RAKISH RUNABOUT
Even though shy on power, Toyota’s compact C-HR delivers a fair dose of fun to go with its eye-catching design
Toyota became the world’s largest automaker by building cars that were long on sensibility but short on sex appeal.
Instead, it has concentrated on practical people movers that run right, run long and never fail.
Toyota’s new C-HR is a very good addition to the legacy of Corollas, Camrys, RAV4s and Prii. It’s frugal and fun to drive.
The C-HR — the name stands for Coupe High-Rider, Toyota says — is a compact four-door, five-seat cuteutility vehicle.
Powered by an efficient 2.0-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine, it offers 144 horsepower and 139 poundfeet of torque, applied to the front wheels by Toyota’s CVT automatic transmission.
Those aren’t big numbers, but this is not a big car. Riding on 18-inch wheels, it’s light on its feet and light on the scales, weighing in at 3,300 pounds.
The car has sporty lines, including a sharp downward swoop behind the rear doors and muscular, flared wheel wells.
It comes standard with three drive modes: Sport, Normal. and Eco. I stayed in Sport, making the most of the little engine by using the manual “stick shift” option.
At times, the car felt like it needed a few more hamsters on the under-hood wheel. But the C-HR proved adequate for hills and runs up and down the freeway.
The C-HR comes standard as the XLE and in a more luxurious trim line, the XLE Premium. Though both models share the powertrain and include a suite of safety systems — such as lane departure warning, pre-collision sensing and pedestrian alerts — blind-spot monitoring and rear crosstraffic alert come only on the higher trim.
The dash and center console are made of practical, easyto-clean plastics. The rearview backup camera is a tiny window in the rear-view mirror.
The rear seating section is also very spare. The three back-seat passengers will need to be small ones. There are no amenities back there either, save a cup holder. Don’t look for ports for your devices.
But those rear seats fold down and offer about 40 cubic feet of cargo space. The C-HR offers an actual spare tire, with actual tools to change it.
If you’re a starting-out SUV buyer, the C-HR is a lot of car for the money and could be a smart choice.