New Toyota Yaris Review – What Came Next

When the Toyota Yaris arrived on our shores in 2005, Facebook was just a year old. YouTube was a newborn and Twitter not yet a glint in its creators’ eyes. Forget about your precious Apple iPhone, that was still two years away.

The technological landscape was very different back then, as was the automotive realm. And I mention both industries only because they’ve merged so significantly and completely since, connectivity and mobility, that it’s impossible to separate them in 2018.

So what is new (on the outside)?

Meet the fifth iteration of the Yaris and yes you can clearly see that this is no mere facelift, rather an elegantly evolved hatchback, quietly confident of its place in the market and brimming with the features that really matter to you including the aforementioned technology.

Resolute, affordable, the 2018 Yaris range leads with style, comfort and an engaging driving experience. At the front, a sleeker visage paired with an aggressive stance thanks to a 35mm wider wheel base and 45mm lower roofline. The newly crafted headlamp clusters are multifaceted and complemented by daytime running LED lamps, whilst style creases along the vehicle’s flanks provide a continuous flow beginning in the front airdams and culminating at its hips.

Bigger. Sharper. More Space. Check. Check. Check.

The blackened rear hatch area plays a trick on the eye, giving the impression of a larger greenhouse and with it a giving a clue into the new car’s lower centre of gravity. Don’t let its sportier pretences fool you, however, this car is substantially larger than the one it replaces. If somehow it isn’t sporty enough, Toyota have endowed the Yaris with a Sport package which benefits from a spoiler and side-skirt kit accented with red accent stripes, in addition to the obligatory shark-fin styled antenna and, by way of the interior, a leather steering wheel and red stitching.

And for the adventurer, you’ll be pleased to know that the Cross derivative lives on, resplendent with its overfenders, side mouldings and roof rails. Wheel styles include a new 16-inch alloy wheel as well as stylish 15 inch wheel caps.

And on the inside?

Clamber aboard the new car’s cabin and you’ll notice the space immediately, because there is quite a lot of it. It’s a well-appointed living space with high quality finishings and furnishings – utterly belying the car’s low sale price.

More space. More gadgets. More Comfort. Check. Check. Check.

The seats are comfortable, storage binnacles abound, and the boot is favourably capacious. For the driver and one lucky passenger, you’re an arm’s reach away from the touchscreen audio display graciously integrated with your smartphone via Bluetooth.

And what about the ‘go’?

Across the five models Toyota have employed an inline 1.5-litre 16V 4-cylinder engine boasting 79kW and 140Nm more than up to the task of powering those front wheels. Gear shifts are performed via a five-speed manual transmission but should you prefer an automatic transmission, the Yaris 1.5 Xs can be had with a CVT gearbox with advanced shift control.

Handling is derived from the Yaris’s Macpherson strut/torsion beam suspension, improved over its predecessor thanks to a more rigid body (courtesy of more welding spots in the bodyshell’s construction), new shock absorbers that prioritise comfort and to a lesser degree, a few aerodynamic embellishments including stabilising fins.

NVH levels (noise, vibration and harshness) have also been improved giving the little car, big car refinement.  It also enjoys big car safety as well including airbags, Isofix connections, ABS with Brake Assist and EBD (electronic brake-force distribution), seat belt pretensioners, stability control, hill start assist and child lock, in addition to that reinforced body.

Okay let’s wrap this up

As a result of these changes, mostly its newly chiselled and mature aesthetics, I expect the new Yaris is going to find itself on the shopping radar of more men than any of its predecessors. Yes, it still retains that excellent reliability and fuel economy as before, but the total package and gearing towards a return to the driver’s car means that the new Yaris has far more Y chromosome in its makeup than ever before. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.

New Toyota Yaris Specs:

Pricing: