Toyota Yaris SR: Where did all the vroom go?

No one in the motoring press seems to like the Toyota Yaris SR, the newly launched Yaris range-topper. They say it's wussy, that it's not sporty enough to justify its high price, that it's too safe and subdued, that it rides too softly and lacks gumption. It is, they seem to be saying, about as hard core as an episode of The Good Life, which is hardly likely to quicken the pulse of the kind of anoraks who judge a car by the diameter of its exhaust pipe and the gap between its tyres and the wheel arches.

There are sinister whispers, too, that in its quest to replace General Motors as the world's largest car company (something it achieved in April) Toyota has been fatally compromised. A rampant expansion of its manufacturing to countries not previously known for their rigorous quality control, like Turkey and Slovakia, is beginning to reverse decades of meticulous obsession to detail. There have been recalls galore (the AA's website details seven for the Avensis alone, although the Yaris has not been quite so badly affected), and rumours that the company might be about to enter the same kind of quality quagmire from which Mercedes is only just emerging.

So is a Toyota backlash about to kick off? The Prius aside, it currently has a core product range that is so nondescript it makes the shadow cabinet look like a circus troupe. Can you dredge up any notion of what an Auris looks like? Or the Verso? How about the Avensis? They are all fine enough cars, sensible, good value, efficient and still well made, it's just that they are also pathologically forgettable.

So what was needed was a funky little hot hatch to give us a punch up the sub-[pound]10k bracket. Unfortunately, what we've got is a [pound]13,575, lightly breathed-upon urban run-around. Toyota has given the Yaris a tiny rear spoiler, a slightly fatter exhaust and lowered its suspension by a token 8mm. It also claims to have tightened up the steering and suspension a little, but not so as you notice, and the engine still sounds about as sporty as a food processor. It is all too little for too much.

The standard Yaris is a fine car, amazingly spacious, beautifully finished and with more airbags than a bouncy castle. Its interior space defies the logic of its exterior proportions: there is plenty of room for four adults and some baggage. Though I would personally risk a punt on a Suzuki Swift, I usually recommend friends and relatives buy a Yaris if they are looking for a small hatch because I know that they won't come back a year or two later complaining about breakdowns, servicing costs or depreciation.

But if they come looking for a small hot hatch I would suggest they look elsewhere, to either the Renault Clio 197, the Suzuki Swift Sport or, if I detect in them a streak of masochism, a hard riding, buzzy little Fiat Panda 100hp. The Yaris SR feels like a car Toyota felt it ought to make, but did so with some reluctance and little commitment. And if it can't get excited about building a hot hatch, it can hardly expect us to get excited about buying one, can it? n

Toyota MR2

it's a classic

Here is a proper little sports car, as opposed to a lightly tweaked shopping trolley, that was the original Toyota MR2. This brilliant, mid-engined two seater was unveiled at the 1983 Tokyo Motor Show. In the same way that the Mazda MX5 updated the MG, the MR2 was a modern incarnation of the much loved, though flawed Fiat X/ 19. MR2 stood for 'mid-engined recreational two seater' (a name dropped in France for being too close to merde) and it was a blistering success, partly because of its wonderfully free-revving engine, but also because it offered a taste of supercar-style, mid- engined handling for the masses. Though the MR2 was very cramped and had virtually no luggage space, more than 160,000 MKIs were built. Toyota introduced a smoother looking, larger MR2 in 1989 but early versions were dogged with a reputation for treacherous handling which was swiftly resolved following some unfortunate publicity. If only Toyota made cars this charismatic today.

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