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First impressions: Nippier than the Red Baron, most definitely. Suspension seems much more taught but that could be because it's new and there was only 4 miles on the clock so hasn't had chance to soften yet. I don't know if it's just me being subjective but I swear that the turning circle is tighter?! My beloved HUD is there and after what seemed to be disaster (Hybrid Assistant shut down with "unknown" in the space for the car model!) and much hasty transfer of debugging logs, the team at Hybrid Assistant quickly "fixed me" and that is up and running great! Happy days! Obviously, I've only driven it 20 miles back to home so check back here in a week or so and I'll try and do a much more objective revue directly comparing it with our dear departed Launch Edition (the Red Baron). So far, so many more dashboards to tinker with!! 🤣 I know it is not usual to show the reg number of a car but I just couldn't resist this as we managed to get a "kind of" status plate by accident when I saw it on the list and it fits me to a "T"!! 😇 (PS. ...and the "new24" is pretty appropriate too!!)

Apart from 2 forays into other marques I've pretty much bought Fords, and mostly the XR/ST/RS ones at that, my whole life. I only switched to Toyota due to Ford withdrawing the Fiesta as I really missed the smaller cars. And their obsession with electric only 🤔 So I was always going to be a reluctant soldier and my purchase was going to be full of scepticism and maybe (hopefully not) regret. But I have to say that I absolutely love the Premiere edition because: - I love the blue colour - The body shape is excellent - The economy is amazing - It drives beautifully - It's a technical tour de force. Love playing with the throttle to try and tease as much economy out of it as I can and the HUD is just fab - The adaptive cruise is more intelligent than Ford's - The ability of the speed limiter to match itself to the current speed limit with just one button press is just excellent. I use the speed limiter constantly so this is really good - Mrs Dastardly (Penelope?) loves it - The configuration options on the dashboard are excellent. - It just feels like it's been designed by boffins, rather than people in overalls But it's not all roses 🌹 Some, albeit minor, annoyances. - The engine is quite harsh/growly. Ford's 3 pot system is much smoother and not nearly as loud. - The door handles feel quite flimsy due to being quite thin but I'm sure I'll get used to that. - The positioning of the window controls are a little strange compared to what I am used to. Very high up. Probably just me though - Severe lack of internal storage. Door pockets are tiny, no opportunity to store anything in the centre console - Quite annoying that your personal options, e.g. turning off PCA, resets every time you re-start the engine, unless I'm just being thick - The "Hold" button resetting itself on every journey is bizarre. Should remember the setting or just be a configurable menu option. - Lack of factory options e.g. sunroof, heated seats. Would have paid for both The negatives are just minor/personal really as the positives are so good. Haven't been this happy with a new car acquisition for a long time 👍

Picked mine up today. First ever Toyota so I have nothing to compare it to but it is very nice so far and more than enough power for what I need

At last we managed a long run today (200mile round trip) so I can start to share my thoughts about our shiny new Blue Demon! First things first, please ignore the mpg in my sig as it is wrong. I made a mistake when entering our first full tank fuel up and because Fuelly caches stuff, the real measured figure of 56.8mpg, probably won't show until tomorrow. Not withstanding my mess up, I am really impressed with even 56.8 for a first neck to neck anyway! The Red Baron (my previous Launch Edition 2020 car) only managed 48.3 at its first so I am well impressed with Blue Demon's efforts and when you consider that everything will be a bit "tight" etc, that's a great result. Also, it wasn't that hot today either barely getting above 11-12 degrees C so that should be borne in mind... So, what do I think of the new car and the way that the new (more powerful) drivetrain works? As an overall impression and please bear in mind that everything I may say is very subjective and just my opinion based on comparing it with my previous car, I would have to say that I am very impressed with the many improvements but also a bit frustrated with some of the annoyances! One of the first things that hit us both as we settled down to a cruise at about 65mph was just how quiet it was inside compared to the Red Baron. When I opened the driver's window ajar (the top kept within the wind deflector depth) it didn't even seem to be as loud then either. In my opinion, they have certainly beefed up the insulation in some way or ways. You can still make the engine "growl" if you want but even that seems to be a bit more muted than before. Most of the journey on the main roads (either dual carriageway or motorway) was completed using adaptive cruise control and this highlighted something straight away. There seems to have been a lot of improvements in the software department in regard to how things operate now. The system as a whole seems to be a lot less aggressive and "rough around the edges". Things like lane centring and speed matching are a lot smoother and more well controlled. Especially good now is the way it takes a curve when, for example, you go from one motorway to another at an intersection which usually involves some long sweeping slip road bends as you traverse from one to the other and some measure of speed reduction is usually required in the process. Guess what? It is now virtually automatic and oh so smooth in execution! First, it measures the bend well and steers it very gently with no jerks at all whilst at the same time gently slowing the vehicle in the process by some 10-15mph as you negotiate the bend and once the road straightens out again and you are on the next motorway, it gently regains the speed you were travelling at before! All in all, a very well managed process. The radar is also so good now it virtually never lost the lane markings or edge of the road once all the way there. Even around town it is so well mannered even at very slow speeds. We tried the built-in Nav for a time and also Android Auto but eventually stayed with the latter as the built-in Nav is so old fashioned in terms of its display (a personal preference I know) and harks back to the days of TomTom displays. I'm afraid Google beats it hands down with a full screen of realistic looking landscapes from satellite shot overlays and is so much more relatable with what you are actually seeing on the road instead of spidery roadmaps with no features on it at all. One nice change I really liked is that the interior rear view mirror can also go straight up and down now as well as the usual ball joint adjustment. This is particularly useful for people like myself with a 6'3" frame and also allows more of the windscreen between the top of the (bigger) head unit and the base of the mirror, to be clear and unobstructed ahead. Also at last they have separated the nav voice and audio stream properly in that you can adjust them separately now from the same control now (which didn't work at all well before). Anyway, I've probably gone on long enough for now so I'll finish this episode here and will offer some more thoughts later...

So, coming up to 2 years of ownership of the Yaris. Sitting waiting with my 14 year old son to pick the good lady of the house up. Dad…has this car got Sport mode. No Son. Oh, I miss Sport mode like our old cars had. I’m rolling my eyes 🙄 at this point in disgust of my son’s teenage obsession with speed. Dad. What’s this mode button do. Err, I dunno, the sales person said just leave those buttons alone as the car sorts itself out. (At this point I’m puffing my chest because I’m a man, I never read the manual, it’s built into our genes to never read the manual) So, my lad presses it, ECO, PWR or just normal. Now my lad is all over the button. “PWR” Dad! PWR! I’m gonna Google it. Sheesh, what a world we live in. So, off we go..in PWR mode, I floor the pedal, blimey the Lady Yaris picked up her skirt and lit the road up in thrum of CVT and triple cylinder explosive fun! Don’t get me wrong, we ain’t gonna win many races, but my lad has raised the Yaris in his expectations, and Mum’s car is quite cool 😎. How ridiculous we’ve had the car 2 years and we’ve never bothered with those buttons 🤣.

It amazes me how many indignant owners think parts and technical problems only relate to Toyota. I won’t be buying again is the cry in some sort of declaration of punishment but the fact is, Toyota are statistically better than the others and there are woeful examples with virtually every other brand. Go on, sell it and buy something else, that’ll solve all of your problems. Before you do, join the forum of your intended salvation and have a little flick through.

I am still plugging in every day and it takes less than a minute to get the ctek5 to show 4 lights. Yesterday I went to the doctors and had to park in a side road about 15 minutes walk from the surgery. I got out of the car and pressed the key......nothing happened so I thought pollocks, the fob battery must be flat. No choice but to walk to my appointment and leave the car unlocked. For the next 45 minutes all I could think of was whether the key fob would start the car. Got back to the car I pressed the fob a few more times with no flashing lights, tentatively got in and.........no wonder it wouldn't lock. It was sitting there in ready mode. At least it had probably charged up the battery but good job it didn't get pinched.

I have water in my Yaris too ... Evian, Smart and Highland Spring if anyone wants some

Last time I had fun in a car I had to get married..👀

I only use BP Ultimate E5. This is because (a) I have a BP Loyalty Card and almost have enough points for a multipack of Kronenbourg 1664 and (b) E10 Petrol is eco-mentalist voodoo claptrap, made out of Moonshine and Greta Turdberg's wee.

Sneaky peak 😉 Picked it up today. Sensible conversations were had with the sales manager about my experience and all appropriate apologies and understandings were given. So well done Jemca Croydon for making it right in the end

I'm an idiot and a buffoon. It was my metallic coffee cup rattling in the cup holder. I'm leaving this up as a testament of my haste to worry and general lack of intellect.

We've had pre-collision systems in our cars for years, but strangely they only seem to activate when my wife is a passenger ....

In a word, no. You'll be buying one of the best small full hybrids on the market in my opinion. I have only done half of your mileage per year in mine over the last 3 and a half years and have never had a failed start once. (...and have never needed to use a booster to start it either)

Nice pictures, thanks for the review. Given my user name I must be the only one feeling any sort of satisfaction that it still has the Mutley battery 😉

I've stopped to count the times that happened to me 😇. I park, get down from te car, press the keyfob and.... nothing. Open the door and a big READY label explains why !!!!!! 😉

The user manual states 3.2 litre without filter and 3.5 litre with filter. There is no mention of sump plug torque. Normally it's about 25-35 Nm - not a lot. Not an opportunity to show off the gorilla muscles.

Phone the dealer up and tell them you are going to buy 5 litres of 0W/8 and a filter and bring it back while they change it. Tell them you are going to let Mazda GB know and that you want all your costs back. You are running round with completely the wrong oil in and it needs to come out. The engine relies on 0W for cold weather when it could starve parts of the engine of oil. Ignore daft videos about thin oil, that’s because somebody is ignorant about fluid dynamics. You can’t compress a fluid (within normal reason) and in an engine with very fine tolerances, you need low viscosity oil in cold weather to get it round fast. Get it out and get the correct oil in.

When I picked ours up the pressures were so over inflated it had Goodyear written on the side and had two blokes holding it down with ropes…

Would love to echo your thoughts, but can't get near the other half's new premiere 🤪 But first impressions from her she really likes the updated Yaris - she was set not to as she couldn't get in black and wasnt keen on the blue (whic I really like). She went for silver metallic bitone. Agreed, quieter, smoother, nice power/torque increase, much improved dash and HUD with now everything she wants displayed. Dark interior, ambient lighting, wireless charging and cloud sat nav all plus points and she kept BSM, JBL, HUD, dipping rear mirror. Seems better put together and no rattles yet and MPG looking healthy (don't have a figure but she's not mentioned it being lower). No negatives to speak of - generally great update and as noted the software seems better all round - she says it genuinely feels like driver assistance now. I will drive it at some point, but from a passenger and pensive partner perspective, I'm very happy too!

I’m always pushing my wife’s buttons, once I didn’t see her for three days, my eyes did open, eventually, when the swelling went down..

It seems that you and I are similar Chas (I'm fast approaching 75!) in that I've driven a lot of high powered rally and track machinery in my murky past... However, unlike you, I still find the Mk4 Yaris (to use @Cyker's vernacular) a bit of a hoot to drive and love watching the faces of other driver's in much higher powered cars when I leave them for dead at the traffic light grand prix (up to 30 at least anyway...) with the help of the combined ICE and max torque of MG2. I can just see it on their faces as they subsequently pass me with a quizzical look... "that's a hybrid?!" 😁

True, although it's easier to claim on the warranty if the servicing is done by the dealer otherwise you get the extra step to prove work was done properly. Also, if you have a long dealership history, you're more likely to get goodwill. The relax warranty was a clever move, and with hybrids it makes sense as you also get the HHC free. I'd be very reluctant do take my car there for any other work, e.g. tyres and brakes and especially non-hybrid system related diagnostics, but for basic servicing I've been happy with them so far.

There have been some interesting comments on this forum regarding the effect of different fuel grades on fuel economy and perceived smoothness/performance/noise levels of the Yaris 1.5 hybrid engine in the Yaris and Yaris Cross. As a STEM professional, I have zero tolerance of voodoo science: it's got to be a combination of science-based modelling and empirical evidence. The earth isn't flat, the moon landings weren't faked, Covid wasn't a hoax or caused by 5G, and vaccines actually work....get over it So I tried to do an experiment. What follows wouldn't get past the first stage of a rigorous peer review, so bear that in mind. I wanted to eliminate the placebo effect i.e. I know I've put super-unleaded in the tank, so I drive differently and convince myself the engine is smoother/quieter/more responsive.... So what I did, for the last 4000 miles I re-fuelled when the gauge was showing nearly empty and Mrs SPS filled the car BUT without telling me what fuel she chose (E10 or 'E5/super-unleaded'), choice dictated by coin flip Fuel economy: OK, this wasn't easy tank-to-tank because of varying weather/driving patterns etc, so the best I could do was to select individual journeys using the App (hybrid coaching) because many journeys are repeated regularly. All of these journeys using higher-grade fuel showed higher mpg than those with E10, and the average was 5% improvement. BUT, this was a limited number of journeys/data points, not a proper controlled experiment (that peer review committee would be shredding me by now) and the variation was 3-8% Now this is where it gets interesting: I noted my (entirely subjective, yes, I admit) observations regarding my perception of the aforementioned engine characteristics. My prior expectation was that there would be no statistically-significant correlation....but lordy, to my surprise, I was wrong. When I perceived the engine's performance to be smoother/quieter/more responsive, it was 100% correlated with the higher-grade fuel. Performance, yes, I might expect, simple science explanation of energy content per litre, other characteristics.... I dunno. The difference wasn't huge (the engine's pretty quiet most of the time anyway and acceptably smooth) but noticeable. Others on this forum (thanks anchorman in particular) have explained why this might be so Like I said, this is far from a properly-controlled double-blind experiment, with the added 'bonus' of some subjectivity so please don't flame me for the obvious shortfalls in my evidence gathering. E10 clearly has some environmental benefits, so it's an 'interesting' choice we have. I'd be interested to hear others' experiences using different grade fuels

Crikey, you’re on thin ice bringing this up, I got a “how dare you” quickly followed by a luvvie revert to the poor and mental health. if you follow the logic you should get a modest improvement in economy although never usually enough to make up for the increase cost and it should be quieter because the engine management computer can and will advance the timing without knock. The big benefit for me is keeping the system clean. Before I get lambasted, if somebody prefers supermarket fuel, been using it for 40 years, had 20 cars no problem etc etc, crack on.

Has anyone upgraded there feeble horn on corolla ts, I struggle to scare pigeons out of the way, my old prius was 10 times better

The MK4 is the best small automatic car in the world, your one is mk 4.5 shall we call it. Am very satisfied with the normal 116 hp.

EV mode then power is circa 230hp max but Toyota curtail the power delivery above 50mph. My experience from testing. Hybrid mode then the 306hp DIN is available. Motors plus ICE working together. Battery does not need to be charged to get the full power in hybrid mode. There's a reserve in the traction battery which is near on impossible to deplete. I've tried especially hard and I've got it to almost zero but failed to get it to zero. The second you aren't accelerating that reserve is topped up from the generator on the ICE. This happens pretty quick. I'd say the only risk of totally flattening the reserve is by caning it at 90mph with frequent acceleration bursts towing a caravan up hill. Note that hybrid mode does not give you full 306hp if the engine is cold. Takes 3 to 8 minutes to warm up (depending on outside temperature) before full power is made available. Until then you are looking at 230hp. Again, I've tested this. Personally, I manually select between EV and Hybrid mode rather than use Auto. I know where I'm going and can maximise use of the traction battery to ensure I empty it rather than using petrol. So if I'm on the motorway I'll switch to EV mode when in a jam or it's the average 50mph speed limit thing and when off the motorway I'll use EV mode. Eventually I've got good at deciding when to switch. Whether the above is as good as the Auto mode is another matter. Eco, Normal and Sport modes change the throttle response (sensitivity of the accelerator pedal), steering weight (I think), and the Aircon performance. I usually run the car in sport mode.

Bring back 20w 50, now that was a REAL man’s oil….

The e in the eCVT is the way the computer works to vary the ratio of the epicyclic geartrain. In other transmissions they would have servos and clutches to lock fixed ratios but in an eCVT they use the speed of MG1 to vary the input or sun gear. It’s very clever and all the competitors would love to mimic it but it’s locked down with patents. So! They can spin that sun gear anywhere from faster than the output (vehicle speed) which gives low ratios to the same speed which gives 1:1 to actually turning it backwards to give overdrive ratios. This is all in an attempt to keep the engine in its most efficient range which is between 1500 to 2000rpm. If you’re on the motorway and you floor it you are loading it in the overdrive ratio and as you correctly surmise, at lower speeds you use lower ratios. You can understand why that damper wants to breakaway because that’s when there’s most load on it. The ultra simple epicyclic geartrain is the star of the show for me. This clever little device is about the diameter of a saucer and the thickness of a pork pie and by locking it to MG2 via an outer cog, it forms the power split device that when working a bit like a diff’ becomes the power split device. It’s absolutely ingenious.

It's because it's so runny it gets up the dipstick tube when you pull the dipstick, but although it's runny, it still clings to the metal surface and gets transferred back onto the upper parts of the dipstick. Incidentally, that's one way to see if oil is still good - Good oil will cling to a surface and stick to it, forming a thin lubricating film, but when it's broken down it will run off that surface much more easily and the film it leaves behind will be much weaker and will rub off more easily instead of leaving a film. He didn't say that, he said 5w30 is better than 10w30 - The essence is that while both are not ideal, 5w30 is 'less wrong' than 10w30. At the end of the day, the oil HAS to be matched with the engine tolerances - You would NOT want to use 0w20 on an old engine where the tolerances are huge as it'd not have enough film strength for the parts and they'd flop about too much. On the other hand, using 10w30 on these modern engines with their tiny tolerances will mean lots of metal-on-metal contact as the oil can't flow properly through the narrow gaps; ESPECIALLY on hybrids where the engine is constantly stopping and starting - That's where the most wear occurs in an engine, in that brief moment where the oil pressure has to be built up.

0w8 or 0w16 and at very bottom 0w20 , these are only oil viscosity types that you can use safely in your hybrid Toyota. Anything else is out of spec. Those 10w30 aren’t even so popular oils used in Europe, these are mostly USA and some Asian regions , perhaps difficult to find easily in shops either. Opieoils have them but they aren’t suitable for your engine. The problem is not only cold starts during cold weather, but any starts of the engine, since it’s a hybrid the engine starts and spins immediately at very high rpm so you need the right oil type and viscosity to have the required lubrication and protection.

Situation is now resolved. Swapping the car for a 24 plate on Saturday, which we are happy with.

Cars usually arrive with transportation tyre pressures (often 40-50 odd psi. Dealer should drop them during the PDI stage but they often don’t.

mk2 pay the extra and get the more up-to-date safety features like side and curtain airbags - It is a lot easier to upgrade things like the radio, all but the basic cars have reverse cameras too, plenty of aygo's about so shop around not an issue on later cars 06-07 cars did have issues, 1kr's don't burn oil unless severely neglected, on the other hand rattling timing chains are common, if you don't do regular oil changes with quality oil

No way would I buy any used car this way without seeing it first and giving it a thorough look over and a test drive 🤷‍♂️

Just had this "Hybid Malfunction, Visit Dealer" message this Saturday morning. I was less than a mile from Lindops Queensferry, so drove straight there. They read the code (Torque Damper problem) and reset it, ordered the new part under warranty, gave me a coffee whilst I waited and promised to email me when the part come in to book it in. Was in and out of there in maybe half an hour. Car is fine to drive without issues/messages. Happy chappie here. Hats off to Lindops, superb service, can't be faulted. Cheers, Trev.

I would have thought in your case it was hooked up to an Infinite Improbability Drive (Good grief try saying that 3 times fast after a few pints! )

What's this big red handle for?..................shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Cyker, I fully agree with your views, but I would add my following reservation. As I have previously stated, the abilities across the whole spectrum of drivers varies quite considerably. There are many who would firmly believe that they would be just a proficient at 100 mph as they are at 70 mph, when clearly they would not. Drivers of fast response vehicles (police/fire/ambulance) have to go through rigorous training for this, and not without good reason. Before motorways were limited to 70 mph, I have driven at 100 mph. I was a lot younger then but, at that speed, I was aware of my own increased vulnerability. Now in my (very) late 80s, I still drive on motorways and I regularly touch the 70 limit - mainly to get by strings of slower moving HGVs - but apart from this I am happy to tootle along at 55-60 mph in lane one. Were the motorway speed limit raised to 100 mph, I would not be happy at being among drivers who erroniously believed themselves to be safe at such a speed.

No..the big end..

Ones Red the other Blue?

You can do anything if you throw enough money at it James but by the time you’ve done those, just trade it in for an Excel.

Ugh this is just BS lazy reporting for sensationalist clickbait - It's just *another* uk.gov petition trying to get the speed limit increased, nothing special or new; The 'could', while technically true, has similar probability to me winning the national lottery (For context, I don't play the national lottery) I can play that game too - Just from the current active petitions: "UK could ban the sale of power tools!" "UK could ban the use of dogs!" "UK could legalize murder!" I could have been a great journalist if I didn't value my integrity

I have found a way around the problem with passengers is don't carry them in the car😀😀😀

Nothing get easier does it 🤦‍♂️.... 30 options on the tumble dryer, thats if it hasnt told you told you clean the fluff filter via the app, 20 button combinations on the dishwasher and nobody uses 18 of them ....is it just me or is anyone else hankering for things that just have an ON/OFF button and maybe a calendar reminder to replace the bag on the hoover every 6 months ?

On LTA, get in the habit using the indicators. This handy gadget performs two functions, it warns other road users that you are intentionally avoiding or aiming at them. Another possibly unknown effect is to mute the LTA and even stops trying to pull you back. I haven't tried driving with the right indicator permanently on to see of it permanently mutes the LTA as the incessant clicking is annoying. ⁶

Good one ☝️ Let us know how you find the new tyres. Also double check pressures tomorrow morning before driving off to make sure they are correctly set because no tyre filter ever do these right and every driver should check and adjust next day.

update, i brought it to a bodyshop new bumper ordered and my neighbour has paid the bill already just shy of £900.