What’s it like inside?
executed slightly differently, include some angular lines and quite elaborate detailing. Like most crossovers, the Cross also features plastic cladding around its wheel arches and flanks.
The Limited picks up some external adornments denied to the basemodel GX, including LED rather than halogen lights and 18inch rather than 16inch alloy wheels. Plus, of course, there’s the Limited option of a twotone paint finish.
There’s much more that’s familiar from the Yaris hatch inside the cabin than outside it. The shared elements are mainly up front and include the dash layout, pinstripe chrome highlighting, multifunction steering wheel, semidigital instrument cluster and seveninch centremounted touchscreen.
The same preponderance of hardtouch plastics feature too, well put together of course (because this is a Toyota), but which mean the cabin is not quite as plush as those of some Yaris Cross rivals. I found the test car’s brownbeigethemed trimming nostalgic; my grandma had a lounge suite in similar colours in the 1980s.
Upfront seating is noticeably more upright in the Yaris Cross and the combination of light trim colours above the waistline, plenty of headroom and a more expansive glass area make for a brighter and airier ambience than the hatch. Storage includes a pullout bin under the driver’s seat, a tray under the touchscreen and an array of bins and cup holders on the centre console and in the doors, but the
Yaris Cross would be better yet with some grippy rubber surfaces in those spaces to stop objects sliding around.
The rear seats are accessed a little awkwardly by quite small doors that do not open wide, but there is plenty of space in the back once aboard. Drivesouth’s test involved a full day with two adults in the back and they were impressed by the amount of room, comfort and good visibility provided from their seats, though noting the absence of rear air vents.
Boot space takes a firm step up to 390 litres from the Yaris hatch’s 270 litres, which places the Cross among the compact SUV class leaders for luggage capacity. A poweroperated tailgate with handsfree activation provides easy boot access on the Limited. There’s also a clever splitfloor system that provides a hidden underfloor cargo space, along with an extended flat floor when the rear seats are folded forward. interface is standard from entry level too. It operates in conjunction with a sixspeaker audio system featuring voice recognition and Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto smartphone mirroring, alongside the usual Bluetooth and plugged connectivity option. As on the hatch, while not state of the art in terms of functionality or graphics, the touchscreen system works well enough, and the only real niggle is the provision of just one USB plugin point.
The Limited adds satellite navigation, smart keyless entry, full climate control, synthetic leather trim for the seat bolsters, seat heaters upfront, power adjustment for the driver’s seat and rear privacy glass.