2008 Toyota Yaris

Review

Want to be Smartabout gas? Get a Yaris!

By: Nathan D. Adlen

Scratch your collective chins and contemplate your choice before buying a Smart Car. Think about what you are truly paying for and consider what you really want. Do you want a cheap car that gets amazing mileage without the extra baggage that a hybrid represents? By “baggage” I am referring to the extra resources needed to build a hybrid. The build process is not environmentally friendly (batteries, extra resources for an additional power-plant and lots more). The Toyota Yaris is simply a car, and a good one at that - whereas the Smart Car is somewhat useless on our expansive highways. As far as I can tell, compared with the Toyota Yaris 3 door, the Smart Car's only real virtue is ease of parking.

You may want a car that delivers all of the virtues of many “eco” cars without paying out of the nose to make a statement. If you have the cash to burn in order to make yourself seen, then buy a Mini! If not – there are only a few quality cars that may alter your perception of what an economy car can be. The Toyota Yaris may indeed be one of those vehicles.

Starting at just under $12,000 for the 3 door, 5 speed manual and peaking at about $18,000 for a fully loaded 4 door with a 4 speed automatic transmission – the Toyota Yaris covers a nice spectrum of possibilities for the consumer. If you opt for performance upgrades from the TRD (Toyota Racing Division), you can easily add thousands more. Looking at the basic car for people who need cheap-o wheels and forgoing too many options, the Yaris will give you a well put together transport that’s got a playful personality.

Before I continue on the technical side, let me tell you how cheeky the little 3 door is. No, it will never be confused for a sports car and it will never compete with the likes of a Mini Cooper; however, it hums along at a decent rate and handles nicely. I drove one a few weeks after sampling both the Hyundai Accent and a Kia Rio5 and it was a better car, not by a huge margin mind you, but there is a definite feeling of quality when driving the Toyota Yaris.

106 horsepower and 103 pound feet of torque is one of the lowest ratings in our market. When you observe the Yaris’s flyweight average of 2300 lbs then you have a power to weight ratio of about 22 lbs per horsepower – that’s not too bad considering it is a comparable ratio to the 4 cylinder Toyota Camry. What’s more, the power (from the Toyota Yaris’s engine) comes alive at about 4000 rpm. This is an easy car to wind up and keep boiling when you need an extra kick.

The best part of this light weight, low power combination is the great mileage. I averaged nearly 30 MPG in combined driving. To break that down: imagine highway driving at 70ish MPH, hard driving canyon carving and bumper to bumper city traffic during a pre-Democratic National Convention security test (it’s not fun to commute in downtown Denver right now). The wee little Toyota Yaris was frugal indeed; oh, if you try the block-head style driving I did in the Toyota Yaris in a Smart Car, you will be left wanting.

Now, driving a Toyota Yaris is not an occasion like in a Mini Cooper or as attention getting as is the Smart Car. It is a somber driving, fairly innocuous machine that is built by one of the most reliable names in the business. If you do want to make the Toyota Yaris stand out, I suggest the optional mini spoiler and some beefy wheels. The one I drove had both (I found out later that the Toyota dealer who loaned me the Yaris added aftermarket 17 inch BBS wheels – they looked great). All in all, I find the Toyota Yaris to be an attractive piece with taught lines and a cutesie face. The 3 door is bubbly without being obnoxious and is better looker than any of Toyota’s other economy cars.

The 4 door is a different animal in respects to esthetics and performance. The roof is lower, the body longer and the trunk looks like it was added on as an afterthought. Where the 3 door Toyota Yaris looks kind of like a leaping toad, the 4 door Toyota Yaris looks like a partially squished frog. It still has charm, but not as much as its little brother. Also, it felt as if someone was always in the back seat (given its extra length and heft) when cornering as compared to the 3 door.

On the plus side, the Toyota Yaris 4 door is very spacious in the backseat and represents an excellent value for budget minded consumers who need 4 doors. I was pleased as to the size of the back door’s opening as it was wide enough to allow me bump-free access. I sat comfortably in the rear of the 4 door Toyota Yaris and would have little problem sitting behind an average sized driver. Thus, I may not like the looks of the Yaris 4 door, but I can not argue with its excellent packaging.

As interiors go, the Toyota Yaris is similar to the first generation Scions (Scions and Yaris still share many components). I dislike the centrally placed gauges as they feel counterintuitive and it takes too much time for my eyes to adjust to reading the distant information. This does free up more useable storage space along the dashboard and gives the driver a mini glove box, but I would rather get less storage in exchange for better instrumentation. Storage pockets on the lower front sides of the center council (to the right and left of the gear selector) are very useful and represent yet another good packaging idea from Toyota.

Another commendable feature is the optional sliding, folding, split (60/40) rear seat in the 3 door. I wish this was standard in ALL hatchbacks and SUVs as it ratchets up the utility and comfort of the back seat by several notches. Though the rear seat in the 3 door Toyota Yaris is a tad tighter than its 4 door brethren; it is a fairly easy place to access for passengers and not bad for a few, short time passengers. Stick with the 4 door if you have a baby’s seat to load, unless you don’t mind bending a bit.

The steering is a bit slow, and somewhat numb, but you can easily modulate your power during a turn to speed up (or slow down) the turning rate without loosing control. This is where the Toyota Yaris shines: stability. I could feel it settling down much faster than the Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio5 and Chevrolet Aveo when being tossed about. Yes, it is not difficult to overcook the small front wheels and over steer a corner (the Toyota Yaris is prone to tilt a bit), but it is much easier to recover and accelerate away in the Toyota Yaris then most of its competition.

So, what else don’t I like about this car? Frankly, there is precious little to vilify the scrappy Toyota Yaris. I think that Toyota could have added more utility, like the Honda Fit, which is the most compelling vehicle to compete against the Toyota Yaris. I think some of the options should be included and the price lowered by a few digits, but that is nitpicking. I do wish they had found better placement for their cup holders, which are up and hard to access. It would also be nice to have a little more adjustment of the driver’s seat.

Toyota (who does more customer research than nearly any other automaker that I know of) would most likely keep the Yaris where it is currently, in terms of MPG rating and horsepower, so it will not compete directly with its hybrids or other discount vehicles. Still, this little guy has a nice chassis and would be awesome with a turbocharger, stiffer springs and meatier tires. Suddenly, it would be real fun. Imagine it; real fun in an unpretentious, economical car.

The bottom line for those of you who want good gas mileage and mean it,is whether or not you are willing to shell out lots of dough for something less utility friendly (i.e. Smart Car) or if you can own a good return for your dollar. As value goes, the Toyota Yaris is a great little car with one of the best reputations in the industry.

There is a “p.s.” to the Toyota Yaris that makes it compelling to me. My 4 year-old daughter absolutely fell in love with the 3 door Toyota Yaris. Mini Coopers, Fire Trucks and VW Bugs no longer dominate her puppy in the window rendition of, “aw look how cute daddy!” I wish she was so enthusiastic when I ogle and whistle at an Aston Martin. Alas, she just smiles at my baboon-like sounds as calls me silly… So does my wife.