Toyota’s business strategy has been “world domination” for years now. Where, however, in a sea of sports cars like the GR Yaris, the Supra, and the GR86, does the Toyota Yaris Cross come in? Is this a good Toyota? Is it a good subcompact crossover? It’s being pushed as a hybrid variant, but how does this mid-spec gasoline-powered 1.5 V CVT version, priced at P1,312,000, prove itself worthy of the asking price?
Niky Tamayo weighs in and goes through the pros, the cons, and the surprises in our full Drives review. Thinking of getting a non-hybrid Toyota Yaris Cross? Click play on the video above and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:48 Toyota Yaris Cross driving impressions
3:05 Toyota Yaris Cross fuel economy
3:35 Toyota Yaris Cross cockpit
5:57 Toyota Yaris Cross backseat
7:03 Toyota Yaris Cross cargo space
7:59 Toyota Yaris Cross exterior design
9:40 Toyota Yaris Cross pros and cons, plus score
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Niky Tamayo weighs in and goes through the pros, the cons, and the surprises in our full Drives review. Thinking of getting a non-hybrid Toyota Yaris Cross? Click play on the video above and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:48 Toyota Yaris Cross driving impressions
3:05 Toyota Yaris Cross fuel economy
3:35 Toyota Yaris Cross cockpit
5:57 Toyota Yaris Cross backseat
7:03 Toyota Yaris Cross cargo space
7:59 Toyota Yaris Cross exterior design
9:40 Toyota Yaris Cross pros and cons, plus score
Dig cars?
Read more about cars and motoring here: http://www.topgear.com.ph
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TopGearPH
Tweet us: http://www.twitter.com/TopGearPH
Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/TopGearPH
Join us on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@topgearph
#topgearph #toyota #toyotayariscross
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 If one were to sum up Toyota's business strategy, it would basically be world domination.
00:06 But over the past decade, President Akio Toyota has made it his mission to make it faster world domination.
00:12 He's brought excitement back to the brand with cars like the 86, the Supra, and the GR Yaris.
00:18 But Toyota still has to make boring, everyday commuter cars. Cars like the Yaris Cross.
00:24 Now obviously, this is not a GR Yaris and it shares almost nothing with the GR Yaris except a name.
00:30 But has Toyota's newfound spirit made this exciting? Hmm, let's find out.
00:50 Now the Yaris Cross, despite being called a Yaris, has nothing to do with the GR Yaris that Toyota
00:56 released a while back, and very little to do with the actual Yaris Yaris that Toyota still sells now.
01:02 In fact, it's more closely related to the Toyota Rays, the Vanza, the Velos, all the other DNGA,
01:10 the Hatsu, new global architecture cars that come out of its ASEAN arm.
01:15 What does that mean for local buyers? Absolutely nothing. It looks like a Toyota. It feels like a Toyota.
01:22 It drives like a Toyota. The steering feels rather firm and weighty. The suspension absorbs the bumps pretty well.
01:31 You get some thumping because of those big 18-inch wheels wrapped in relatively slim Bridgestone Turanza tires.
01:39 But compared to the Rays, which rides like a spring mattress or sportier options like the Nissan Kicks,
01:46 this is pretty good. It feels pretty good. When you get off the highway and out into the urban crawl or
01:54 at least into traffic, the Yaris starts to feel out of its element. The Yaris Cross, the transmission can be
02:01 a little bit jerky at times, a little bit hesitant. When you're sitting in traffic for a long while,
02:07 it starts to forget what you might want of it, and it might interpret small motions of your feet
02:13 as a request for power and larger motions it might ignore. Also, when you're stuck in traffic and
02:21 you have to jockey for space with bigger cars, you start to feel the twin issues of this being a little bit
02:29 tall for something this size and a little bit small for something this tall. So it's hard to judge the
02:35 corners without looking out over the hood. You do get parking sensors, though. You get all-around sensors
02:42 and the cameras are just about okay. The resolution is so-so and the latency is rather high, but it's better
02:50 to have them than not to have them. Aside from that, you do get full Level 2 assists. You get adaptive
02:57 cruise control, you get lane keeping, all the good stuff, and that is quite something to have on something
03:03 in this price range. In terms of fuel economy, the Yaris Cross is about average for a small 1.5-liter
03:09 automatic. We've actually seen about 18+ on the highway but on a very hilly section of highway, and
03:17 at a push, we figure it can do about 20+ km/L, not quite in the same range as the EV version, the hybrid
03:26 EV version, but still pretty decent. In traffic, about 8-12. What you'd expect of a small vehicle like this.
03:34 Now, getting out of hellish Philippine traffic gives you time to contemplate and relax in the Yaris Cross's
03:43 beautiful interior. This is a nice interior. It's a far cry from the Rays. It has the same sort of look
03:50 and some of the same switchgear and vents, but it feels very global. This reminds me of the first time
03:56 I sat in the new Corolla or Corolla Cross. You've got a lot of clean design, clean lines here, and like
04:02 many new cars, it's got a split-level dash, but unlike those other cars, they've put some thought into
04:07 the material of that split-level dash. Now, aside from that, you get this perfectly-sized and perfectly-shaped
04:12 steering wheel, and the rest of the forward design is a little less successful. Of course, you've got
04:19 the digital instrument cluster, which is nice, and it gives you this nice "hello" when you start up.
04:24 You've got this 10.1-inch touchscreen, which is also nice-looking as long as it's off. You've got this
04:30 center pocket for a cell phone, which is a wireless charger, which is nice, but this wing makes it hard
04:35 to reach into there to get it out, and you actually have to shift into neutral to get your phone out.
04:42 Further back, you've got these ultra-deep cup holders, or we should call them bottle holders. You can
04:46 fit 1-liter bottles in here if you kind of squeeze them down, and if you put a smaller can or a smaller
04:52 drink in here, you will lose it. It's so deep. So they put these flip-out smaller holders for smaller cups.
04:59 Behind that, you've got this center console bin, which is a bit narrow, and in fact, it's very shallow.
05:06 It's just this high. The seats are great. They've got good leg support. They've got good lateral support.
05:12 They're covered in black leather wrap, which can get kind of hot under the sun, but they have blue
05:17 contrast stitching, which is nice and matches the dashboard. Now, there's one gripe, as you've seen
05:23 during the driving segment, that the hood is kind of high. So if you're parking, you do want to scooch
05:30 forward or sit a little bit higher. By the way, power seats, kind of nice. So you have to sit a little
05:37 bit higher to see the corners of the hood, and that's not very comfortable for me because this is kind
05:44 of a small footwell. So the more natural seating position is back down here where you can't see very much
05:51 in front of the car. Now, let's go out back and see what the legroom is like back there.
05:56 Now, the backseat is pretty nice. It's not as roomy as in a bigger crossover and not as small as in a smaller
06:05 crossover like the Raize. Big brain moment. A medium-sized crossover is medium. You've got a lot of
06:11 legroom, but the front seats are pretty close to you. Now, there's space for three. There's seatbelts
06:16 for three, but the center spot is not very wide. That center person has to be a very small person or a child,
06:24 and if it's a child seat, you're going to be kind of crowded in here. You've got lots of leatherette in
06:30 here, lots of soft-touch materials. You even have soft-touch materials on top of the doors. Now, you do
06:35 have hard plastics in here, but they're out of the way where your hands will not be. It is a nice place to
06:41 sit. Now, in terms of space, you've got a lot of headroom. You've got a lot of elbow room—again, for two,
06:47 not for three—and you've got a lot of knee room. You can cross your legs if you are very flexible.
06:52 To get them uncrossed will require me to do something undignified, so please look away, and we'll go out back.
07:00 [grunts]
07:02 Despite its subcompact size, the RS Cross has a surprisingly large cargo area. Oh, and a power tailgate.
07:10 You don't get that anywhere else at this price or this size. Now, you've got a rolling tonneau cover,
07:16 retractable and removable, and you've got a split-level floor. Now, in the raised position, it gives you a
07:21 completely flat load bay so that you can lower the second-row seats and put in large items with minimal
07:27 fuss, especially considering how low this floor is. It makes it a lot easier for typically small Filipinos
07:33 like myself to load groceries and heavy items. With the seats up, you don't have very much vertical
07:40 spacing here. Now, we managed to fit an upright air conditioner in here with a little finessing, but that
07:47 was only like three and a half feet tall. Anything really big or bulky, you might want a bigger crossover.
07:53 But in this size class, this is an excellent performance.
07:58 It's odd that there's a line between the Global Yaris Cross and this Asian Yaris Cross because this is the
08:05 most globalized that any DNG-8 car has ever felt. This actually feels like a baby RAV4. The design is
08:13 cohesive, it's nice, and it's very attractive. It's got a length and heft to it, and it's got the height
08:19 that makes it look like a much bigger car. Despite my misgivings about how high the hood sits from the
08:25 inside, from the outside, it's actually kind of sleek and sporty. In fact, I like this front end better
08:31 than the one on the Yaris or even the GR Yaris. This car is tall. It's 212 mm off the ground, and these
08:38 black sills make it look even higher than that. Now, these black sills and that black roof make it look
08:44 slimmer and longer than it actually is and gives it more of a sporting vibe. And it's kind of well-balanced.
08:50 Unlike the Corolla Cross, this has the proportions to make that look work. Walking around the rear
08:56 reinforces the fact that this is the finest-looking DNG-8-based car ever. It's got a good confluence of
09:05 lines. It is a little bit busy, but it isn't as awkward as the one on the Wigo or as overdone and flat as
09:12 the one on the Rays. But there is one problem here, and this is my only gripe with the exterior design of
09:17 this car. It's this window right here. Beautiful glass, beautiful window, but it's obvious that after
09:24 they designed the exterior of this car, they realized that they did not leave any mounting points for the
09:28 rear seatbelt. So, they stuck the mounting points right here. It's bothersome. I hate it, but overall,
09:36 I do love the design, except for this part. Really.
09:40 So, that's the Yaris Cross 1.5e CVT. It's a very interesting car in a very competitive segment,
09:46 that segment being Japanese subcompact crossovers. Let's face it, the Chinese is another kettle of fish.
09:52 The only two cars you'll be cross-shopping this with are the Honda HR-V and the Nissan Kicks.
09:57 Pros, this is stylish. It looks good. It looks great. It's well-equipped. It's got 18-inch wheels,
10:03 which you can't get on its competitors at this price segment. I love the paint. I love the look.
10:08 Also a pro, the size. It's a pretty good size. They're mostly the same size, but this has pretty good
10:15 interior space, and it's got, I think, the best cargo space of the three. I like this cargo bay more than
10:22 the others, and it has a full-size spare underneath. Also, luxury. This has leatherette at 1.3 million,
10:29 which you don't get on the Honda or the Nissan. It's got a power driver's seat, and it's got a power tailgate.
10:35 It's got the full automated driving assist—level 2 driving assist, just like Honda, and Nissan doesn't get it
10:42 at that price range either. So, when you're comparing the three on paper, it's got more of the extra features
10:49 than the other two, but on the con side, it doesn't have the pizzazz. Now, Honda, it doesn't get the turbo
10:55 at 1.3 million, but it's got a peppier 1.5, and Nissan has that e-power all the way down to the base model,
11:02 and that is more powerful and more economical than the 1.5 in this car, which is just about average.
11:09 So, that's it. The Yaris Cross, it is the best DNGA car ever, but does that make it a great Toyota?
11:17 Not really. Does it make it a good Toyota? Definitely. For that, we'll give it a 7.5 out of 10.
11:24 And that's it for the Toyota Yaris Cross. This has been Niki Tamayo for Top Gear Philippines, signing out.
11:30 [outro music]
11:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]