Toyota C-HR review

You won’t have any issues with leg or head room unless you’re exceptionally tall. There’s some stowage space between the driver and passenger for odds and ends, along with a couple of cup holders (one behind the gearlever and another in front of it).

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However, the door pockets are rather slender, so big bottles of water won’t fit. The glovebox is also on the small side.

Given that the C-HR is about the same size as a Seat Ateca, you’d imagine rear space would be similar in both cars. Sadly, that’s not the case. The C-HR is surprisingly small in the back, with rear and head room closer to that offered by smaller rivals like the Renault Captur.

A couple of kids or even tall teenagers won’t moan about outright space, but they will feel rather claustrophobic; the tiny rear side windows makes you feel a bit like you’re trapped inside a pillar box. Squeezing three in the back is also more difficult than in many of the C-HR’s rivals, including the Ateca.

All C-HR’s come with 60/40 split-folding rear seats, but that’s about your lot. There’s no option to add more convenient 40/20/40 split seatbacks, and there are no handles in the boot to fold the seatbacks down – you have to push a button next to the rear headrests, which obviously involves walking around to the side of the car.

The C-HR’s rear seats don’t slide or recline, either (as they do in a VW Tiguan) and adjustable lumbar support is available only for the driver, not the front passenger.

Outright boot space is disappointing compared with similarly sized, similarly priced rivals like as the Ateca and Qashqai; even the smaller Audi Q2 can carry more luggage. The C-HR’s boot is fairly broad right at the back of the car but tapers towards the rear seats, which further compromises practicality.

It’s also a pity Toyota hasn’t made a bit more effort to make the C-HR’s boot easier to use. For instance, there’s no height-adjustable boot floor like you’ll find in most rivals, meaning there’s an annoyingly big lip at the boot entrance and a hefty step in the floor when the rear seats are folded down.