Toyota glams up C-HR crossover for 2020
LOCAL LAUNCH/ It’s an interesting option with adequate levels of practicality, luxury, safety and dynamism, writes Phuti Mpyane
Toyota has more or less rediscovered that it’s a premium car maker. This shouldn’t be a surprise, given that some of its more recent cars like the Rav4, and particularly the new Corolla hatch, are founded on new virtues of refinement and excitement where once the company was famed for dull pragmatism.
These days they have given way to attractive looking hatches, and crossovers like the C-HR which has received a fairly comprehensive update. You’ll get no arguments that its bulbous shape looks nothing like the Nissan Juke, Citroën C3 Aircross and Hyundai Kona it goes against in the chic crossover segment, a category that sells daily life practicality but with the main weapons its more expressive, individualistic aesthetics.
It’s an eruption of deeply contoured body sides and in the middle of that moon-buggy inspired curviness are living quarters fashioned with a rakish roof. There are six exterior shade options, of which Inferno Orange and Oxide Bronze metallic are new.
The Luxury grade also gets exclusively offered in bi-tone configuration — with Passion Red, Nebula Blue and Inferno Orange being the latest colour schemes on offer and all paired with a black roof.
Most of the physical change zeroes in on the front-end where the front bumper is widened and larger. More vertically positioned side air intakes enhance the grimace while the fog lamps have been moved to a higher, more outward perch.
Detail changes see standard and Plus grade cars get LED headlights with daytime running lights and integrated indicators. A new gloss black spoiler appears on the rear as well as brighter tail lamps.
It’s a good look that relates to the new Corolla and a profile quite like nothing else from Toyota, and indeed from rival brands.
Thanks to a low swooping roof the four-to-five seater interior has less room than a conventional crossover but it is spacious enough and it’s not cramped in the back of the CHR. The 328l boot volume is surprisingly cavernous too.
Driving the Luxury spec CHR that comes with a lot of kit as standard, the 2020 iteration enhances the caboodle of spec to now include a multimedia system with fuller smartphone integration and support for the latest versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Main display and multi-information display screens in the Plus grade have been enlarged to 20cm and 10cm respectively.
The C-HR also benefits from Toyota’s complimentary 15Gb in-car Wi-Fi allocation at purchase. The quality and ergonomics of the snug cabin are superb and there were no squeaks despite the close proximity of leather to plastic covered panels and surfaces.
On the move the standard across the range turbo 1.2l fourpotter that is paired with a sixspeed manual or a CVT gearbox puts down its 85W and 185Nm effortlessly and finely in its FWD configuration.
More surprisingly, it rides with compliance and low NVH (Noise Vibrations and Harshness) levels usually associated with higher end cars.
What the C-HR is not, is an athlete, but it felt keen when engaged sportily. It’s more cruiser than racer, but that doesn’t make it boring as buyers in this niche are more interested in style anyway.
The facelift also introduces Toyota’s Safety Sense system, albeit only on the Luxury specification. This is a suite of electronic driver safety aids including Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM), Lane Change Assist (LCA), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Precrash system, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keeping Assist. All C-HR models are sold with a six-service/90,000km service plan and three-year/ 100,000km warranty.
MOST OF THE PHYSICAL CHANGE ZEROES IN ON THE FRONT-END WHERE THE FRONT BUMPER IS WIDENED AND LARGER
Pricing
Toyota C-HR 1.2T — R371,700 Toyota C-HR 1.2T Plus R403,000 Toyota C-HR 1.2T Plus CVT R415,100
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