Toyota C-HR review

Quick review

The Toyota C-HR impresses with excellent real-world efficiency, a plush cabin, and an interior filled with tech that’s easy to use. Being a modern Toyota, it comes standard with many safety features, and – like the original – its all-hybrid engine lineup means low emissions. Credit should be given to the designers for keeping the same bold styling that made the Mk1 such a hit, because this Mk2 version looks just as dramatic.

The 2.0-litre model we’ve driven so far provides plenty of performance for everyday driving, but it only comes in top GR Sport specification, which means it’s a very expensive option compared with rivals. The CH-R Plug-in Hybrid is also very expensive and is best suited to company car drivers to help keep their tax bills low. Overall, we think the well-equipped Design trim would be better value for money, even if you have to go for the less powerful 1.8 Hybrid model.

Toyota C-HR: price, specs and rivals

Did you know that the name Toyota C-HR stands for Coupe High Rider? Well, now you do. The C-HR is in its second generation, following on from the popular first-generation Toyota C-HR, sold between 2016 and 2023. It's an efficient hybrid SUV available in full and plug-in hybrid forms, and it competes with the likes of the Hyundai Kona, Honda HR-V, Kia Niro, Nissan Qashqai, Renault Captur, and Suzuki S-Cross.

For the first time, the hybrid C-HR gains a company-car-friendly plug-in hybrid version, following the lead of its bigger Toyota RAV4 sibling. The PHEV C-HR comes with a 13.6kWh battery pack that should be good for an all-electric range of up to 41 miles. 

There are two traditional full hybrid choices: a 138bhp 1.8 Hybrid and a 194bhp 2.0 Hybrid. All engines come with a CVT automatic gearbox.

All C-HRs are well-equipped. The entry-level Icon trim gets 17-inch alloy wheels, an eight-inch touchscreen display with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a reversing camera, LED head lights, and a seven-inch multi-information display for the driver. Toyota Safety Sense also comes as standard, which includes adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, and road sign recognition.

Mid-range Design is the pick of the range because it adds front and rear parking sensors to ease the stress of slotting it into a tight car park bay, along with several other niceties. You get 18-inch alloys, heated front seats with power lumbar adjustment, wireless phone charging, rear-cross traffic alert, and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. 

The poshest Excel trim adds 19-inch alloys, LED adaptive headlights, part artificial leather and suede upholstery, a panoramic glass roof, a 360-degree camera system, a driver monitoring system, and front cross-traffic alert.

Those seeking something with a sportier look (and the more powerful 2.0-litre) might consider the GR Sport, which gets 20-inch alloys, and a contrasting roof colour. There are some additional goodies from the 64-colour ambient interior lighting, a more advanced Naneo air filtration system to filter out finer particles in the climate control system, and an uprated nine-speaker JBL sound system.

The only major downside of the C-HR is the rather stiff pricing. This Hyundai Kona-sized car starts near where that rival stops, at just under £31,500. Fancy the more powerful 2.0-litre? Then you’ll need over £40,500 for a GR Sport model. Pricing for the plug-in hybrid is slightly more reasonable, at just over £39,000, but for similar money, you could have our preferred version of the Kona Electric that’ll be even better for company car drivers paying Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax.

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Being based on the same TNGA platform as the Toyota Corolla means the latest C-HR starts out with some excellent qualities when it comes to the driving experience. 

Around town is where the C-HR impresses most, with a well-judged ride that, while a little firm at times, still has enough compliance (even in range-topping GR Sport with the biggest 20-inch wheels) over urban speed bumps and sudden impacts with potholes to give it a more comfortable ride than a Nissan Juke. If comfort is your main priority, then we reckon the smaller 17-inch wheels of Icon trim, or the 18-inch wheels of mid-range Design are the way to go. The C-HR is well-controlled in terms of body movement because it doesn’t lean quite as much as a Hyundai Kona or Honda HR-V, plus the C-HR’s meaty, direct steering makes light work of nipping around traffic in tight city streets.

Going beyond the city limits is where the old C-HR struggled because the revs used to soar whenever you asked for more than moderate acceleration, and trying to maintain speed up a hill would often become quite a noisy affair. This latest C-HR (admittedly in the more powerful of its two regular hybrid forms) seems much more comfortable with life. Sure, the engine still drones if you ask for maximum acceleration, but its extra power means you’ll get up to speed quicker, and you can get back to cruising sooner. For those choosing the C-HR Plug-In Hybrid model, you will notice its extra 200kg of weight, particularly when travelling along faster roads, but some suspension tuning has helped maintain the crisp body control of the standard hybrid C-HR, while the ride still does a good job of smothering the majority of road imperfections. 

Once up to motorway cruising speed, wind and road noise compare well with immediate rivals. We found that road noise was noticeable, but that is a common complaint with cars sporting large 20-inch wheels, so we expect lesser trim levels with smaller wheels to be quieter.

On the whole, the C-HR is a decent hybrid SUV to drive. We’d never go as far as to suggest there’s much fun or genuine driver involvement to be had, because there’s just too much going on between you and the engine itself for that. You’d need a more traditionally powered petrol small SUV, like the Ford Puma, using a manual gearbox, in order to feel involved in the driving experience. However, it is possible to lean on the body control afforded by the TNGA underpinnings, use intelligent accelerator inputs to make the transmission behave more like a conventional auto, and you can maintain genuinely swift progress on a twisting road. 

One word of caution, though. Due to the C-HR having to comply with the latest 2024 safety regulations requiring additional assistance technology such as speed limit warnings and lane keeping assistance, you’ll notice many more warning ‘bongs’ during your drive. We reckon you – like us – will become quite bored of all these alerts and want to turn them off. It is possible to do this using a menu in the digital instrument cluster, but it takes many button presses and must be done every time you restart the car.

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Engines, 0-60 acceleration and top speed

The full hybrid system you get with the 1.8 and 2.0-litre (the latter being the only regular hybrid we’ve experienced so far) engines excels around town. There’s more than enough electric shove for the car to pull away smartly in silence, and trundling around at 20mph or 30mph, the C-HR feels absolutely in its comfort zone. The generous 194bhp provided by the 2.0-litre version is enough to accelerate the C-HR from 0-62mph in 8.1 seconds, which is fast enough for this sort of car.

The entry-level 138bhp 1.8-litre should also cope just fine around town, and while its 10.2 second 0-62mph acceleration time is slower than the 2.0-litre, it still compares favourably with a 1.0-litre Skoda Karoq, which takes over 11 seconds to complete the same sprint.

With 220bhp, the 2.0-litre plug-in hybrid is the fastest C-HR, going from 0 to 62mph in 7.2 seconds. 

All of the engines in the C-HR line-up have hybrid technology, so when we discuss which version is thirstiest, it’ll still be far more frugal than rivals using only petrol power. Technically, the 2.0 Hybrid in GR Sport form is the least efficient version, managing ‘only’ 57.7mpg and 110g/km emissions. That’s still leagues ahead of the base 1.0-litre Hyundai Kona that averages nearly 10mpg less. 

The 1.8 Hybrid is even better, with a combined WLTP economy figure of 60.1mpg (exactly the same as the equivalent Kona Hybrid) and emissions of 115g/km. 

Based on our experience with hybrid cars, the fuel economy will improve in urban conditions, unlike a normal petrol, where the economy would suffer. It’s not uncommon for the car to report that it has spent more than 70 per cent of short journeys running on electric alone – and that’s with the powertrain left in Normal (rather than Eco) mode. 

And, of course, you never have to plug in either the 1.8 or 2.0 Hybrid models – a major benefit to anyone looking to go electric but doesn’t have ready access to plug-in charging at home. 

The C-HR Plug-In Hybrid PHEV does require you to plug it in (the clue’s in the name), and doing so regularly should see you achieve even better average fuel efficiency numbers – even if you’re unlikely to see anything close to the 313.8mpg combined number in the real world. CO2 emissions of just 19g/km are impressive, and mean low road tax costs, too.

The PHEV model defaults to its EV (all-electric) driving mode each time you start, and will use as much of the battery as it can before switching on the engine. You’ll need to select the EV/HV (hybrid) mode on longer drives because the car will then intelligently switch between electric and engine power by monitoring inputs such as driving style, navigation, and elevation data, boosting fuel efficiency across your whole trip. 

Those commuting to a low-emission zone in a city centre will need the HV mode to maintain battery charge so that it can be used later for electric-only driving. Like most plug-in hybrids, there’s a special charge mode that uses engine power and regenerative braking to top up the battery.

Electric range, battery life and charge time

The plug-in model uses a 13.6kWh battery, which should provide up to 41 miles of electric-only driving. Replenishing a flat battery should take around 2.5 hours using a 7.4kW wallbox charger at home.

As standard, the hybrid battery in regular and plug-in hybrid models is covered by a separate warranty of up to five years/60,000 miles, but this can be extended by 12 months or 10,000 miles at a time after every service at a Toyota franchised dealer, up until the car is 10 years old or has covered 100,000 miles. After this point, you’ll need an annual hybrid battery service that’ll give you a further 12 months of hybrid battery warranty coverage until the car is 15 years old. 

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Tax

The C-HR Plug-In Hybrid will avoid the first year’s road fund licence fee, and its excellent electric-only range means that it’ll slip into a lower Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax band than the Renault Captur E-Tech PHEV or Cupra Formentor e-Hybrid. You will have to be careful which trim level you go for, though, because only the Design trim avoids the surcharge applied from the second time the vehicle is taxed (from years two to six) for cars that cost more than £40,000 when new. 

Of the rest of the C-HR range, the 1.8-litre would be a better bet than the 2.0-litre. That’s because all trim levels using the 1.8-litre engine will cost less than £40,000 when new, whereas the GR Sport trim of the 2.0-litre is above that limit. 

Insurance groups

The C-HR starts in insurance group 20 for the entry-level 1.8 Hybrid Icon, rising to group 22 for the 1.8 Hybrid Excel. The more powerful 2.0 Hybrid in GR Sport trim jumps to group 27. 

Compared with other hybrid small SUVs, the C-HR will cost more to insure than the Kona, which is in group 16 for the 1.6 Hybrid Advance model. However, if you need something that’ll cost even less to insure, look at the entry-level SEAT Ateca 1.0 TSI SE, which is in group 10.

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Depreciation

Residual values for the C-HR are likely to be good rather than outstanding. After three years and 36,000 miles, the C-HR will maintain between 46 and 53 per cent of its resale value, with the worst version being the 1.8 Hybrid Excel and the best version being the 2.0-litre Plug-In Hybrid GR Sport.

Our favourite small SUV, the Hyundai Kona, averages between 51-53 per cent over the same period, while the cheaper Volkswagen T-Cross is worth between 50-54 per cent over our same time frame.

To get an accurate valuation on a specific model, check out our free car valuation tool… 

Credit should be given to the designers at Toyota for not playing it safe and watering down the striking looks of the original C-HR. Instead, the latest C-HR looks even more arresting than before, with the GR Sport model coming as standard in two-tone paint to really show off the looks in the best light. 

Other trim levels can be had with a contrasting roof colour for an additional £350. There’s one free Pure White colour, four metallic colours that can be optioned with a ‘Bi-Tone’ contrast roof, and two premium colours – although the latter can cost nearly £1,300 when specced in two-tone form.

Inside, Toyota hasn’t deviated much from the stylised formula that made the first C-HR such a success. There’s a fully digital instrument panel, a whopping 12.3-inch infotainment system touchscreen in higher-spec models (lesser C-HRs make do with an eight-inch display), and wireless smartphone integration. 

Quality plastics and thick padding are in all of the key areas of the interior, while sensibly positioned toggle controls in the centre of the dash govern the ventilation system and heated seats. We prefer having actual, physical controls because they’re easier to use on the move compared with the purely touchscreen-based systems used in the DS3 and Peugeot 2008, which can be very distracting because you have to look away from the road to find the right area of the screen to press.

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Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

The entry-level Icon C-HR has a smaller 8.0-inch screen, while everything from Design trim and above gets the larger 12.3-inch screen we’ve tried in other Toyota cars, including the Toyota bZ4X.

The previous C-HR had an outdated-looking infotainment setup. The latest screen is much improved, not just in terms of layout but also in terms of the speed of its responses. However, it still can’t quite match the highly impressive infotainment system featured in the Hyundai Kona, which is faster still.

A wireless charging pad comes as standard on mid-range Design trim cars, as well as sat-nav. All versions come with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay if you want to bypass the built-in apps and infotainment system in favour of your phone.

All cars have a six-speaker sound system, which can be upgraded to a nine-speaker JBL system on Excel trim. The top-of-the-range GR Sport gets this stereo upgrade as standard. 

The sleek roofline of the Toyota C-HR can fool you into thinking it’s a much smaller car than it actually is. In terms of length, it’s a little bit longer than a Hyundai Kona, and just shy of a SEAT Ateca. The C-HR is also taller than a Kia Niro, but doesn’t quite reach the ‘lofty’ heights of the Renault Captur. 

Get inside, and you’d think that you were driving something more akin to an MPV. The windscreen's base seems to be in a different postcode from the driver, stretching beyond a very deep dashboard. The bonnet ahead of the windscreen slopes away, making gauging the car’s extremities difficult. That’s why we think going for a mid-range Design will be worthwhile to get front and rear parking sensors to help you. There are big side door mirrors to assist when changing lanes on the motorway, and blind spot monitoring is standard to inform you of anything hiding in your blind spot.

Dimensions and size

At 4,362mm long, 1,832mm wide, and 1,564mm tall, the latest C-HR is longer than a Hyundai Kona, but slightly shorter than a Skoda Karoq. The C-HR is a little taller than the Kona, but not quite as tall.

Seats, leg room, head room & passenger space 

Space in the back is good and compares well with what you’ll find in many small SUVs, such as the Jeep Avenger, Peugeot 2008, and Vauxhall Mokka. Two ISOFIX points are provided on the outer rear seating positions, although parents may rue having to put children in the back because the angle of the rear roof pillar means you’ll need to duck down in order to lean in. The door opening isn’t the largest around, making installing a child seat difficult. If you need more practicality, you’ll need to look towards the more conservatively styled Nissan Qashqai with its near 90-degree rear door openings, or step up to something like the Toyota brand’s larger RAV4 SUV.

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Boot space 

The 1.8-litre C-HR’s 388-litre boot is much more generous than the 319-litre Honda HR-V, but trails the 466-litre Kona and 479-litre Qashqai. It doesn’t come with the latter’s clever dividing panels to stop items sliding deeper into the boot, meaning you don’t need to lean in quite so much if you’ve only packed a couple of shopping bags. 

One word of caution, just like in the regular Toyota Corolla hatchback, choosing the 2.0 Hybrid means you’ll pay a practicality penalty. That’s because the 12v battery has to be placed in the boot, robbing you of 24 litres of capacity. Hardly a deal-breaker, but it’s something worth considering.

What’s more of a concern is the nearly 80 litres that are lost with the battery pack of the 2.0 plug-in hybrid, reducing overall capacity to 310 litres – much less than what you’ll find in similar PHEV versions of the Cupra Formentor and Kia Niro. Indeed, it’s even smaller than one of our favourite superminis, the Renault Clio.

Towing

Something else worth considering if you’re interested in towing is that no version of C-HR can pull more than a 750kg braked trailer. If you need something more capable, a Kona Hybrid can lug up to 1,300kg, or you could go back to traditional petrol or diesel power and get something like the Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 TDI, which can pull up to 1,700kg.

The latest C-HR gets the maximum five-star safety rating according to experts Euro NCAP, putting it ahead of the Hyundai Kona and Honda HR-V - both of which could only muster a four-star rating.

Every model gets autonomous emergency braking to help prevent or mitigate low-speed collisions with pedestrians and cyclists around town. At higher speeds, there’s adaptive cruise control to maintain a safe distance from the car ahead, and lane departure warning and lane-keep assist to help keep you within your lane. Blind spot monitoring will warn you of other vehicles alongside you on the motorway. 

Road sign recognition is also standard, and helps to warn you of speed limit changes to save you from getting a speeding fine. There’s also an emergency eCall system to alert the emergency services of your location should you get involved in a serious collision. 

Further up the range, Design comes with a rear-cross traffic alert system to let you know if vehicles are crossing your path when reversing onto a road. Excel comes with a front-cross traffic alert, which does the same at the front. The latter is particularly helpful in the countryside when overgrown hedgerows obstruct your view at junctions. 

We don’t have any reliability data yet for this generation of C-HR because it’s so new, but the previous generation C-HR did very well in the 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, coming in 25th place out of 75 cars, and we have no reason to suspect that this will later for the current C-HR. As a brand, Toyota came in 12th out of 32 manufacturers, ahead of fellow hybrid SUV makers Honda and Nissan.

Warranty 

Having your C-HR serviced annually at the dealer helps with extending the standard three-year/60,000 mile warranty by 12 months or 10,000 miles at a time, up to a maximum of 10 years or 100,000 miles.

Servicing

The Toyota C-HR requires servicing every 12 months or 10,000 miles. Some rivals can go further between trips to the dealer, but at least sticking with this schedule means you can extend the manufacturer’s warranty as part of your routine servicing.

Should you buy a Toyota C-HR?

If you want extreme styling, appreciate long equipment lists, and need something highly efficient, the Toyota C-HR is a fine hybrid SUV choice. The fact it drives well and can now be had with a plug-in hybrid option just makes the deal sweeter.

However, the same compromises as before remain, with a gloomy interior for those in the back and a restrictive rear door opening that makes it harder to live with as an everyday family car. What’s more, it is more expensive than the highly accomplished Hyundai Kona, and even though there will be a PHEV model, company car drivers will be better off opting for the similarly priced all-electric Kona Electric that’ll save you even more money.