TO bake a cake you need just the right ingredients.
Eggs, flour, sugar, butter, baking powder and a Mary Berry cookbook.
That’s exactly how Toyota came up with the Yaris Cross. They had all the ingredients sitting on the shelves already.
Toyota has almost 25 years of hybrid experience with Prius, almost 30 years of 4WD know-how with RAV4, and it clearly knows a thing or two about small cars with Yaris recently crowned 2021 European Car Of The Year.
The Yaris Cross is a tasty mix of them all.We tested a late prototype — hence the black and white squirly bits on the paintwork — and it is bang on-trend.
Small but chunky (like a mini RAV4), self-charging hybrid (no plug), talks to your phone, easy to drive and park, solid Toyota build quality. It should do well.
The official 66mpg isn’t far off either because this car spends two thirds of its time running on pure electric power around town. Without being too technical, the Yaris Cross is based on the same architecture as the standard Yaris, which is an excellent starting point.
Light but strong chassis, decent body control, direct steering and the 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol is fairly brisk if you hurry it.
It won’t set your pants on fire but it’s not meant to. The rally-bred GR Yaris is the car for that.
At this point, I should also explain that cheaper entry-level versions are front-wheel drive and that 4WD is reserved for higher-end models. They have an electric motor driving the rear wheels.
Not many dinky SUVs have all-wheel drive capability so you’ll have more chance exiting a field of wet grass in one of these than, say, a Ford Puma, Nissan Juke or Renault Captur. Now let’s have a poke around inside.
The Yaris Cross has the right mix of buttons and touch-and-swipe. Nice fabric on the doors. Heated seats and steering wheel. And boot space is impressive at 397 litres.
But there is a compromise and that’s rear passenger space. It’s fine for little humans but tall adults won’t be happy. Access in and out is tight too.
TOYOTA YARIS CROSS
Price: £26,465
Engine: 1.5litre petrol hybrid
Power: 116hp
0-62mph: 11.2 secs
Top speed: 106mph
Economy: 66mpg
CO2: 98g/km
Which means this car is more for parents or grandparents looking after tots rather than gangly teens. Shame the rear seats don’t slide backwards and forwards like Captur.
Otherwise, there’s lots to admire here with finance for the mid-range model costing £229 a month.
The icing on the cake is Toyota’s new ten-year warranty scheme. Sweet.
