Text: Graham Hope / Photos: Otis Clay

April 2008

Ever ordered a present on the Internet and it’s failed to turn up in time for a friend’s birthday? Or been stuck at an airport waiting for a delayed flight to take off? Pretty irritating, isn’t it?

That’s how I’ve felt recently. Auto Express has received the keys for a brand spanking new Toyota Yaris TR, which I’m supposed to be running. But my time on the road so far has been fairly limited, because red tape delayed my local council from issuing me with a new parking permit – meaning I had nowhere to leave the car when not at the wheel!

So, for the most part I’ve had to listen to the glowing reports of my colleagues as they put the initial few miles on the little Toyota. And if first impressions count, the Yaris is off to a flying start. Its Chilli Red paintjob immediately catches the eye – and seems sure to go down well in my neighbourhood of Highbury, home of Premiership hotshots Arsenal!

In town, the Yaris is impressive. Whether darting into gaps or
nipping away from the lights, it’s a sprightly performer that deals with the stresses of urban motoring with minimum fuss.

Inside, the cabin has plenty of room up front for a six-footer like me, and leg space in the back is good for such a small car. It’s the engine, though, that is undoubtedly the Yaris’s trump card. In this eco-obsessed age,

its first obvious benefit is a CO2 output of only 119g/km. That will be enough to make it exempt from the capital’s congestion charge if proposals from current mayor Ken Livingstone go through later this year.

And it has a welcome side benefit for me, too, in that it’s reduced my parking bill. Under new emissions-based regulations, the permit for my previous car would have cost an eye-watering £200 a year. That’s been reduced to a far more reasonable £38 now. But it still didn’t help speed up my application for a new pass!

Of course, cutting costs is all very well, yet the most important consideration for an engine is how it performs. With a mere 180 miles on the clock, we’ll have to reserve judgement until it loosens up properly. But its 88bhp is fine for the city, and claimed fuel economy of 62.8mpg means I shouldn’t shell out too much at the pumps.

So far, so good then. And with my long-awaited permit finally here, I’m ready to pile on the miles!

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