Toyota Yaris T2 1.0 VVT-i 3dr Car Review - February 2012

Inside the cabin the driver’s seat with height adjustment and the steering wheel, with height and reach adjustment, make it easy to find the perfect driving position. You’ll only experience difficulty if you are very tall. The dash is well designed and all the controls and switches are easy to use.

The 68bhp 3 cylinder 12 valve petrol engine fitted to this T2 entry-level model lacks power. With a top speed of only 96mph and 0-62mph in 15.3 seconds, it’s anything but fast. However, average fuel economy of 58.9mpg is very good for its class and keeps running costs down. If you want a bit more power, you can upgrade to a 98bhp 1.3-litre petrol unit or an 89bhp 1.4-litre diesel.

The Yaris is compact, has a tight turning circle, and light responsive steering making it easy to manoeuvre and park in city traffic. It’s not the smoothest of rides though – and it feels a bit unsure of itself when cornering. The steering lacks feedback once you get it up to cruising speed.

The engine gets noisy when you rev it – and you’ll need to rev it a lot to get any performance from it. There’s some vibration from the engine which can be felt in the pedals and the driver’s seat. Road noise is well suppressed in the cabin but the wind noise at motorway speeds can become tiring after a while.

From the outside the Yaris look every inch the smart city runabout. Inside, it is quite distinctive, with all the instruments being located centrally in the dashboard. However, the cabin feels a bit drab - most of the trim material being hard plastic – and is not as appealing as the interiors of some of its rivals.

The T2 is the entry-level model and is pretty basic. Standard equipment includes power steering, central locking, VSC stability control, electric door mirrors, electric front windows, immobiliser and CD. You could consider upgrading to the TR version which adds alloys and air conditioning without adding too much onto the price.

Headroom in the rear of the Yaris can be a little tight for a full grown adult, but apart from that the Yaris T2 1.0 VVT-i 3dr accommodates four adults surprisingly well for its size. The boot space of 347 litres is a decent size and you can boost that to 768 litres by folding the split rear seats down.

EuroNCAP awarded the Yaris the maximum five-star rating in its crash-tests. Individual ratings were: 5 for occupants, 3 for children and 2 for pedestrians. Standard safety features in the Yaris include seven air bags, stability control and a sophisticated braking system to help avoid getting into trouble.

Anti-theft measures include an engine immobiliser and deadlocks.

Toyota has a reputation for reliability that most other manufacturers envy, so you shouldn’t have any worries on that score. The Yaris comes covered by Toyota’s five-year-100,000 mile warranty and with regular service intervals of 10,000 miles.

The Yaris is competitively priced at £11,170 alongside other mainstream offerings and its resale value is on a par with the rest of its rivals also. Its main advantage is excellent fuel economy (58.9mpg) and lower CO2 emissions (111g/km) than its competitors offer – so its running costs should be lower than others. Insurance is one of the lowest, in group 2, and Road Tax in VED band C.

You should also have peace of mind with Toyota’s five-year warranty.

The Yaris 1.3 TR gets you a bit more power and equipment for not much more outlay and it still has low running costs, so it may be a better pick than this entry level version.