2019 Toyota Yaris Review

The Toyota Yaris is the most fun you'll have in a slow car. Its main strengths rest in its superbly playful handling and excellent transmission. We also really enjoy the response and quickness of the steering during spirited driving stints. What the Yaris doesn't deliver is much straight-line speed. Its 1.5-liter engine makes a meager 106 horsepower, which will have you flooring the gas pedal frequently to get up to highway speeds. We measured its run up to 60 mph at a tick over 10 seconds. That's slow, even for the economy class.

And while its low-grip tires are fun when you're wanting to flick it around corners, they don't help stop the Yaris as quickly as others in the class.

It's a tough task to design comfort into a vehicle this small, and the Yaris is no exception. The seats offer above-average lateral support for steadying you through turns, but they lack lumbar support for the everyday commute. Ride comfort has taken a back seat to handling performance, which means you'll feel bumps and road texture more than you might want to.

We found the single-zone climate control system easy to use and fairly effective at keeping the cabin cool despite the lack of rear vents. Its steady stream of noise, both wind and road, is common for the class. There are no vibrations or creaks, though, which is admirable for an economy car.

Simplicity has its benefits. The Yaris subscribes to that philosophy, and all the controls are quite easy to learn and use. There's good adjustability in the driver's seat to accommodate a wide range of body types, though don't expect to sit behind anybody taller than 6 feet. Space, as with other vehicles in this class, is at a premium, and there isn't much of it in the Yaris' cabin. Nor does the Yaris try to make the space feel larger than it is.

Getting in and out of the front is mostly easy, but the back seat requires a degree of limberness that most won't want to deal with every day. Visibility is no better or worse in the Yaris than other vehicles in this class, which is to say there aren't any significant issues.

For such a tiny car, the 13.5-cubic-foot trunk space manages to be pretty comparable to class leaders. The 60/40-split fold rear seats don't quite fold flat, creating about a 5-inch ledge between the cargo area and folded seatbacks. There's a lack of storage space for items in the cabin, at least if you don't want them visible to the outside world. Where the center armrest would be is where the cupholders are, so the only covered space is the small glovebox.

Though not uncommon for the class, the Yaris will not accommodate a rear-facing seat safely so any other passengers will have to give up that prime shotgun location. The car seat anchors are buried a little deep into the seatbacks, but it wasn't too hard to install our car seat.

Our test car didn't come with the optional navigation system, but we've found the system to be fairly easy to use in other vehicles. The standard audio system produces a surprisingly clean sound that doesn't distort even at a higher volume. Smartphone integration is a bit lacking since Android Auto isn't offered and Apple CarPlay isn't available until the 2020 Yaris model year. There are two USBs and a 12-volt outlet to provide charging for your devices, and Bluetooth paired quickly.

The Yaris is also lacking in advanced driver aids. You won't find Toyota Safety Sense here, just a low-speed front collision warning/mitigation system that only works below 18 mph.

Because Toyota gives the Yaris an appealing mix of standard features, you can get away with buying the base L trim level. The LE and the XLE add more convenience or luxury-oriented features, but none are must-haves. To make the most of the car's good driving dynamics, we'd recommend getting the standard six-speed manual transmission as long as you don't mind rowing your own gears.