My 1st Test Drive (Liftback)

[Yaris Revenge]

Well, while cruising around on my Buell Saturday, I decided to yet again stop by the local Toyota dealership to scope out a Liftback. Lo and behold, they finally had one on the lot, a silver automatic. I have no intentions of getting an automatic, but for the sake of experimentation, I decided to take it for a test drive. Here's what I thought of the experience.

PROS:

1.) The Yaris is darn roomy for such a small car. I'm 6' even, and didn't feel at all cramped.

2.) The steering felt exceptionally crisp. Bet it's fun in the curves!

3.) Great visibility. The car is so short that, when you turn to look out the right side window, you can actually see clearly out the rear window as well, like driving a Jeep Wrangler.

4.) Great turn radius.

5.) Seats were adequately comfy. Didn't notice anything bad about them.

6.) Butt-kickin' AC. Anyone that complains about the air conditioning in the Yaris must have technical issues. It was easily 98 degrees (which in Georgia, feels like 105), and the Yaris cooled down very quickly. I actually got cold and had to cut it back.

CONS:

1.) Never in my life have I driven such a sluggish engine. Granted, it was an automatic, and I had the air on, but it was still surprisingly pitiful. I thought my old 90hp Saturn was slow, but I guarantee it would run circles around this Yaris (and it got 38mpg no matter how I drove it). Once I cleared 40mph, the engine reacted just fine, but from 0-35 it was an absolute struggle. Punching it to the floor had no effect at all off the line. There was simply nothing left to give.

2.) This is just my own opinion, but I don't think I like the rock-hard plastic used for the dash. Seemed excessively cheap to me.

3.) The controls layout really seems boring when compared to the xA (being closely related, it seems a fair comparison). I thought perhaps it was only the photos that looked bland, that in person the design would come across as sofisticatedly minimalist, but such was not the case. It really is just bland.

NUTSHELL:

I still like the Yaris, and it seems to be a good car for the money. I'm hoping the manual transmission will somewhat redeem the 1.5L, because there's no way in the world I could stand fighting the automatic. Though I love the exterior styling, the interior leaves me wanting more.

I'm a bit disappointed. I had too-high hopes, I believe, for a car that starts at $10,000 US. We'll see how I feel in the following year or so, when I'm actually ready to buy. The T-Sport version (should we get it here in the States) may be the answer I'm looking for.

~YR