[Samba]

Took a test drive of both the manual & cvt Yaris at Saini Toyota Howrah, while i gave my petrol Etios for its 80,000km service.

Showroom people were extremely courteous, knowledgeable and prompt.
Fully satisfied on that perspective.

Coming to the car.

Looks-

It looks good. The design will not offend anyone neither does it have the wow factor. Its decent and i will say its good looking.





Looks quite small when compared to the Altis!





Its written Toyota on the head lamp!


The drive-

Manual-

The A, B & C pedals are well placed, though a dead pedal is missing.




After starting the car, its silent inside. Excellent NVH. The clutch throw is short. The gear shift felt okay. Not to an enthusiasts liking. Its a bit rubbery i may say. I like the Etios gear shift more.

The car is responsive in the low end. In 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th one can expect good acceleration. In 5th acceleration is slow and in 6th the car takes its own time to gain speed. So for fast overtaking or in single lane road sticking to 3rd, 4th & 5th will be best. The low end is good, the mid range is punchy. I tested till 120+km/hr and till then it was a breeze. I cant comment on the top end.

This car felt more sedate than the petrol Etios, may be it has better speed masking capability or may be the gear ratio's are different. But the engine characteristic is similar to the Etios but differently tuned. This car should have a better top end due to the 6th gear. I loved the engine sound when revved hard. Its just awesome.

One thing i will mention is, i tried to pull the car in 2nd gear from stop while climbing a flyover with zero input on accelerator. The yaris stalled with 4 person on board and ac on. I tried the same with my Etios with 2 person on board and the car pulled happily with a 80,000km worn clutch!
If i press the accelerator suddenly at around 30km/hr at 3rd gear this car will pull with a second delay unlike the Etios which pulls instantly.

So do the Etios has better engine than Yaris? No.
Etios is a light weight car with short gearing so the fun factor is more. The yaris is a much more matured car with more smoothness. The engine rpm cuts off at 6,200 rpm where as in Etios engine rpm cuts off at 5,900 rpm.

The engine bay looks neat!


The Air intake pipe is located higher. So water logged roads wont be an issue. The radiator is placed well behind the front bumper. Its at the back end of the black plastic cladding. So small frontal hits should be safe.


Well insulated.


Coming to the CVT

Am not the right person to comment on a CVT. Took a test drive on request from the sales person. Am honored, he thought my feedback will be important to them!

On 'D' mode if i floor the throttle, the gear shifts at 6,000rpm! On normal driving the gear shifts around 3,500rpm. The typical rubber-band effect of cvt is present but it didn't bother me much. Till 120km/hr the cvt was fun to drive. Didn't try it beyond that. The engine sound of the cvt was awesome too. I just loved the sound when revved hard.
I loved the manual mode more in the CVT. The paddle shifters were fun to use!





Braking-

Brakes are excellent. Quite superior than the Etios. I slammed at 120km/hr and the car stopped without any drama and the ABS kicked in at the right time. In another occasion, braked hard on a sandy surface and the abs did its job well too.

Steering, Handling & comfort-

The steering is light but weighs up with speed. Its okay, just okay. Surprisingly the handling was good with no compromise on the comfort. Body roll is sorted and the suspension is tuned to be on the stiffer side. I liked it. But my old generation Ford Figo is from a different league though!

Ground clearance-

It cleared all the humps without scrapping.

The underbelly looks neat, no unwanted protrusions.


Front and rear tyre both gets wind deflectors-




Space & interior-

The rear seat is well contoured & comfortable but good for 2 rather than 3.



The front seats are spacious and offers good thigh support, though the front armrest is useless.



The leg space is quite good. Am 5'9 seating at the rear seat with a driver of my height at the driving seat.


The meter console, dashboard and the power window console looks good.









The rear A/c vent and the rear roof light




The rear camera is good with a wide view.


The keyless entry-


The boot space is decent and has good cladding.


The price list, do notice the handling charge! :(


A small gift from Toyota for taking the test drive.


What i felt-

Over all am satisfied with the car & what it offers. Its well built. The doors shut with a premium feel like the Altis. It do have a premium feel and there is no evident cost cutting. The interiors are good and its a nice place to be in.

So will i trade my Etios for a Yaris? May be no! If am again looking for a sedan i might consider the Yaris but before that will take a long test drive of the Honda city petrol, The Ameo, Diesel, the Rapid diesel & the Aspire diesel. Will decide after that. But am more inclined towards a cross over as of now. But again that's my personal choice.

All these were done while my buddy was getting pampered!
How can i miss a pic of my car!

[Sayata]

Excellent review Samba. I am also looking for a crossover, if I change my swift. But if I was planning for a sedan, then this review really would have made me inclined towards Yaris. The detailing, mentioned in this review will really help, a lot of person to consider Yaris if they are planning for a petrol reliable sedan.

[rayjaycleoful]

Originally Posted by Samba

One thing i will mention is, i tried to pull the car in 2nd gear from stop while climbing a flyover with zero input on accelerator. The yaris stalled with 4 person on board and ac on. I tried the same with my Etios with 2 person on board and the car pulled happily with a 80,000km worn clutch!

Wouldn't any petrol manual car stall when started, from a stop on an incline;

-in second gear
-without accelerator
-ac on
- almost full pax load?

Not a test for drivability IMO.

[ARAY]

Beautiful and crisp narration. Drooled over the pictures for quite some time. Again , thanks for sharing your test drive experience with us.

[1100D]

Good Review of, what could be termed as a perfect boring car!

Originally Posted by Samba

[b]
The A, B & C pedals are well placed, though a dead pedal is missing.

Just one question though, did not get the significance of the pic with your heel on the brake pedal and toe on the Accelerator.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by rayjaycleoful

Wouldn't any petrol manual car stall when started, from a stop on an incline;

-in second gear
-without accelerator
-ac on
- almost full pax load?

Not a test for drivability IMO.

But the Etios did it. It will do with 4 persons on-board too.
Have tested going up the ramps in shopping malls too in 2nd gear with A/C on & no accelerator input but with a 10-15 feet run up. The ecu adjusts accordingly and increases the rev. Do try it in a manual petrol car, you will get what am saying.

Originally Posted by 1100D

Just one question though, did not get the significance of the pic with your heel on the brake pedal and toe on the Accelerator.

It was not meant to show the heel/ toe technique, with my footwear on, i took the pic to give a reference of the gap between the pedals. I have not tried heel/toe during the test drive too.

[Simhi]

Originally Posted by Samba

Took a test drive of both the manual & cvt Yaris at Saini Toyota Howrah

Did I read a mini official review? A very good write up accompanied with excellent snaps. Users especially CVT ones will sorely miss the dead pedal a lot. Almost 100k differences in OTR prices between Kolkata and Pune

[motorworks]

The Yaris looks quite small in front of the Altis! I have not seen it in person by the picture does indicate that the Yaris is no big car like the Honda City which seems to be the best in segment in terms of width and also passenger space inside.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by motorworks

The Yaris looks quite small in front of the Altis! I have not seen it in person by the picture does indicate that the Yaris is no big car like the Honda City which seems to be the best in segment in terms of width and also passenger space inside.

That is more to do with the photo angle. That pic shows etios to be too narrow too.

Agreed Yaris is not as wide as a city or a visa (both easily seat 5). Yaris is a 4 adults +1 kid car at best.

[mints21]

I test drove the CVT version of Yaris a few days back. It is a perfect car for the city. I am looking for a car purely for city runs and not for highways or holidays and I found it satisfactory. Whether I will buy or not depends on the official review.

The fit and finish is excellent. The headlamps are huge like that of Innova Crysta. Attention to detail is visible everywhere. The design of the centre arm rest is beyond my understanding and I seriously wonder how it got approved and why no one noticed that at the design stage. It serves no purpose, not only is it useless for the driver but intrudes into the legroom of the middle passenger as well.

One thing that concerns me is the design of Air Intake pipe. In case a rat falls inside it then it can't come out on its own and this can become an issue particularly in areas where rodents are a nuisance.

[ALTIMAed]

Great review Samba. Time has come for you to join the Tbhp Car Review team. The Yaris does seem to be substantially narrow as compared to the Altis. I was trying to recall the 2015 Yaris and Corolla (at Middle East), the narrowness of those models did not seem to be as much as what is clearly seen in the pictures of the interior and exterior.

The big question is can this be a deal breaker for the City and Verna? The answer is maybe as it carries the T badge and anything with the T badge sells in good numbers be it a boring product or not.

[rajshenoy]

Great review Samba, I value a fellow Bhpians feedback more than those paid Journos(even they could not defend Yaris much)

I still feel Toyota priced the Yaris smartly. J variant seem to be their trump card and even G in case of AT, since Honda only offers AT in V trim, Ciaz AT feels old(though i feel similar to Yaris for city usage) and Hyundai is only good for Diesel avatar.

[Simhi]

Originally Posted by motorworks

by the picture does indicate that the Yaris is no big car like the Honda City which seems to be the best in segment in terms of width and also passenger space inside.

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Agreed Yaris is not as wide as a city or a visa (both easily seat 5). Yaris is a 4 adults +1 kid car at best.

Pictures can be misleading. As per official brochures of City and Yaris
City width: 1695mm
Yaris width: 1730mm

[Flyer]

Analysing Yaris J

Priced ex showroom at Rs 8.75 lakh (MT) and Rs 9.95 lakh (CVT), this is undoubtedly the most value for money varient.

Features offered in J varient.
• Seven airbags
• ABS with EBD and Brake assist
• Body-coloured wing mirrors and door handles
• Halogen headlamps with projectors
• Power adjustable mirrors
• AC with manual control
• Driver's seat height adjust
• All four power windows
• Keyless entry
• A cooled glovebox
• Instrument cluster with LCD multi info display
• Four-speaker audio system
• Rear armrest
• Tilt steering

Missing features in comparison to G, V & VX.
1) 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
2) Front and rear fog lamps
3) Alloy wheels
4) Parking sensors
5) Push-button start
6) Power folding ORVM with integrated turn indicators
7) Instrument cluster with TFT multi info display
8 Steering-mounted audio controls
9) Four wheel disc brakes
10) Rear defogger
11) Hill-start assist
12) Automatic headlamps with follow me home feature
13) Rain sensing wipers
14) Tail-lamps with LED inserts
15) Cruise control
16) LED DRL
17) Leather seats
18) Powered driver's seat with 8-way adjustment
19) Paddle shifters (CVT only)
20) Tyre pressure monitoring system
21) Roof mounted rear AC
22) Rear sunshade

J varient is well equipped in terms of safety. Only missing safety features seems to be 9, 10 & 11 from the above list. I don't think four disc brakes are an absolute necessity in this segment where all other cars offer only two. Lack of rear defogger can be an issue especially during monsoon. I don't know if this can be fitted after sales. Hill start assist - Toyota should have provided this as standard in all CVT varients. But again I don't think this should be a dealbreaker as the car should hold itself for a second or two before you start moving.

Other missing features are all convenience and aesthetic factors. It comes down to the induvidual whether he needs these bells and whistles or not. 1, 2, 3,& 4 can be easily retrofitted.

Note: I may have missed some features. I am comparing across varients only, not with other cars in the segment.

[Simhi]

Originally Posted by Flyer

J varient is well equipped in terms of safety. Only missing safety features seems to be 9, 10 & 11 from the above list.

One safety feature missed in above list is "Vehicle Stability Control". This is available in Yaris VX and not available in City or Verna or Ciaz.