First Drive Review
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A good car in need of a better powertrain.
Among the more memorable advertising slogans of recent years—at least to us—was the “It’s a car!” tagline that Toyota attached to its 2012 Yaris, which was initially advertised exclusively online. Here was pure truth in advertising, with absolutely zero overstatement. It should have won an award.
At the same time, the sleeping giants that are Toyota’s design and engineering departments were in the midst of crafting effective redesigns of the brand’s core products, including the Avalon, Highlander, and Camry. The humble Yaris eventually came in for its midcycle 2015 refresh, and we were brought to the Big Island of Hawaii to see whether it has been injected with some life or if it’s still, well, just a car.
The design department, for its part, went to freakin’ town on the thing, creating a new cross-your-heart schnoz that looks like a combination of a sports bra and the Darth Vader Hot Wheels. (In Toyota-land, it also shares some influence from the X-Men-tastic new Aygo.) The optics of the rear end have been refined a bit with the addition of amber turn signals in the combination lenses and a little bitty diffuser-type thing in the rear bumper. Yaris SE models get sassy LED running lamps up front, as well as techno-looking black and silver 16-inch wheels. While beauty is always in the eye of the beholder and we expect that the taste police would probably prefer the aesthetics of the outgoing model, credit must be issued to Toyota stylists for not bunting on this refresh.
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There wasn’t much to get excited about inside the previous Yaris—we were merely happy to have the gauges moved to their proper place in front of the driver. But for the 2015, Toyota has worked in some additional soft-touch materials on the dash and the doors, added brigh2rk to LE and SE trim levels, given all models a new center console, and beefed up some of the hard plastics that used to flex disconcertingly under slight pressure. All models get a 6.1-inch touch screen for Toyota’s app-based infotainment system, as well as 6 speakers, HD radio, a USB port with iPod control, and Bluetooth phone, voice-recognition, and music-steaming capability. All of this is notable in a class of car where the mere presence of a radio isn’t always guaranteed. Seat fabrics have also taken a step up in quality, but the whole doesn’t feel better than class average unless you spring for the SE model, which gets its own instrument cluster, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, and contrast stitching.
Speaking of the SE model, one of those managed a third-place finish in a 6-car subcompact comparison shortly after it was introduced in late 2011. So we generally liked it. For 2015, the SE gets even better thanks to new structural welds, common to all Yaris models, that stiffen the body and in turn allow the suspension to be more responsive. All Yarises also benefit from redesigned and stiffer body bracing, wheels that are wider by half an inch (on L and LE), more noise insulation, and “sport-tuned” electric power steering that delivers actual feel when combined with the SE’s larger 16-inch wheels. We’d prefer more time behind the wheel and the opportunity to hit our skidpad to verify this impression, but our limited driving time in Hawaii seemed to indicate the Yaris (and the SE in particular) is as eager as ever to hit a back road.
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The powertrain, unfortunately, hasn’t changed. It’s still the loud, unpleasant 1.5-liter 4-cylinder, a personality-free lump hell-bent on delivering efficiency at the expense of forward thrust. The SE model’s 5-speed manual feels better in action than that of the L—those are the only 2 models in which it’;s available—as it actually lets you know that you’ve slipped the lever into a gate. This is important to know, since you want to be in the absolute right gear to wring any performance out of the 1.5. We will refrain from bagging too hard on the sluggish 4-speed (!) automatic, because, well, the fact that such an outgunned, ancient gearbox is still being installed in new cars in 2015 doesn’;t warrant much additional comment. Save your $ 725 and shift for yourself. Given the carry-over engine and transmissions, 2015 Yaris performance isn’t likely to change much, which means 60 mph in 9 seconds flat with the manual and 10.5 seconds with the slushbox.
The thing about the Yaris is that no matter how frisky its chassis, a powertrain that grows more dated by the day is likely a deal-breaker for many when virtually every one of the Toyota’s competitors—including the Hyundai Accent, the Honda Fit, and the Chevrolet Sonic—has more sophistication underhood and better fuel economy to boot. Then again, we surmise that many customers with fifteen to eighteen grand in their pockets looking for just “a car” will care as much about those cars’ powertrain advantages as they will the T logo that has moved to nest comfortably in the center of the 2015 Yaris’s grille.
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