Stare at it; do you like what you see? Love it or hate it, the 2018 Toyota Yaris is a preview of things to come for the all-new Vios—Toyota’s stalwart and constant best-seller. Riding on the same platform and carrying the same mechanicals, the Yaris is basically the Vios with the rear-end chopped up. For that, it’s a functional Point A to Point B machine. It’s perfectly usable, although it must be said that “fun” isn’t in its vocabulary.

As far as updates go, the 2018 Yaris undergoes a tremendous change. The basic hardpoints are the same as the previous model from the windshield, pillars, and trunk, but everything else is new. The front-end tastefully tacks on Toyota’s new corporate look, particularly the smiling, grille-heavy face. Taken in isolation from the rest of the car, it’s actually quite pleasant. However, once the rest of the proportions are considered, it makes the entire car look too nose-heavy. Personally, it’s the rear part of the car that delivers the design goods. The new horizontal taillight scheme gives it much needed width, while the black trunk trim unifies the floating roof.



The Yaris’s interior treatment largely echoes the exterior. The same basic packaging applies down to the positioning of the major electronics bits such as the air conditioning, radio, and even shifter, but the wrapper surrounding it has been given a snazzier re-skin. As a result, it thoroughly modernizes the cabin. The orange scheme is now gone and replaced with a much more subdued, yet classier blue and black number. The interior plastics are still hard to the touch, but the overall feel has been upped. The sweeping silver accents, for instance, nicely echoes the fog lamp bezels while the new switchgear communicates a strong sense of quality.

Despite all these changes though, the Yaris’s most glaring interior weakness remains: the lack of cubby holes. With the exception of the decently-sized glove box, there’s no much place to put things like mobile phones or loose change. It’s also impossible to use a dashcam and a car charger at the same time since there’s only one power point and that one’s located in a rather awkward position.



The Yaris also plays host to Toyota’s newest infotainment system. The same one found in the Rush, navigating through its simple menus is both a breeze and a frustration. The graphics aren’t cutting-edge, but at least they’re legible and easy to read even in direct sunlight. Some typical one-step process such as changing radio bands require two steps as opposed to one, and the lack of knobs may make simple tasks like adjusting volume more difficult when on the move.

In terms of interior space, there’s not much to complain about the Yaris. The front passengers will find the dashboard unobtrusive allowing one to spread his legs comfortably without banging knees. The same can be said with those in the back with the surprisingly good knee room and flat rear floor. The luggage space is also pretty adequate for a car of this size and while the cargo hold doesn’t fold completely flat (the rear seat cushions protrude up when folded), the resulting space is good enough for two full-sized luggage and a couple of hand carry bags.



In its 1.3-liter guise, the Yaris 1.3 E offers a respectable 98 horsepower and 123 Nm of torque thanks to its Dual VVT-i engine. It may be carried over from the previous model, but Toyota’s done a lot of work to make sure that the 2018 model has uprated levels of NVH. As a result, this is easily one of the quietest sub-compact cars around. Mated to a CVT transmission, the initial power delivery is quite alright, perky enough for darting through traffic. But try driving it in any situation that resembles “spirted” and the drivetrain betrays, resulting in gutless progress with barely enough power to go past 120 km/h. Fuel economy is so-so at 8.98 km/L at 16 km/h.

The rest of the Yaris’s mechanical bits are also tuned for comfort rather than outright sportiness. Aside from its excellent NVH, the ride is also quite supple, absorbing heavy road cuts and cracks better than most other sub-compacts. The steering is overly light, but quick. The body itself leans through hard cornering, but at least it feels secure. Plus, having vehicle stability control is actually a nice touch for this class of car.



In the end though, the most bitter pill to swallow with the Yaris is its price tag. At P 927,000, it doesn’t come across as affordable anymore, especially considering that the Vios 1.5 G is just P 26,000 more. The extensively revised looks inside and out certainly boost interest once more in Toyota’s sub-compact hatchback offering, but once driven, it turns out that it doesn’t push the develop as far as anyone would have hoped. The Yaris is a pretty decent car, but it’s not one that raises the game.