Toyota Yaris Cross: Handles properly, however is solely a disgruntled little one

The Toyota Yaris Cross does really look slightly bit cross concerning the world, like an out-of-sorts six-year-old. Word the narrowed head, ignite and the grimace on the grille.

Toyota, with a couple of notable exceptions, used to make generically bland-looking vehicles. Now they make generically wild-looking vehicles, and stuff like the brand new RAV4, which really appears to be like like a scrapyard canine baring its tooth, and the completely unreasonably styled C-HR, which has extra creases than the late Sidney James. It’s compact and vaguely like an insect, and you might as properly go for a lairy color like my check automotive’s metallic “Brass Gold”.

I received the thumbs-up from a woman in one other Yaris Cross within the Asda automotive park. Hers was black, and she or he was applauding my courageous selection of paint job, which was a form of praise. It’s the form of shade you’d look forward to finding on a tropical tree frog its pores and skin yielding a lethal venom to chase away predators. Not that I’m going round licking frogs. Or vehicles.

It’s friendlier inside, I’ve to say, particularly within the launch-special “Premiere” version. You clamber in and also you’re instantly cosseted and made to really feel very welcome certainly. It’s a comfortable, pleasant form of cabin wherein the controls are correctly positioned and the place consolation comes first. Naturally, you get mushy leather-based heated seats and easy-to-use steering wheel controls, plus guide dials for the air-con and pretty intuitive touchscreen, with built-in sat nav on the posher choices. Most significantly, a set of driver-assisted braking aids, a rear digicam and parking sensors will defend the daring appears to be like of your Yaris Cross – and defend you and your insurer from ruinous bodywork payments.

It’s like a Yaris hatch, after all, however you get an exceptionally excessive driving place for this class of automotive, and it’s received a usefully greater boot, with a flexible adjustable boot space and break up fold rear seats. There’s lots of rubber lining on the again, together with the backs of the rear seats, so placing heavy and scratchy hundreds within the again doesn’t trigger a lot harm. Clearly the load top is taller than on a hatch, however for infrequent load carrying it’s fairly acceptable.

The engineers have made a tremendous job of creating the Yaris deal with in addition to it does, and it’s aggressive with others in its class just like the Ford Puma, Skoda Kamiq and Hyundai Kona (to call a couple of of very many). The difficulty, as with so lots of its sort, is the hybrid petrol/electrical setup and, extra to the purpose, the always variable transmission (CVT). For 3 many years and extra, because the very first Prius, Toyota improved and honed their hybrid fashions’ energy models and transmissions. All of them, together with the Yaris Cross, ship superlative – however they nonetheless whine like, properly, a disgruntled six-year-old.

That, plus some extraneous highway rumble at velocity spoils what needs to be a really refined bundle certainly. It’s expensive, too, for what it’s, with the highest of the tree fashions (some with four-wheel drive) pushing thirty grand. The Ford Puma, with its further deep “megabox” boot and the properly designed Skoda Kamiq are tremendous options, and for slightly extra you can purchase the long run with the all-electric Kia e-Niro. On steadiness, I’d most likely be a bit boring and go for the nonetheless wonderful Nissan Qashqai, which is cheaper, extra spacious inside and doesn’t sound prefer it’s in search of a combat with its personal transmission system.