Personal review, european version

[kavaron]

I took the new yaris for a test drive yesterday. It was the CVT petrol version.

First of all I liked the new styling. Even the interior is much improved than the last version. You don't see the hard plastics anymore and it is more colorful and trendy. The media screen is fantastic and very high tech. The rear view camera was very helpful as well.

The ergonomics are also very good. There are plenty of boxes to put stuff in and the cabin is very comfortable and roomy for the fronts and the rear seats.

As far as the handling I have to say that I was a disappointed. Although I was driving the non sport version, the ride was hard and jumpy. Harder than the old yaris which was even then hard compared to a VW polo for example. Of course it steers more sporty than a VW but I wanted the soft version to be soft. If a customer likes a hard ride, he buys the sport version, so don't make the normal version hard.

The best part was the engine and transmission. I think that the CVT is the best gearbox in the market. Even better than the DSG. You do not notice at all the gear changes and it feels like the car has only one gear with very straight acceleration.

Pros:
-Very smooth gearbox (CVT) One note here. The +/- has been changed and I hate it. Now you push up for upshift and down for downshift unlike the old version which was the correct one. Now only BMW as a firm has the correct +/- (like the rally)
-Attractive design
-Good interior ergonomics
-High tech multimedia touch screen
-Sports handling in the corners
-Boot is much roomier than the old one

Cons
-Not sure about the 1.33lt engine as far as power/consumption
-Ride is very hard and bumpy
-No customization for interior colors (seats come only in one cloth color)
-Expensive
-Stereo is weak and there is no option for upgrade

[auxmike]

Don't think US will get the CVT or the neat touch screen. I actually want a firmer suspension and once my struts start to get tired I will be treating my car to a TRD shock/strut set :)
Good report, thanks. Still waiting for them to arrive in my area....