Toyota YARIS COLOUR COLLECTION SPECIAL EDITION RANGE
Although The Name Sounds Like One Of Jackson Pollocks, Dont Let That Put You Off These Colour Collection Models. They Are
Toyota Yariss After All. Andy Enright Reports
Looking out of the office window presents a monochromatic view. The sky is overcast, grey stone, grey breezeblocks, grey slate and grey paving stones predominate. The tarmac is black, the bosss car is black, the window frame is white yet theres the merest splash of Twilight Blue in the lower left corner of view. For that, Im grateful.
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It may take a little more than this, however, to sell you the benefits of the
Toyota Yaris Colour Collection.
After all, its hardly rocket science. Heres a car whose major selling point is yes, youve guessed it its colourful. As Unique Selling Propositions go, it stalls on the grid. Nevertheless, should we choose to look beneath the Colour Collections vivacious hues (Twilight Blue, Carlo Blue, Thunder Grey, Eclipse Black and Crystal Silver in case youre interested), we have a reasonably standard special edition situation.
Prices are the same as for equivalent Yaris T3 models, in spite of the additional features which have a combined value of £900 - or £1,250 in the case of the 1.3-litre versions which come with alloy wheels. That means on the road figures starting at £8,595 for the 1.0-litre VVT-i three-door version and £9,095 for the 1.
3 VVT-i three-door variant (including those alloy wheels). Five-door models cost an additional £500 and air conditioning plus a roof spoiler is available as a £500 option. Sounds simple enough doesnt it? The Colour Collection Yaris models should stand out a bit more on the street thanks to their metallic paint finish, front fog lamps, chrome exhaust finishers, body colour-matched door mirrors and bumpers and on the 1.3 variants, those alloys we mentioned earlier.
On the inside, special features include scuff plates, height adjustable leather trimmed steering wheel with built-in audio system controls and a leather and chrome finished gear knob.
"From the moment you sit in the drivers
seat, its obvious this is no ordinary little car."
All these items are in addition to the regular Yaris T3 specification, which includes a four-speaker sound system with CD player, remote central double locking, split-folding and sliding rear seat, electric front windows and vanity mirrors for the driver and front seat passenger. The comprehensive active and passive safety features include front and side airbags, ABS with Electronic Brakeforce distribution and front seatbelts with pretensioners and load limiters. As for the Yaris itself, well here, on paper at least, is a car that achieves the best of two different 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. Amazingly, the Yaris is almost as spacious inside as a
Ford Focus or
Vauxhall Astra-sized family hatchback. The big car/ little car comparisons continue elsewhere.
The sub £9,000 price suggests a Citycar, yet the interior size smacks of something much larger. On the road, even the 67bhp 1.0-litre engine is a willing powerplant, good enough to keep up with most well driven Fiestas, Corsas, Clios or
Peugeot 206s. Theres also a lot of useful storage space - more than 15 litres in total.
Cubbies for everything from a mobile phone to CDs are hidden around the cabin and theres a good-sized split-level glovebox. In fact, from the moment you sit in the drivers seat, its obvious this is no ordinary little car. There is no traditional dashboard; actually, 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. Despite the Colour Collection moniker, it does help if you quite like grey plastic however. This Yaris is also good fun to drive, the high-tech variable valve equipped engine making entry-level versions 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 for the 1.
0-litre wont appeal to thrill seekers. The manual five-speed gearbox is an excellent item, positive yet light in operation. Fuel consumption is predictably good, with a combined figure of over 50 mpg for the 1.0-litre variant and even when driven hard about town, 40mpg is not an unreasonable target.
As stand alone special editions go, the Colour Collection models arent any great shakes. Think of them as top value Toyota Yariss however, and the prospect becomes a whole lot more appealing.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Toyota Yaris Colour Collection range
PRICES: from £8,595 [1.0] / from £9,095 [1.3] on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 2E 4E CO2 [g/km] / EMISSIONS BAND: 133g/km 134g/km / B
PERFORMANCE: [1.0] 0-60mph 14.1s / Max Speed 96mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.0] (Euro average) 50.4mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Drivers airbag, ABS, EBD
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height" 142/65/59"
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