Toyota Yaris… An underrated sedan…

TOYOTA… whenever we hear this name, what strikes first to our mind are the two magnificent piece of art by this Japanese company namely the Innova and the Fortuner.

Toyota is not a well known brand when it comes to the C sedan segment, but yes Toyota is struggling hard to make its place in this segment as well. In the market where many power packed sedans are slaying since long, it has become more difficult for Toyota to compete in this particular segment.

After the not-so-appealing Toyota Etios, now they have come up with a new face, the Toyota Yaris. Toyota always focuses and is well known for the comfort it offers inside the car. Yaris is also something inclined more towards comfort.

It shares the same 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine as that in the Etios.

Let’s get deep into its design.

Pic courtesy: Google Images

After looking at the car, you really don’t find as such any sort of attachment with the car. It doesn’t really draw any major attention towards it, may be, because of the unusual design it has got.

The headlamp unit doesn’t lack in feature. It gets projector set-up, it gets DRLs, also it gets chrome finishing around it. This means that when it comes to headlamps, everything is similar to what its rivals get.

The placement of headlamp has been done on the higher profile similar to the Toyota Corolla, which runs from the grill towards the edge.

The grill is quite wide and does its job very well to draw the air in and provide proper ventilation to the engine. When you take a close look towards the grill, you can easily figure out that a bit of Lexus touch is being given to it, as Lexus is the luxury brand of Toyota.

The side posture of the car seems quite plain and decent with no unique design as such.

The wheels offered on this car are 15 inchers, which I personally feel are bit smaller as compared to the other cars in this segment.

The rear end of the car is also not disappointing as such, with proper placement of lights rather than those typical triangle shaped old school lights being offered on Etios.

The tail lamps get proper LED treatment done, giving a sort of premium touch, or we can say that it helps the car to survive amongst its competitors.

Moving towards its interiors,

the dashboard looks smarter as compared to the Etios. Steering mounted controls, infotainment touch screen, auto climate control, everything is cleverly designed and placed.

The touch screen infotainment system gets gesture control, which is first in the segment feature. Just move your hand up or down to increase or decrease the volume and wave your hand left or right to change the FM channels or the songs; this is something very unique and helpful to the driver.

Space has never been an issue when it comes to Toyota cars, same is the case with Yaris. You get enough rear space for three passengers, along with proper adjustable head rest as well as proper seat belts for three passengers.

At present almost every C segment sedan is offering rear AC vents and even Yaris is offering its buyers the rear AC vents, but in a unique and useful way.

The rear AC vents have been mounted on the roof giving more efficient cooling without hampering the rear seat leg space. Behind AC vent, you may see the placement of ambience lights rendering a soothing feel inside the cabin.

Safety features

Utmost reliable brand like Toyota can never be challenged when it comes to safety.

Toyota Yaris in equipped with ABS, EBD, hill start assist, front as well as rear parking sensors, all 4 Disk brakes and 7 airbags. Two airbags at the front, 2 at the rear curtain section, 2 at both the sides and knee airbags as well.

Now what makes difficult for Yaris to stand strong in the market is that the Engine of the Yaris is designed for a comfortable and relaxed ride. When you step on the accelerator, it doesn’t offer that much feel as compared to the other cars in the segment. It gains the pace slowly and steadily which is good and easy when it comes to city drives, but makes it feel a bit lazy when you are on the highways.

Also the design of the car is not so attractive as to compel the buyers to only focus on this particular car.

But what might attract the buyers towards this car is this,

the mark of trust, reliability, safety and durability which every Toyota car offers.

Definitely, this is not an enthusiasts’ car, but surely is one of the best buy in the segment. If you are a person who loves comfort and a smooth drive than Toyota Yaris is something that is made for you
Written by - Saurabh Mishra