Toyota Yaris: Game-changer gears up ... mostly

Toyota Yaris. Photo / Supplied

If you're old enough to remember the heady days at the turn of the century - and let's face it, most new-car buyers are - then there will be a lot of goodwill attached to Toyota's Yaris supermini.

Back in 1999 when it debuted, the maker's supermini was called Echo here (but still Yaris in Europe). Regardless of the badge, it was a game-changer: totally design-driven, cleverly packaged and fun to drive.

But having helped define the segment, Toyota leaves the funky stuff to others these days. The third-generation Yaris has grown up - not in dimensions, for it's still usefully compact at just 3855mm long. But in styling, comfort and attitude.

The exterior shape owes a lot to the designed-for-Europe iQ city car (sold here briefly as a Signature Class used import). There's big-car cabin comfort, with upgraded/enlarged front seats and generous rear-seat legroom for such a small car. No more outlandish cabin design, although the classy range of textures and colours can't disguise the unrelentingly hard plastics. It's still a car built down to a price - at least in terms of the bits you can see and touch.

Perhaps less so in terms of the engineering underneath. Proper mileage in the Yaris shows how far the model has come in terms of platform rigidity and dynamic demeanour - it feels rock-solid on the road and corners with aplomb, even at open-road speeds. Sporty? No. But capable and composed in all driving conditions.

So composed that it demands a better powertrain. This is now full of engine/transmission innovation, yet Toyota - with all the money and engineering resources in the automotive world - has chosen to stick with upgraded versions of the previous model's engines and a four-speed automatic gearbox for this brand-new Yaris.

The 80kW/141Nm 1.5-litre engine in our YRS evaluation car is an honest performer, but not inspired.

Performance is seriously limited by the four-speed automatic gearbox (there's a manual option for the lower-grade YR 1.3-litre), although Toyota has still managed to improve fuel economy by 6 per cent over the previous model. The YRS automatic returns 6.3 litres per 100km in the ADR Combined cycle, with CO2 under 150g/km.

Granted, that's impressive for a very conventional (some might say old-school) powertrain. But drive a Holden Barina, Ford Fiesta or Volkswagen Polo around town and you realise how much more enjoyable the supermini experience can be with another two or three gearbox ratios at hand.

Our $27,490 YRS is the flagship Yaris in the line, although that doesn't mean a lot: all you get over the YR are alloy wheels, better-quality audio and cruise control.

Straight after our test YRS, I stepped into the entry-level model for a week and it really didn't look or feel any different in the cabin.

For $1700, YRS buyers can opt for the Convenience Package, which features climate-control air-conditioning, automatic headlights, two more speakers for the audio system and a 6.1-inch touch display screen.

Worth having, although $29,190 for a fully loaded Yaris is starting to look steep in such a price-sensitive segment.