Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid 1.5 Active brings down the price but with a few compromises

The Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid in this base 'Active' trim brings down the price of the firm's excellent hybrid technology, but you'll have to live with a few compromises.

Sensible, reliable, and safe. These are the traits that most customers look for when shopping from Toyota's lineup, the overlap of which who also happen to want their car finished in pink, I reckon, is probably close to zero.

Yet here we are, gazing our eyes upon the bright finish of what is otherwise a practical and high-value crossover. Could this combination of a bold exterior and efficient underpinnings push the popularity of the Yaris Cross further still?

I'm a barbie girl...

There's no denying that this wrap is an eye-catcher. Available at $2,388 on top of the price of the vehicle, this wrap comes in at a small extra, but will set your car apart at any carpark, especially handy, given the fact that the Yaris Cross is already commonplace here in Singapore.

And if this pink is too much for you, there's good news: A total of eight colours from this Urban Palette Collection are available, with options including Chalk Grey and Pearlescent Unicorn serving as more muted alternatives.

Life in plastic...

Step into the cabin of this Yaris Cross and you'll find its interior a diametric contrast from the outside. A sea of grey plastics serves duty here, which makes the Yaris Cross look outright cheap. And the tactility of the materials used here is also in need of an upgrade.

Where mass-market rivals such as the Honda HR-V are already adorning their cabins with soft padding at high contact areas, the door cards in this Yaris Cross continue to sport a cardboard-like material which we first saw and had no love for on the 'Excite' trim car we tested a while back.

The urethane steering wheel used in this 'Active' trim car is no pleasure to hold and grip either, and taller passengers will also find knee room lacking if they opt for the rear seats.

Thankfully, there are other redeeming points here. The air-conditioning in the Toyota Yaris Cross is outright frigid — which I found to be a great boon if you start feeling flush after being recognised in a bright pink car.

There's also plenty of storage spaces here for your keys, phone, and any other knick-knacks all about the cabin, and the double-roundel layout of the instrument cluster is a visually interesting touch that makes the omission of a head-up display in this 'Active' trim more palatable.

Wanna go for a ride?

Which is a great touch because this Toyota Yaris Cross is such a pleasure to drive. The 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid drivetrain masks the fact that it only offers a total of 110bhp well with its responsiveness, which makes weaving the car through traffic a breeze.

And you'll be able to do this in relative safety, as even this 'Active' trim car retains critical safety features including a Blind Spot Monitor and Lane Departure Alert.

Keep the throttle pinned and it will protest with an irritable engine drone, but even this is muted enough so that it quickly gets drowned out by tyre noise and wind noise once you get up to speed. Expect to hit an average fuel economy close to 25.2km/L in this crossover.

Say I'm always yours...

At $167,888, this 'Active' trim Yaris Cross can be had at a $6,000 discount next to the 'Excite' trim Yaris Cross.

More importantly, it is also competitively priced next to its rivals which include options such as the Peugeot 2008 (from $165,888) or the Volkswagen T-Cross (from $166,400), both of which do not come with the added benefit of a hybrid drivetrain.

But if you want hybrid technology in your crossover, there's one option that this Yaris Cross won't be able to shake off as easily: The Nissan Kicks e-Power.

Starting from $168,800 (all prices as of May 11, 2023), the Nissan Kicks may not be as fuel efficient as this Yaris Cross, but the healthy 260Nm of torque from its drivetrain makes it a more entertaining drive, and it also can be had with a bright Sunrise Orange finish, which I reckon is a combination that will find more customers.

What We Like

• High fuel economy
• Responsive drivetrain
• Strong air-conditioning

What We Dislike

• Not enough knee room for rear passengers
• Cabin feels cheap

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This article was first published in sgCarMart.