Echoes of past in new C-HR
Second, there’s more style than substance in the C-HR. I really, really, really wanted to like this car and on paper it looks brilliant. Underneath the in-your-face styling (which is not to all tastes, making it even better/braver) there’s Toyota’s brand-new global platform and a 1.2-litre turbo engine.
The equipment looks good, too. Being a new-generation model it has the suite of Toyota Safety Sense equipment, including Precrash System, Lane Departure Alert with steering assistance, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (more sophisticated than the system in some Lexus models) and Automatic High Beam headlights.
In addition, you also get Blind Spot Monitor, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Trailer Sway Warning. That last item is kinda cute: our test vehicle had the $1375 towbar option, but of course being pintsized the C-HR only hauls 600kg braked. Still, if your garden trailer starts weaving, the C-HR’S electronics will be on it.
So what’s the problem? It’s just not that much fun, thanks largely to the continuously variable transmission (CVT). There’s nothing wrong with a decent CVT for a small car, but the C-HR’S seems to really struggle with the little engine’s modest power and torque. A seven-step mode does give you more control over the revs, but it still flares and fusses far too much.
It’s not all bad: the chassis is actually excellent, and if you’re prepared to be a little brave the C-HR is capable of carrying significant speed through tight corners, which means you can make the most of the engine’s linear power delivery on a light throttle and spare yourself the Cvt-pain. The other issue is practicality. True, this is really just a city car for one or two occupants, but it’s fair to expect some degree of passengerfriendliness in an SUV, isn’t it? The rear seats are spacious enough but there’s zero visibility out those letterbox-sized side windows. Nor can the driver see much during reversing or lanechanging.
The cabin is corporate-toyota, which is not a bad thing. The company has evolved quite an interesting cabin-design template with lots of layering and a variety of textures.
The C-HR also embraces the current fashion for tablet-style display/touch-screens, and this one is more integrated into the dashboard than the likes of the Corolla’s ‘‘look I stole an ipad’’ unit.
If only the technology acknowledged current fashion as well. The sat-nav with Suna traffic information is excellent but the operating system looks and feels old-school clunky. Toyota still steadfastly refuses to be a joiner with phone projection technology such as Apple Carplay and Android Auto. Apparently it’s developing its own. Mistake.
There’s a lot to like about the C-HR and if you’re locked into the Toyota world, as so many are through either personal allegiance or business/fleet association, then something this interesting is a godsend.
But it does also seem like something of a wasted opportunity: when you park the C-HR, lock it and walk away you don’t give it a second thought. That certainly wasn’t the case with the old Echo.