Small SUV, Big on Ease
Easy-going, efficient and built for everyday life.
Scott McDonald
The Toyota Yaris Cross is one of those cars that doesn’t need much explaining. It’s compact without feeling tiny, has the reassuringly raised driving position people seem to want from an SUV, and underneath it all is Toyota’s familiar hybrid technology. After spending time behind the wheel, though, what struck me most was simply how easy it is to live with.
Around town is where the Yaris Cross makes the strongest first impression. Pulling away is smooth and quiet, with the hybrid system regularly allowing the car to creep through traffic under electric power. There’s none of the hesitation or fuss you sometimes get from small automatic cars; you select Drive and get on with it. Visibility is excellent too. I sit high enough to get a good view of what’s happening around me, but the car itself remains compact enough that narrow streets and busy car parks never become intimidating.
The steering suits that character nicely. It’s light without feeling completely detached and the Yaris Cross changes direction neatly, which makes threading it through town surprisingly enjoyable. Out on a country road it remains composed, although I wouldn’t call it sporty. There’s some body movement through quicker bends, but everything feels predictable and secure. A Ford Puma might encourage me to take the long way home, whereas the Toyota feels happier getting me there without any drama.
Ride comfort is slightly harder to pin down. For the most part I found it perfectly agreeable, soaking up ordinary road imperfections without making a fuss. Broken surfaces and sharper potholes can make themselves known, however, and there’s occasionally a slightly busy feeling underneath you. It never becomes genuinely uncomfortable, but this isn’t a car that completely isolates you from a badly maintained British road.
The same applies to refinement. Pottering around town, the Yaris Cross can be impressively peaceful. Ask for stronger acceleration and the petrol engine suddenly becomes much more noticeable. It’s a familiar characteristic of Toyota’s hybrid system: press the accelerator firmly and the engine revs rise quickly, creating more noise than the actual increase in speed might suggest. Once settled into a motorway cruise things calm down, although road noise is still more apparent than I’d like. That said, it never feels tiring over a longer journey. The driving position is comfortable and, once I’d settled into the rhythm of the car, I found it an easy place to cover miles.
Inside, Toyota has resisted the temptation to turn everything into a touchscreen exercise. I appreciate having straightforward controls that I can operate without taking my attention away from the road. The cabin isn’t especially glamorous, but it feels solid and sensibly designed. Rear-seat passengers have less to celebrate, because it can feel a little confined behind taller occupants. Up front, though, there’s a pleasing sense of space and everything feels designed with everyday usability in mind. It’s an interior that takes little time to get used to.
That rather sums up the Yaris Cross for me. It doesn’t win you over with one spectacular feature. Instead, it quietly makes everyday driving easier. It’s comfortable enough, wonderfully manageable around town and reassuringly straightforward to operate. There are more exciting small SUVs, and certainly more luxurious ones, but few leave me feeling quite so relaxed about simply getting in and going.
