SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Same but different: 2021 Toyota Urban Cruiser 1.5 Xr automatic

What counts

Pics by Motorpress
Posted: June 25, 2021

The numbers
Price (Xr AT): R315 700
Engine: 1462 cc, chain driven DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder with VVT
Power: 77 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 138 Nm between 4000 and 4400 rpm
0 to 100 km/h: 13.5 seconds*
Top speed: 165 km/h*
Real life fuel consumption: About 6.8 l / 100 km
Tank: 48 litres
Luggage, seats up: 328 litres
Ground clearance: 198 mm
Turning circle: 10.4 metres
Towing capacity, unbraked/braked: 400 / 1100 kg
Standard tyre: 215/60R16
Spare: full size on steel rim
Warranty: 3 years, 100 000 km
Service plan: 3 services, 45 000 km, at annual or 15 000 km interval
*Tested in India


This is that extremely rare occasion upon which, if offered the choice, I would take the AT version of a particular car over its manual counterpart. Because the Urban Cruiser manual’s top ratio is too short for sustained open road peace and quiet.

Explanation: Revs per minute at 120 km/h, in the manual car’s top (fifth) gear, are about 3600. The automatic is more relaxed, needing only 2800 rpm in fourth (top) gear, to sing along happily at 120-plus, whereas the manual sounds busy at that speed and cruises more comfortably between 100 and 110 km/h.

Said autobox is a conventional torque-converter transmission that could be described as a good “journeyman” unit rather than overtly sporty. Make no mistake; it gets the job done and never hunts or seems undecided but isn’t killer-quick on kickdown. Staying with the “sporty or otherwise” theme, this transmission differs from most of its classmates by not offering manual override in the conventional sense.

The shift gate is marked P R N D 2 L, rather like a ’68 Valiant I once knew, and it functions somewhat the same. D gives you all four gears as expected; squeezing a button on the side of the shift knob holds third - useful for calling up a bit more torque to handle the twisty bits – and a second squeeze returns you to “all gears”. Selecting 2, after pulling on the lockout button, holds second. That’s good for about 16 km/h per thousand rpm and is useful for sustained low-gear work. L is geared for around 10 km/h per thousand and permits more extreme towing and steep gradient duty.

Unlike its Suzuki counterpart that offers four models in South Africa, Urban Cruiser comes in five shades; entry-level Xi with five-speed manual, slightly smarter Xs in manual or automatic, and top model Xr with the same choices. Other brand differences include front end styling, fitted features and after sales coverage like warranty and standard service plans.

Cruiser Xi provides 16” steel wheels, fabric upholstery (maintained throughout the range), manual aircon, keyless entry with pushbutton starter, electric mirrors and windows – with single touch for the driver - LED lights all around, two airbags, ISOFix mountings with tethers, rear pdc, ABS brakes with EBD and touchscreen music centre with CarPlay and Android Auto. Toyota throws in 15 GB of free data to go with the in-car Wi-Fi hotspot, so you can show your snobby neighbour with the BMW that you can do remote service bookings, tracking and what-not, too.

Kicking in R19 900 for Xs gets you alloy wheels, power folding for the mirrors, rear wiper and demister, automatic air conditioning, reversing camera, a second glove box (with chilling feature), split rear seatback and an armrest with cup holders for those in the back.

A further R26 700 buys Xr with LED front foglamps, automatic headlights and wipers, cruise control, an armrest in front, two tweeters for the audio system and some pretty lights inside. While we’re talking money, AT adds R21 200 to each level’s price tag.

The car rides firmly but handles the occasional road hazard well and, as expected of vehicles designed and built in India, it passed the gravel road test comfortably. Fit, finish and build quality is also typical of most cars from that country; acceptable but not quite up to Kia standard for example.

Comfort: Rear seat occupants find sufficient head-, knee and foot room for averagely built adults, a fold-down bag hook behind the driver’s seat, panic handles, small bottle bins, map pockets and a central courtesy lamp supplementing the one in front. Safety kit includes two head restraints, two full belts and a lap strap.

The boot is pretty big for a little car, measuring 328 litres despite cramming everything into a total vehicle length of 3995 mm. It loads at about mid-thigh height and is roughly three inches deep. The 60:40-split rear seatback folds almost flat to add about 650 mm to its length. Wee wells on either side keep small and delicate cargo items from shifting in transit.

Moving forward: There is, once again, loads of headroom so shorter drivers can, hopefully, lift the seat as high as they need to; the trip meters (two stalks) are easy to work with, as are the HVAC controls; the passenger rates a lit vanity mirror and there’s a specs box above the auto-dipping rearview. Main dials are big and clear - not quite round, not quite square - functional and almost cute. The conventional hand brake is placed for LHD but that’s no hardship because, with the upper model’s armrest fitted, the RHD position would have made it awkward to operate – compromises, hey?

Urban Cruiser is compact, yet spacious and workmanlike. It’s also well-equipped for a budget family car; not fancy, not fussy nor aggressively sporty. It gets the job done and that’s what counts.

Test unit from Toyota SA press fleet

We drove a manual transmission version too



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 or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

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 ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle 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. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.