DriveTech

2007 Toyota Yaris four-door gets great mileage

Are you into great gas mileage, but don't want a hybrid or a diesel? Toyota may have the answer. Toyota is an innovation leader in entry-level vehicles that get good gas mileage, such as the Tercel, the Starlet, the Echo and now the Yaris.

Unfortunately, the look of these cars is disappointing. Out of the three mentioned, only the Starlet has a little style. (I owned one!) The ugliest of the bunch was the Echo, which Toyota stopped making.

Now comes the Yaris. The Yaris has been in Europe since 1999. In fact, it was named "European Car of the Year" in 2000 and has been Toyota's bestseller in Europe. The second generation is what you see here. I didn't get this car from a local dealer. It's a pre-production car with a few interior flaws that will not appear in the showroom version.

I tooled around for a week in the Yaris and when it came time to give it back there was a scheduling problem. They asked if I wanted to give it back or keep it for a few more days and I opted to keep it. I like the car. It's roomy enough for my six foot one inch chassis.

And who could turn away 34 miles per gallon in the city and 40 miles per gallon on the open road? That's all from a peppy little 1.5-liter VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing intelligence) four-cylinder, which puts out 106
horsepower. The front wheel drive is backed by a five-speed manual transmission. Surprisingly, you only gain one mile per gallon on the freeway with the five speed over the automatic, but remember that gas mileage is predicated on your right foot. The five speed is smooth and shifts well. The engine is torqued rather nicely and should give you confidence when getting onto the freeway.

Toyota has kept its same instrumentation pod mentality in the Yaris, positioning the speedometer, fuel gauge, tachometer and warning lights in the top center of the dash. Takes a little getting used to but it does keep you focused on the road and not your gauges. Below the pod is the audio system with an in-dash CD player. For such an inexpensive car, the sound system is above normal The climate control has large knobs with buttons set inside the knobs. There are no cup holders or storage on the floor, instead the cup holders are on the far ends of the dash, which works well for medium cups, cell phones and a few ink pens. The center console between the driver and passenger is adequate, with the hand brake in the center.

The seating is very comfortable, even though all seat adjustment controls are manual. The backseat is comfortable as well and flips down 60/40 for added trunk space, although it's already pretty roomy.

I didn't get a build sheet from Toyota but with the options on this Yaris, I would expect it to hit around $13,000. That isn't bad for what you get, such as alloy wheels, rear trunk spoiler, power outside mirrors, fog lights, power mirrors and an up-graded sound system. The standard equipment is impressive as well, including air conditioning, tinted glass, digital clock, map light, intermittent windshield wipers with mist control and dual sunvisors with vanity mirrors - all for a base price of $10,950.

My Yaris came with a very sparkly grey paint job and a grey interior. I like the outside look of the Yaris, even though it's a four door (the rear doors open wide enough for a comfortable entry and exit).

The safety standards on the Yaris are typical Toyota, with front airbags, (standard), side airbags, side head air bags (optional), crush zones surrounding the occupants, beams in the doors for added safety and optional ABS brakes.

Toyota has done a great job in coming up with a car that hauls up to five people and gets good fuel mileage (upwards of the high 30s and maybe even into the 40s, depending on your driving style), all for under $12,000. I've been all over the county with this Yaris and even got caught in a couple of pretty good thunder storms with no ill effect.

Normally, I would have gotten a Yaris from Toyota of El Cajon for this review. But since Toyota, Inc. had already sent me the Yaris, I decided to put the miles on the company car and not Toyota of El Cajon's. So if you're looking for a commuter or your kid's first car, take a drive over to Toyota of El Cajon at 300 El Cajon Blvd. Or you can call them at (619) 440-0225 to check out the Yaris. If you're not in the area, any Toyota dealer will do!