opposed to the 1.3L overseas. Just an observation. I test drove an auto sedan before I bought my stick and you will notice a big difference in that regard.

[foober]

My 5 speed manual is like a jackrabbit with power. So you might test drive a manual. I have trouble slowing to the speed of the traffic around me from the get up and go it has.

I bought a dash mat which helped from the black dash it came with from the sun heating the car coming in the front window. YOu might think of doing that.

[ECHOKnight2000]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

Very nice review, but one note would be that the T-Sport had the same powerplant and tranny that we received here in the states...the 1.5L which is a standard powerplant as opposed to the 1.3L overseas. Just an observation. I test drove an auto sedan before I bought my stick and you will notice a big difference in that regard.

I think he's referring to the new/current gen Yaris (T-Sport), its a concept now but rumored to have the green light and it will sell in Europe, and the powerplant I believe to be is the 1.8ltr, oh mama!! But it would be cool if it came here but I wouldn't hold my breath, obviously marketing reasons, the Yaris is positioned as an entry econo car, which it is but in Europe and other places its a premium sub-compact with anemities that you usually see on higher end cars.

[plushDJ]

x2 Test drive the manual

[TRD_Yaris]

x3 the manual transmission. It makes a huge difference with these cars and lack of a torque curve :(

good review on the auto.

[Ran Kizama]

Revenge, if you want to test drive a manual then PM me. I'll let you try mine out, as long as you don't romp on her.

[Yaris Revenge]

Originally Posted by Ran Kizama

Revenge, if you want to test drive a manual then PM me. I'll let you try mine out, as long as you don't romp on her.

Wha? I don't get to bark the tires?

And yes, when I mentioned the T-Sport, I meant the 1.8L version. The power to weight ratio in that setup has to be awesome, 'cause it's pretty darn good in my Vibe.

Thanks for the offer, Ran. May take you up on that at some point...

~YR

[Idjiit]

Cheap plastic in a $10,000 car? I'm shocked!

And the manual Yaris is not sluggish. You really have to hit high revs for your shift points to have a fun drive, but that's true of most variable-valve timed engines.

[stuffy]

my manual has plenty of get up and go and the autos i have driven do as well, i do notice some sluggishness when i've got a full load of people with the a/c on, but that is only to be expected.
i drive new cars on a regular basis and have noticed as well that they can be very sluggish, so this is probably the case, do you know how many miles was on the car you test drove?

[Thirty-Nine]

Out of curiosity, does the Yaris have different gear ratios than the xA/xB? I know the Scions have pretty short ratios to aid in accelertaion.

[weaponrcamry]

Yea that is how all the yaris feels. I mean come on 106bhp what would you x-pect? The car probably will need some improvement under the hood. Hopefully performance parts(beefier internals) for the U.S. market will be here sooner or later. But good write up. :)