Intrepidation

Toyota fails to build a better Corolla By Ed Hellwig Email Date posted: 04-06-2006 Ten years ago an inexpensive, comfortable, well-built car like the 2007 Toyota Yaris would have been a slam dunk. In fact, it was a slam dunk. It was called the Corolla and it was one of the best-selling compact sedans of its time. But over the last decade, compact sedan buyers got greedy. They asked for more room, better features and increased horsepower. Toyota listened, building a larger Corolla with more standard features and a bigger engine. Now with gas prices at nearly $3 a gallon, those same buyers suddenly have a conscience. They've joined Greenpeace, bought hemp socks and started looking for smaller, cheaper and more fuel-efficient sedans. Cars like the Yaris. Not always inexpensive As the cheapest machine in Toyota's lineup, the Yaris competes with other new subcompacts like the 2007 Honda Fit and 2007 Nissan Versa, as well as the Hyundai Accent and Chevrolet Aveo. There are two body styles — a slightly cheaper three-door Yaris hatchback and the four-door Yaris sedan — but only the sedan offers an upgraded "S" model. Yeah, even subcompacts get the sport treatment these days. A Yaris S sedan, like our test car, gets extra body cladding, bigger 15-inch wheels and a CD stereo with an auxiliary input jack. With the optional four-speed automatic, the Yaris S starts at $14,050, but equipped with nearly every available option like our test car, the price tops out at $17,045. The extra $3 grand added the Power package with antilock brakes; power windows, locks and mirrors; cruise control; a tachometer; and upgraded interior trim, along with stand-alone options like side curtain airbags, foglamps and keyless entry. 21st-century Corolla Despite its subcompact label, the Yaris is longer, wider and heavier than the Echo it replaces and about the same size as that best-selling Corolla from a decade ago. It also has a longer wheelbase, which is why the Yaris doesn't feel like a subcompact from inside. In fact, the Yaris has more front legroom than a current-generation Corolla and the Yaris is only half an inch shy of its bigger brother in the headroom department. Shoulder room, however, is 2 inches tighter compared to the Corolla. Passenger room in back is surprisingly good, with slightly more rear legroom than the Corolla. With the driver seat adjusted for a 6-footer there's enough space behind the seat for an average-sized adult to sit without bumping his head or knees. There's good toe room under the front seats as well. Classing it up Toyota calls the Yaris' interior design "class-up" styling, and at first glance it looks a little more stylish than your average econobox. Surely, the optional metallic trim on our test car helped. The V-shaped center stack uses a pedestal design, which looks interesting, but with no room for cupholders it's not very practical. All the controls on the stack itself are well organized, and the center-mounted gauges that sit on top look to be Camry-grade stuff. Putting the gauges in the middle isn't our preferred setup, but in a car with 106 horsepower you don't spend much time worrying about your speed. Standard height-adjustable front seats and a tilt steering wheel are unexpected features for this segment. If you're tall the driver seat still doesn't adjust low enough, however, and the vinyl steering wheel feels cheap no matter how perfectly you adjust it. Trunk space is about average at 12.9 cubic feet. The hatchback versions of the Yaris and the Fit offer more cargo room, but the trunk in the Hyundai Accent sedan is slightly smaller. Style comes at a price As slick as the Yaris looks on the inside, the design botches simple things like decent cupholders. Instead of putting them between the seats where they should be, Toyota placed one on each side of the dashboard. They're not only poorly placed; they're too shallow to hold big cups and too high to trust with a hot cup of coffee. Storage space is a problem, too, as the only accessible bins sit behind the base of the center stack. Try fishing your Razr phone out of there a few times and the cool pedestal design suddenly seems as dumb as the cupholders you can't reach. Those bins house the auxiliary plug for the stereo, however, so they are useful for holding your iPod. Sound quality from the upgraded MP3-capable stereo is decent, but with black numbers on a dull green background the faceplate isn't always easy to see. Efficient power Only one engine is offered: a 1.5-liter inline four-cylinder with Toyota's latest VVT-i technology. It produces 106 hp at 6,000 rpm and 103 pound-feet of torque at 4,200 rpm. Decent numbers for the segment, but the engine is loud at full throttle and with so little power you find yourself digging into the gas often. The good news is that it's easy on the gas card. We averaged 32.9 mpg over a week of daily driving. Shifts from the four-speed automatic are reasonably quick and the gearing feels about right. At the track, our Yaris turned in a 0-60 time of 10.8 seconds. A Honda Fit with a manual will do the same in 9.2. The quarter-mile takes 17.8 seconds in the Yaris; the Fit does it in 16.7. Like the Fit, the Yaris has excellent brakes. Its best stop from 60 mph was 122 feet. Imported, from Europe Although the Yaris has been on sale in Europe since 1999, the U.S. version is an all-new vehicle built on a unique chassis. Toyota claims its MacPherson strut front suspension and torsion bar rear suspension result in better handling, less interior noise and a smoother ride. It got part of it right. The Yaris blew through our slalom at 65.9 mph, slower than the Fit (67.5) but faster than a Pontiac Solstice. Despite that athleticism, the Yaris S isn't much fun to toss around due to its substantial body roll and minimal steering feedback. Ride quality on the highway is much improved over the Echo. You don't feel every crack in the pavement and wind gusts no longer redirect you into the next lane. There's less road noise, too. When you're driving the Yaris around town, the word "competent" often comes to mind. Not "refined" or "sporty" or "fun": just "competent." The steering is light for easy parking maneuvers and the turning circle is tighter than the Fit by 2 feet. Basically it feels secure and comfortable, nothing more. Some are more valuable than others Ten years ago the Corolla was the standard against which every other subcompact was measured. These days, however, it's clear the competition has looked to a higher standard than the Yaris. For $2 grand less than the price of our test car, you could get a similarly equipped Hyundai Accent with a better warranty, an equally spacious interior and decent cupholders. Or for $16K you could go with the loaded Honda Fit Sport, which is more fun to drive and has a better stereo, superior ergonomics and a more flexible interior. Any way you look at it, the 2007 Toyota Yaris is average. And when you're trying to save the world, average doesn't cut it. Even people who wear hemp socks know that.

People seem to be, once again, bashing the Azera. Ok, look: it's faster than the Lucerne V8...how sad is that? It handles better than the Lucernce at all levels except CXS with magnetic ride control equiped, otherwise, as noted in the recent road test at Edmunds, it sucks for handling, and as they mentioned, it's slower than the Azera/Avalon even with the V8, demands premium fuel and gets worse mileage. What's all this about Hyundai copying styles? They get ideas from other cars, but a lotta car companies do. Pick a Toyota except maybe the newest ones, pick the current LS, previous IS, pick the Ford 500 and they all borrow/steal ideas from other cars. So bashing the Azera for that is bull$h!. Like I said, The rear end of it could be better, but it's not horrible and far better than the Avalon. The Lucerne looks nicer but isn't so hot when stacked against either cars.

I dunno about the power stuff but A/C is an otion...but if you get it that only tacks like 800 bucks (mmaybe less) onto the price tag.

Come to think of it all the gaps look tighter...

Oh now this is just sad. It's a damn commercial, get the rod out of your asses and lighten up. It's funny and clever (the dog mooning the other dogs was hilarious too). You know I didn't even think of the guy as "gay" when tinkerbell did that to him. At least Dodge is creative and puts some humor/life into their commercials. If you don't like it then switch the channel next time or get a sense of humor. Let's humor the people bitching about this for a sec and assume that the commercial was making a stereotype joke (which I didn't think it was). Why get offended over a commercial, or a stereotype? Stereotypes exist and sometimes it's fun to poke fun at them. Have you ever watched Carlos Mancia? Hilarious stuff. He pokes fun at everyone and it's funny! Still don't like it? Buy a Ford

Well damn, GM finally learned what Chrysler has already learned. Why do you think the 300, Charger, and to a lesser extent, Magnum sell like hotcakes? Not everyone likes their styling but no one will argue that they are distinctive, bold, American machines. The Camry and Accord wish they had 1/2 the balls these cars do. They create an emotional reaction. Not just "meh it's ok" but "Damn that's a sweet looking car" or even "Man that's ugly". The designs create a strong opinion about the cars and THAT (along with RWD, Hemi power, and great performance) is why they sell. Congrats GM on finally relearning the formula.

Chery wishes they could make a car that nice. You guys think red is a domestic humper? Then you haven't met Domesticated and his G6 he swares is the best car in the wold lol. Red just doesn't like many cars...at all..

You're posts are so entertaining to read In that marginaly faster G6 I assume? Probably 2 seconds faster...I bet you an SRT-4 would blow the doors off it As for the Aveo...hmm I have to agree that it's at least better looking, but I doubt it handles as well...Perhaps the redesigned Aveo handles better...gotta wait for a road test on it.

The Aztek's design was more "cohesive" if you wanna enterntain that word. But it's still uglier. The Compass at least looks OK from the side and rear...not great but not Aztek ugly. Nothing is uglier than that...unless it's from another country. 16k for the 2.4 huh? well that sounds like abetter deal than the Caliber actually...though I think the Caliber looks far better.

I do agree with that, but the budget probably went to the front end and modifying the floor plan to incorporate the hybrid system. Look how much smaller the gap is between the bumper and grill/fender/headlighs

No contest. It's a huge improvement. Even if people say it looks more like the Aspen I don't care, it looks way better than it did and better than the Aspen IMO.

Not really, the headlights are totally different and the Aspen has a more rounded shape. The front end is deffinetly differentt.

I wasn't kidding. Oh agree that it's a nice car and far better than the XJ and Avalon. But at some angles it's rear end does look a bit out of proportion. Not a bad looking car overall, but not quite perfect either.

Hurray! Dodge finally fixed that front end. IMO it was the worst one in the Dodge lineup, thismakes it look much better.

Personally I think it needs more than a new front end, but that would certainly go a long way.

I coulda sworn I replied this alread...Oh well Are you familiar with the term "living in the past" that's how I think a lot of the naysayers from the Charger community were looking at the Charrger. ALso because this car is indeed quite a departure from the original. Still most have learned that griping about door numbers is stupid and that the car indeed does the name proud, since it can perform better than the original Charger, looks good, annnd since it has some practicality will seel well and not dissappear like the original. I myself neer cared about the 4-door bit...the styling took some time to warm up to , but after sseeing them in person ands eeing the SRTR-8, I was sold. So no, it doesn't have 2 doors to be a proper muscle car, as long as it looks cool and performs. ALthough if it were a hatchback...well then that's be odd. Besides, the Charger has it's place, and to all thhose who want a munal coupe with a hemi, the Challenger will satify them.

I actually like how the new LS looks. Quite nicely done IMO

I agree, both it and the Evo look odd without their spoilers.

Hmm...crosseyed...maybe that's why it looks so odd. Better call in the surgen! I agree that if I had to choose a Japanese luxry brand Infiniti would get my vote. Real RWD performance cars that can really handle. I hope that coupe concept goes into production unchanged cuz it looked great.

Hmm...crosseyed...maybe that's why it looks so odd. Better call in the surgen! I agree that if I had to choose a Japanese luxry brand Infiniti would get my vote. Real RWD performance cars that can really handle. I hope that coupe concept goes into production unchanged cuz it looked great.

Still a small car. And since they through in a Caliber into the test, which I'm sure is bigger than the other cars, my point remains valid.

A real muscle car isn't determined by the number of doors it has. That's stupid to still be harping on the damn thing cuz it's got a couple extra doors. So by your definition all it would take to have a mucle car is a stick and 2 doors...so guess the Omni was a better muscle car? Spare me. The Charger SRT-8 has got craploads of power, badass looks IMO, great brakes and handling. That seems like the prerequisites for a good muscle car to me. So it has a couple extra doors? OMFG it's practicle for families now so Dad can convince the Mom that it's practicle for the family and still get to smoke most of the cars on the road. Heaven forbid! Get over the damn doors, jeez. I do agree about a manual tranny...having one as an option would be nice, but I hear the 5-speed autobox is quite good so at least it doesn't suck.

Holy crap that looks good! If the CTS looks as good uncovered as it does so far it'll pwn the 3 Series and IS in the looks department, probably performance too (at least the IS)