Hybrid is where the heart is when you love your Yaris
I may be showing my age, but I can remember when the forerunner of the Yaris – the Echo – was first launched here.
Anyone remember the ad went with it? One of Toyota’s finest:
Here was the pert little Echo self-driving through the country and into a city where a raft of other brand cars suddenly self-start to follow the Yaris to a cliff where the Yaris pulled to one side, letting the other cars roar off the edge; all to the tune of Crispian St. Peters’ “I’m the Pied Piper.”
Great ad, if a little presumptuous given the nature of the 2000 MY Yaris. Oh, it wasn’t bad, quite cheeky in fact and it served Toyota very well, but the ad was almost too sophisticated for the car.
And two decades later, how things have changed. Ed’s op: Toyota could have recycled the older ad for the current model, and it would have gone over brilliantly, because the new generation Yaris is good enough to warrant a very clever – and fun – advertising campaign.
As it is, the ad for this generation is eminently forgettable – something to do with doughnuts or jet planes shooting from the car as it scoots round a controlled road environment.
Hmm, not quite one for Toyota’s epic ad Hall of Fame, and that’s a pity, because the 2021 Yaris – and all its spinoffs – is seriously cool.
The Yaris – according to Toyota – is a private purchaser’s buy and it serves that purpose well, especially with the entry priced model and the two ZR-spec top enders with performance aspirations.
But the best model variant – GR and Cross models notwithstanding – as far as the business buyer is concerned anyway, is the GX with the hybrid powertrain.
This is not a surprise to me, because in my humble opinion (like I’m ever humble!), the GX hybrid is the pick of the bunch in any Toyota line up.
This isn’t elevating the underdog either. There’s something about GX spec with hybrid tech which just works so well as a combination.
The cars are quieter, feel better balanced, offer brilliant economy with no effort and at no time feel compromised in quality or specification. They are agile, connected and safe.
In short, Yaris GX hybrids are the best bet for SME’s wanting small, smart and safe hatchbacks that are as rewarding as driver’s cars as they are frugal little fuel misers.
There are 13 performance differences between the hybrid Yaris and the petrol-powered ones.
Chief among these is obviously fuel consumption, with the hybrid returning its (reachable) 3.3 litres per 100km consumption figure and 76gm/km CO2 emissions against the 4.9 and 114gm/km of the conventionally powered versions. Hybrid models also have a smaller fuel tank to offset the lithium-Ion battery.
Hybrid Yaris also runs an electronic CVT over a mechanical one, while the 3-cylinder petrol engines are direct injection for the regular models and port injection for the hybrid.
Anecdotally, DI engines may – stress MAY – require a little more in terms of maintenance, which is the price paid for their performance, regular engines producing 88kW and 145Nm of torque as opposed to the port injected hybrid’s total 85kW and 120Nm.
Happily, all new Yaris models come with a capped price, $250 service schedule, so DI or PI engines, it won’t bother the first-time buyer.
Our take – for the benefit of the undecided fleet manager – would be to go the GX Hybrid model. Your drivers won’t be disappointed.
