SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get at home.

Unlike most car reports, what you read in these pages will not be a faithful reproduction, albeit slightly reworded, of what appeared in the manufacturer's press release. We look for background material, user experience and whatever else we can find that's beyond the obvious. Our guiding rule is that you will be able to tell that the car was actually driven.

*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.

*Pre-owned: Our tests go back quite a few years, so if you are looking for something pre-owned, you might well find a report on it in here.

*Please remember too, that prices quoted are those ruling at the time the reports were written.


We ‘heart’ the 2015 Toyota Yaris 1.3 manual

An emotive alternative

Posted: 16 November 2014

It’s well-known that people buy Toyotas with their heads. They pay a little more upfront because of cast-iron resale value, the trusted name and its reputation for quality. Part of that is due to extensive pre-launch tests undertaken at the company’s Durban facility and its Midlands product evaluation farm.

A handling track, carbon copies of some of the world’s most atrocious road surfaces (including some near where you live) and plenty of space in which to replicate almost any kind of condition; are all there. They even have a skid pan. Engineers check everything and if they decide that this angle needs changing, that spring lengthened, a setting softened or stiffened, or that this hinge isn't strong enough, the factory will be told to fix it.

It’s a good system and it works. But competition is fiercer these days and many buyers, particularly women, are looking further afield and finding viable alternatives. Some are not only excellent choices but satisfy buyers’ emotional needs as well. As you know, the heart rules the head in 73,8-percent of women’s buying choices but only 36,4-percent in the case of men. OK, I made those numbers up, but they’re as accurate as any others you might find.

That long introduction brings us to the essence of this latest Yaris revamp: Toyota dialed in some heart. To woo those vital percentages back.

They focussed on upgrading aesthetics; most notably exterior styling and interior plastics, and homed in on the ownership experience by improving driveability, ride comfort and noise levels. Then Glenn Crompton, Toyota SA’s VP of Marketing insisted that Yaris’ value factor be enhanced even further with a more attractive suite of standard equipment.

Apart from face-lifting the product inside and out, there were some design changes: The centre console was raised 23 mm so the six-speed manual shifter could be shortened by 30 mm - improving the ergonomics of gear changes. There is no armrest with box but don’t fret about how many CDs you don’t have space for, because the new music player doesn’t handle legacy media. It’s either streamed or iPod/flash drive now.

The upper instrument panel has a new grain effect, improved tactile quality, is less glossy and is complemented by a thicker trim band. The sculpted central dashboard panel gained thicker soft padding and is now surfaced in PVC. In fact, soft-touch finishes cover more area around the cabin, while a modern and sophisticated satin look replaces the  previous bright chrome trim. Seat upholstery boasts new fabric patterns and colours.

Toyota’s touchscreen multimedia system was updated. It now has a new, higher resolution, seven-inch screen using four times as many pixels for bright, sharp images with deeper 3D effect. The package includes Bluetooth for hands-free phone calls and sending and receiving of text messages.

Its tasteful brown screen looks remarkably like one we saw in a Honda the previous week and shows vehicle information; including trip data with current and average consumption, and distances to and from refill. It enables simple connection of iPods and MP3 players via USB or Bluetooth and, where available, will display album, artist and track information. Audio system options can also be controlled with it. The USB slot and cigarette lighter are in the central tower, directly beneath the air controls and screen.

Tech-heads would be enthralled with the ‘how’ of improved ride comfort, handling and noise reduction. First up is a more rigid body with added spot welds, redesigned tunnel bracing, new windscreen bonding material, thicker dashboard bulkhead, stiffened instrument panel beam, redesigned wheelhouse and reinforced rear bumper attachments. Reduced body flexing leads to better handling and steering response.

Suspension tweaks include a stiffer torsion beam at the back, softer springs all around, new bump stops, rebound springs within the front shock absorbers to increase anti-roll stiffness and new damper valve technology to reduce ingress of road vibrations. These add up to improved balance of front and rear grip and less tendency to understeer. Topping it off is new control logic in the steering system to improve feel, responsiveness and accuracy.

All this head-flattening stuff yields a comfortable little car that’s stable and responsive and hangs on when pushed. It won’t out-run any fancy German machinery just yet, but Joe and Joanne Average will surely ‘like’ it.

Naturally, standard niceties like four airbags, electric windows all around with one-touch up and anti-pinch for the driver, 15-inch alloy wheels, remote central locking, single channel air conditioning, electric mirrors, power steering and ABS with EBD and Brake Assist are included. If you want leather this and that, reversing camera, automatic climate control, three more bags, ESP, hill start assist and front fog lights, you’ll have to spring for the hybrid.

Let’s look at the ownership experience: It’s sufficiently zippy to keep up with the maul of city traffic, view outward is good and it turns on a button in 9,6 metres. It cruises quite gently at 3000 rpm in sixth at 120 km/h – not at all bad for a naturally aspirated 1300. Top gear is a little long-legged for our taste but not as painful as, for example, recent 1300 cc Corollas. You need to change down a notch or two for long hills.

Lifting the hatch, which opens down to about 68 centimetres above ground level, reveals a flat cargo floor that can be lifted or removed completely; providing a further 17 cm of loading depth. The boot is almost rectangular with slight wheel arch intrusions, has a nice wide aperture and measures about 33 cm from top to bottom. There is a single light. The spacesaver spare is stored valve-side down and has some ullage around it for bits and bobs. The pull-down handle is on the right.

Rear seat backs fold in the usual 2/3:1/3 configuration and almost flat. There is little storage - no pockets, cup holders or door bins – just a wee bottle holder at the rear end of the console. Accommodation is best reserved for the medium-to-short because our tall tester, seated behind his normally adjusted driving chair, grumbled. Three head restraints, as many full belts and ISOFix anchor points look after safety.

The driver’s seat adjusts mechanically in the usual directions including height and the steering wheel, with satellite buttons for phone and music, adjusts both ways. Storage is better at this end with a couple of open trays, two cup holders, a small lidded stash below the tower, a medium-sized glove box and little door bins.

Despite the taller console, we found the gear stick a bit long, but reach and action were pleasant. This car is typically Toyota, because its hand brake action was as expected of the brand. There are two unlit makeup mirrors behind the sun visors and just enough space for big left feet to get past the clutch pedal, but there’s no formal footrest. Certain of these details may sound trivial, but for some they are deal breakers.

So what do we have? It’s a 1300 cc manual-shift car at a shade below R200 000. There are quite a few 1400-to-1600 cc offerings in that neighbourhood, but this little one is pretty competitive. It’s a Toyota with good value proposition – possibly unexpected, so we would certainly consider it.

Test car from Toyota SA press fleet

The numbers
Price: R194 300
Engine: 1329 cc, DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder
Power: 73 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 125 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11,7 seconds
Maximum speed: 175 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 6,2 l/100 km
Tank: 42 litres
Boot: 286 litres
Warranty: Three years/100 000 km
Service plan: Three years/45 000 km, at 15 000 km intervals

For our review of the previous model click here

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.