A car to get the Pulse racing

ATTRACTIVE NEW YARIS SPORTS A MORE POWERFUL ENGINE AND SPORTIER LOOKS ʂ Latest offering targets value for money, contemporary style and elegance.

The new Toyota Yaris range is on sale in South Africa, sporting a more powerful engine and far sportier looks. In addition, specification levels have been improved and the little hatch is now badged “Pulse”.

The Pulse changes to both front and rear are significant, giving the vehicle an entirely more powerful stance through stronger lines and a more prominent “nose”.

At the rear, the added sense of refinement and the appearance of a broader stance is created by a new tailgate design that extends the horizontal emphasis with new rear light clusters that stretch from the rear wings to the door.

Customers have a choice of three unicolour tones – including glacier white, satin silver metallic and cosmic blue – or bi-tones (paired with black roofs), including pearl white two-tone, grey two-tone and cinnabar red twotone.

Following the same concept as the new frontal design, a “catamaran” architecture has also been created at the rear with a new bumper design that harmonises perfectly with the lines of the tailgate, projecting a low centre of gravity and wide on-road stance.

The powerful quality of this design is supported by re-shaping the area framing the licence plate and the addition of black garnish details in the lower bumper, edged with a reflector and finished with a pattern of horizontal lines.

The new 1.5-litre petrol engine produces 12% more power and torque than the previous 1.3-litre engine, at 82kW and 136kW respectively. This, Toyota tells us, translates into a 0.8 second improvement in acceleration from 0-100km.

The new 1.5-litre engine is now also part of the ESTEC (Economy with Superior Thermal Efficient Combustion) engine family. It runs on a high compression ratio (13.5) and a cooled exhaust gas recirculation system.

It also has VVT-iE, with iE standing for “Intelligent System Electric motor.” This allows the phase shift of the intake camshaft to be controlled electrically, whereas the phase shift of the exhaust camshaft is hydraulic. The engine is matched to either a sixspeed manual or CVT gearbox.

Yaris Pulse remains the only local car in its segment available with hybrid power and the lineup is completed by the established 1.0-litre VVT-i three-cylinder petrol engine with five-speed manual transmission.

The focus for changes to Yaris Pulse’s interior has been to keep the look and ambience of the cabin feeling fresh and modern, introducing new upholsteries, colours and trim details and upgrading the instrumentation and controls to ensure excellent ergonomics.

Changes to the interior promote a more modern feel, in particular with new colours, trims and improvements to the instruments and controls. Interior trim is a fashionable black and light grey on all models with the exception of the generously specced Yaris Pulse Plus CVT, which features a black trim.

The three-spoke steering wheel has a new look and boasts the addition of piano black trim inserts. A new chrome trim frames the combimeter, adding to the more refined effect.

Other detail changes include new propeller-style air vents, seamless execution of the multimedia screen and controls in the centre console, including new switches that are both neater in appearance and easier to operate.

The new model is presented with a new grade strategy that targets distinct qualities, from value for money to contemporary style and elegance.

But all models benefit from good basic specification. Vehicle stability control and electronic brake force distribution is standard in all models, as are driver, passenger and front side airbags.

All cars have airconditioning and remote central locking as well as a leather steering wheel and gear knob.