Toyota YARIS 1.0 T2
The
Toyota Yaris 1.0 T2 Is The Most Cost Effective Way To Buy Into Toyotas Award-Winning Citycar Range. Andy Enright Checks It Out
If you live in the city and want the smartest city car available, how would you go about choosing? Obviously ease of parking, decent interior space and sassy styling are desirable, but there are other considerations. Security, an attractive insurance grouping, safety, economy and a low purchase price also have to be taken into account. If you dont intend to hammer up and down a motorway, this leads to one distinct class of car.
This class is the Citycar, a kind of sub-Supermini, recent examples of which include the
Ford Ka, the
SEAT Arosa and the
Volkswagen Lupo. The problem with all of these cars is that, by their very nature, theyre small: very small. Wouldnt it be great if you could have all the advantages of a tiny Citycar with all the benefits of a larger modern Supermini like a VW Polo? Enter the Toyota Yaris, voted European Car of the Year 2000. The £7,295 1.0 T2 variant tested here represents the entry-level model in the line-up.
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Here, on paper at least, is a car that achieves the best of both worlds. With a bodyshell 150mm shorter than a typical Fiesta-type Supermini, its hardly any larger than a tiny city runabout. Yet inside,
Toyota have created a packaging revelation. Thanks to a sliding rear bench
seat, theres more head and legroom front and rear than in any Supermini rival.
Although its only available as a three-door, the Yaris 1.0 T2 is almost as spacious inside as a
Ford Focus or
Vauxhall Astra-sized family hatchback.
"Considering the package on offer, the T2 might just be the smartest buy of all the Yaris variants"
The big car/ little car comparisons continue elsewhere. The £7,000 price suggests a Citycar, yet the interior size smacks of something much larger. Although only a single petrol 67bhp 1.0-litre engine is available on the T2 variant, there is the option of a D4-D diesel unit.
The petrol engine we look at here is a willing powerplant, good enough to keep up with most well driven Fiestas, Corsas, Clios or
Peugeot 206s. Toyota have worked a special kind of magic on the Yaris, making it small on the outside yet uncannily large on the inside. Life with the little Toyota should continue to echo this contradictory mix of virtues. The Yaris is as at home on a shopping spree to Harvey Nicks as it is in the carpark of your local Tesco.
A sloping bonnet line, mesh grille and bulbous teardrop headlights give this little Toyota an appealing and friendly face: in terms of charisma, the Yaris is in a class of its own. As weve suggested, the short, stubby body is deceptively wide, giving front seat passengers far more room than theyd expect from such a small car. It also gives the Yaris a squat, foursquare stance quite unlike some of the more toytown city cars. Theres also a lot of useful storage space - more than 15 litres in total.
Cubbies for everything from a mobile phone to tape cassettes are hidden around the cabin, theres a good-sized split-level glovebox, and the Yaris T2 is fitted with driver and passenger airbags. Other features include front seat belt pretensioners with drivers side force limiter, hardwearing cloth trim, tilt adjustable steering column, electric headlamp levelling, trip computer and an easy to operate radio/cassette unit. No, its not especially well equipped, but considering the package on offer, the 1.0 T2 might just be the smartest buy of all the Yaris variants.
For a start, you get the attributes that won the Yaris its Car of The Year title. Indeed, from the moment you sit in the drivers seat, its obvious this is no ordinary little car. There is no traditional dashboard; in fact youre left wondering where all the instruments are until you turn on the ignition. Then youll notice the central binnacle which houses an F1-style digital LED display something thats seldom seen on road cars, and certainly never previously seen on an affordable little hatchback like this.
It is angled towards the driver for better visibility and shows speed and revs in numbers. It does help if you quite like grey plastic however. The T2 boasts a trip computer that provides information on fuel consumption, average speed and range or external temperature. This Yaris 1.
0 T2 is also surprisingly good fun to drive, though one demerit is the omission of power steering. In compensation, Toyota have fitted smaller wheels and tyres to the T2 to make this oversight less of a bicep-bulging task. Otherwise, its fun to drive in the city, the high-tech variable valve equipped engine making its meagre 1.0-litre capacity seem like something with at least a 1.
3-litre unit under the dinky bonnet. Its inherent narrowness also makes diving for those narrow gaps less stressful than is the case in wider cars. Straight-line performance is good up to the 30 or 40mph required in towns, although the rest to 60 time of 14.1 seconds wont appeal to thrill seekers.
The manual five-speed gearbox is an excellent item, positive yet light in operation but theres always the impressive MMT (Multi-mode Manual Transmission) clutchless sequential gearbox if you prefer. Fuel consumption is predictably good, with a combined figure of over 50 mpg for the petrol model, and even when driven hard about town, 40mpg is not an unreasonable target. That said, this is not really a car intended to satisfy the keen driver. While handling is safe and competent, it doesn't really set the world alight. But to be honest, thats not the reason youll be buying the Yaris T2. Practicality, reliability and value for money are what are important to city-dwelling drivers, and although the Yaris meets these requirements, many city drivers will want two features missing from the T2 variant air conditioning and power steering. If it had these, it would be the complete city car.
Nevertheless, for around £7,000 in petrol form, with ABS and electronic brakeforce distribution as standard, its a lot of car, plus its covered by the companys comprehensive three-year warranty. If you want a credible runabout thats small enough to squeeze through the smallest gap but big enough inside to swallow a family of four, the Yaris 1.0 T2 may just fit the bill.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Toyota Yaris 1.0 T2
PRICE: £7,295 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 2E
CO2 EMISSIONS: 137g/km
PERFORMANCE: [1.0] 0-60mph 14.1s / Max Speed 96mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.0] (Euro average) 50.4mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Driver and passenger airbags, ABS, EBD
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height" 142/65/59"
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