For A Yaris with five doors makes a lot of sense for those who need a compact family car, and the Yaris furthers its case with generous rear-seat room and a frugal engine.
Against In town, the Yaris can just about get away with it, but on faster roads the ride, refinement and handling show themselves to be nowhere near as good as the class best.
The Yaris tries hard to do its best with good economy and equipment and superb construction, but flaws in the refinement, driving manners and ride let it down.
Toyota's pert supermini comes in three- and five-door bodies, and both are among the shortest cars in their class. That makes them ideal for city-dwellers and anyone who needs an easy-to-park car.
It also means the Yaris is very nippy through congested city streets. However, it's not as comfortable as the best supermini rivals because the ride doesn't ever really settle at any speed.
The handling is decent, but the sporty SR models fall some way short of rivalling the best junior hot hatches.
Many drivers won't find the driving position all that comfy: its high-set position is not helped by steering that only adjusts for angle, although the dash looks funky.
There are 1.0-, 1.3- and 1.8-litre petrol engines and a 1.4 turbodiesel, and our favourite model in the range is the 1.3 petrol in T3 five-door form.
Trims are Toyota's usual T2, T3, TR and T Spirit, as well as sporty SR.
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