SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.
Pics by Toyota@Motorpress
Posted: 1 May 2018
The numbers
Price: R288 700
Engine: 1496 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, inline four, naturally aspirated
Power: 79 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 140 Nm at 4200 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11.2 seconds
Maximum speed: 180 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.2 l/100 km
Tank: 42 litres
Luggage: 310 – 1016 litres
Turning circle: 11.4 metres
Not rated for towing
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 3 years/45 000 km at 15 000 km intervals.
If you're reading this you probably are, or have been, a worker bee familiar with the old saying that what one hand gives, the other takes away. Look at your annual pay increase and the extra deductions that almost wipe it out.
The new Yaris is a bit like that. We saw a brilliant new facelift in January – restyled front, radically altered rear and totally different interior. It also grew 200 mm longer and 35 mm wider. Toyota stretched its wheelbase by 40 mm and added 24 litres of boot volume while keeping overall weight almost the same. It’s quicker; accelerating from zero to 100 km/h seven-tenths of a second more rapidly, according to Car Magazine’s instrumented road tests, and peaks five km/h faster than the outgoing Pulse equivalent.
That’s the “give” side of the deal. Here’s the “take”: First, the engine is slightly different. Pulse models used the 2NR-FKE evolution of the 1496 cc motor originally designed for Etios. Unlike that entry-level engine, however, it boasted dual VVT-iE. “E” means that its intelligent, variable valve timing is controlled electronically for the last word in power delivery and fuel efficiency.
New Yaris reverts to a plainer 2NR-FE motor; also with dual VVT-I but without electronic assistance. That and a reduced compression ratio, means three kilowatts less power but four Newton-metres more torque. You probably won’t notice the difference but the kicker is in the manual gearboxes. Pulse had a six-speed unit while New Yaris makes do with five ratios. “Big deal,” you might say, “they’re simply spread out a bit.”
Well, no. Pulse was geared with longer “legs” overall, accounting for slower acceleration but noticeably better fuel consumption. Referring to those instrumented tests again, average economy drops from 6.0 l/100 km to 7.1 litres per hundred. Our informal drives showed that revs at 120 km/h increased from about 3200 (Pulse) to 3600 rpm (New Yaris) and our real life consumption figures, not scientifically accurate we admit, also show that the old model did noticeably better than the new one.
While average fuel economy might make or break deals for some motorists, there is more to a motorcar than just that. There are currently five models, one of which is an automatic. Safety specs of the entry-level Xi version include two airbags, DRLs, ABS brakes, EBA and EBD, VSC, hill assist, two ISOFix mounting sets and child locks. Others are push-button starting, powered windows and mirrors, rear fog lamps, intermittent wipers front and rear, follow-me lighting, manual air conditioner, four-speaker audio with Bluetooth and USB, steel wheels with 185/60 R15 tyres and fabric upholstery with manually adjustable seats.
Upgrading to the top, Sport model like our test car, one gains quite a bit. That includes five more airbags, a shark fin antenna, auto-on projector headlamps, LED taillights, front fog lights, retractable side mirrors with indicator repeaters, Optitron virtual speedometer, leather upholstery, alloy wheels with 195/60R16 tyres, front and rear spoilers and side skirts. The music system adds two speakers.
While we’re on that, Xs and higher models score an advanced touchscreen infotainment system. Apart from AM/FM, USB and Bluetooth, it features full Smartphone integration and support via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Plus.
While CarPlay uses standardised Apple applications including Siri, Android users can customise which apps they would like to mirror on the car’s audio screen by using Smartphone functions, such as ‘drag and drop’, or per Wi-Fi.
Further, built-in satellite navigation allows users turn-by-turn guidance even when there’s no Smartphone connected. Features include speed limit reminders and GPS-sourced, real-time, speed readouts. The numbers glow red when you misbehave.
On that subject, the car’s performance is brisk if not overtly sporty, but it gets the job done. Road behaviour is firm and solid, parking and manoeuvrability is easy and fit and finish is generally good. Apart from hand brake action that's not quite up to Toyota standard, its boot carpet is flimsy and the baseboard does not fit over the fully sized spare wheel as snugly as it should. Apart from those points, it’s as expected.
On the positive side, its boot sill is conveniently low, the well is shallow, the space is nicely shaped and lit, and it offers four bag hooks along with three lashing rings. The 60:40-split seatbacks can be accessed from behind, once you find the slightly hidden release catches, and they fold flat with a step.
Back seat passengers enjoy plenty of head-, knee- and foot room, three belts and head restraints, grab handles, a dedicated courtesy light and enough storage space. A flat floor means that the centre passenger can sit comfortably.
New Yaris is a solid little city car with plenty of people space, decent luggage room and reasonable fuel economy. It’s perkier than its predecessor but you pay for that by way of more fuel. That leaves you with a choice: buy one of these or send your procurement team out after dark to “acquire” a clean, low-mileage Pulse. Kidding. Or are we?
Test unit from Toyota SA press fleet
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.
If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles. And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8